Posted: 08/09/2010 11:18:23 PM PDT
Updated: 08/09/2010
11:18:24 PM PDT
Councilman Jim Vreeland and Councilwoman Sue Digre will try to hold on to their seats, and they are facing a diverse field of challengers of all ages and levels of experience, including current planning commissioners, local business owners and folks who recently settled in Pacifica to raise families.
Councilwoman Julie Lancelle surprised even city insiders by choosing not to run again. She has served three terms and more than 10 years on the council. She did not return calls for comment.
"I think part of the problem in Pacifica right now is the incumbents have been in office for a very, very long time and people are frustrated," said Barbara Johne Nathanson, a planning commissioner who jumped into the council race this year to reduce "infighting and nastiness" at public meetings and create a more civil tone in the governance of Pacifica.
Indeed, it was voter frustration that spurred two residents to launch a petition to impose term limits on the council. The term-limits measure qualified for the ballot this November, as did a council initiative to raise Pacifica's hotel tax from 10 percent to 12 percent.
Residents say this is the most highly contested council race in recent memory, although Pacificans aren't shy about jumping in to challenge the status quo when they have the chance.
In 2008, two incumbents and three challengers competed for two seats. In 2006, seven people vied for three spots. In all that time, only one incumbent was unseated.
Many of the candidates singled out Pacifica's budget crisis as a reason to jump into the race this year. The city recently used most of its remaining reserves to cover a $3 million budget deficit, and leaders recently embarked on a five-year austerity plan to generate $8.5 million through salary freezes and pension-contribution freezes.
"We're at a serious economic crossroads and we need leaders who are going to give 100 percent of their energy and experience and regional connections," said candidate Barbara Arietta, a public relations consultant who leads Pacifica's Green Building Task Force and sits on several other citizen subcommittees.
Candidate Thomas Clifford, a general contractor and a member of the Pacifica Planning Commission, wants to see city officials aggressively pursue opportunities to build up commercial tax revenue.
"As a businessman, I can say that not enough has been done in the last 20 years. There hasn't been enough of a focus on it," Clifford said.
Not everyone is focused on change. Karl Davidson, one of the youngest candidates at 34, grew up in Pacifica and recently moved back to town with his young family. He wants to make sure Pacifica continues to protect its open spaces and views from sprawl and unsightly development.
"I want to keep it the same," said Davidson. "When I moved back, I was awestruck by how similar the city was to when I was growing up."
Contact Julia
Scott at 650-348-4340.
PACIFICA CITY COUNCIL CONTENDERS
Three seats up for grabs in November.
Sue Digre (Incumbent)
Jim Vreeland (Incumbent)
Thomas Clifford (General contractor)
Barbara Johne Nathanson (Operations manager)
Karl Davidson (Information security specialist)
Heather Tanner (Attorney)
Barbara Arietta (Public relations consultant)
Susan Vellone (Local business owner)
Sue Digre (Incumbent)
Jim Vreeland (Incumbent)
Thomas Clifford (General contractor)
Barbara Johne Nathanson (Operations manager)
Karl Davidson (Information security specialist)
Heather Tanner (Attorney)
Barbara Arietta (Public relations consultant)
Susan Vellone (Local business owner)
Posted by Steve Sinai
29 comments:
I heard that Planning Commissioner William Leon also entered the race. Know of anyone else?
I am sorry but Mr. Davison doesn't know that Pacifica needs pro-economic. There is no money. We need people that is going to move forward. Allow developers to invest money here.
This election year vote for candidates that care.
No more Digree and Vreeland please. Enough of them.
Please no William Leon. I am voting for Susan Vellone, Barbara Arietta,and BJ Nathanson. Three smart ladies that know exactly what the city needs. They all care for the environment and also they care for the economic status the city is facing at the moment. I am very proud that they are running for council seat.
Clifford as a businessman! What a farce. He's an eco-nazi like Leon. A vote for him is a vote for the status-qou. Anyone take the time to check his record on the planning commission? I thought not. Rubes.
Jeff's Big Mouth:
Vreeland Follies Part IV
jeffsbigmouth.blogspot.com
At this time I'm voting for Susan Vellone and Barbara Arietta period.
I read what BJ said in the article above, but so far based upon her recent actions and behavior I think she would neither 1) "create a more civil tone in the governance", nor would she 2) be able to achieve a desirable "common ground" that would be economically viable for this city.
It essential that this city focus on developing a "sustainable economy" (short, intermediate and long term). This city has an ongoing structural deficit which didn't begin with the current recession. People elected to city council need to be tough-minded, understand and talk about the issues.
Oh please god! Get Mary Ann some help! At this point I would only vote for Vellone! Leo is a totally arrogant, down your nose kind of talker. Totally divisive. We have gone from bad to worse and none of them have any skills except what they want to tell you about that is only in their head. Barbara is a lot of hot air. She is more than happy to tell you all she has done and more, except it is all exaggeration. Remember, she is all about publicity. The rest? Well forget it. This pool of candidates will make you all long for Vreeland Vote Vellone! and only Vellone!
Arietta is all for the freeway between Vallemar and Rockaway. Vreeland is as well. They're both part of the county power structure that wants a freeway all the way down the coast.
Like freeways? There's your candidates.
Babs and Leo, what a great way to drive sneaky Pete insane. Meetings that last until midnight, while they listen to themselves talk.
I will make a motion that all meetings will finish by 9 pm.
Yes, pretty much everyone but you is involved in the vast, right-wing freeway conspiracy.
Remember: just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
Anon 8/10 @ 11:17pm, 8/11, 7:59am, 8:13am. Your comments are highly politicized and twisted.
1. Freeway? No the congested road in Pacifica that needs improvement and updating is a Highway, that's why they call it "Highway 1".
Traffic congestion is not known to be good for the environment or the people, that's why there should be a common interest getting that 1.3 mile congestion highway fixed.
2. City council. Sometimes it takes thoughtful, intelligent people more than 2 seconds to evaluate important issues and make complicated decisions affecting the current, mid, and longer term future of a city. The city in question is this city: Pacifica. We all live here and some of us wish better decisions for our future were being made.
With regard to Barbara (who is highly qualified to be on city council) I believe that most of her research and preparation would be done away from the city council meeting, similar to what Mary Ann does now.
Pete @ 10:14, why don't you just go home and watch it on TV. It seems to me that what is needed at the city council decision making level is quality, rather than brevity.
What traffic congestion?
Do you mean the traffic that stops for the stoplights?
Anon @ 2:28pm you probably thought I was talking about all those hikers on our trails rather than auto traffic congestion, and county agency research, studied solutions and reality.
Barbara Arietta is just Jim Vreeland in drag. She's not done anything but get herself on any committee that would have her, talk about what she should have done, who she knows, and how much they admire her.
Just like Vreeland. Do we really want that?
The drag is you Anon @7:35pm, but one thing about what you imply is true: Barbara Arietta has done a lot of quality, proactive civic committee work at both our city and the counties level (mainly San Mateo and San Francisco counties).
Barbara is by far the most qualified candidate running for Pacifica city council. And, there's a reason she has been both elected and appointed to citizen leadership roles: namely she's competent, proactive, intelligent and a good administrator.
I'll be posting an article of what I know of her civic work over the past 4 years and its extensive.
Linking Barbara Arietta to Jim Vreeland is pure propaganda, and spurious (counterfeit, fake). But, then I'm linking you Anon to Mr. Sir in drag, and I think that assessment may be true.
I have sat on committees with Barbara. She does the work - really? she takes over, gets self righteous and some committees simply give up and die because of her. Not my choice as a council member. Barbara and Jim well they both have long arms from patting themselves on the back.
Anon2
Anon2, "committees give-up and die", really? Which committees would those be? The long list of successful committees on Barbara Arietta's list did not "give-up and die."
In any event, I support and vote for those city council candidates which have the capacity to "fix pacifica" through economic improvement and fair government practices, so she's #1 on my list to do that.
This is not a social issue, its a "save Pacifica" issue. Jim Vreeland and the other 8 year city councilmembers put this city into a self-inflicted downward economic spiral. There is no way that would happened on Barbara Arietta's watch. And, the comparison of Barbara Arietta to Jim Vreeland (although illogical) may work for you, it sure doesn't work for me.
Name one thing Barbara Arietta has actually acomplished and I'll consider voting for her. Heck, name one thing any candidate you consider a good selection for Pacifica and I'll consider voting for them.
Anon, you will either vote for 3 pro-economy candidates because you are interested in saving this city or you won't.
Most every that gets done in government and organizations occurs in a team, and Barbara has been an important component in 1) getting the highway studies this far, 2) saving Sharp Park golf course, 3) was involved with the citizen effort for Measure L, quarry development 4) has brought informative speakers and forums to this city, and has announced and reported on the same in the Tribune, 5) while on the grand jury she chaired an investigative committee reviewing all city budgets and scavenger company practices in this county, 6) is part of the library and historical society boards, 7) chairs the "Green Building Task Force committee", 8) she was the initial proponent of Pacifica being put on the San Mateo county convention and visitors tourist map, 9) early she was supportive of POOCH and a dog park, Tribune My Turn article, 10) she supports progress, efficiency, she's ethical, tough-minded, intelligent, and has enough courage to run for city council.
That good enough for you Anon?
Nope, 1. Highway studies were in place before Barbara Arietta got on the TA, and she (as a citizen committee member) did not push the studies, the actual paid working people did. All she did was report on them.
2. Has not saved Sharp Park, she has only reported on the process. The bulk of the work has been done by others, namely Butch Larroche and the other golfers and members of Sharp Park clubs.
3. A lot of people were involved in Measure L, what did she specifically do to help the Measure?
4. It was her responsibility as an elected member of the Pacifica Democrats leadership team to bring these people in, wasn't she also supposed to do that for another group and didn't?
5. Her role on the grand jury was the same as the other selected members. What did she do there that is remarkable from the other members?
6. Again, there are many members of the both the Library and Historcial societies, what has she done that is remarkable?
7. As a publicity flak, what does she know about architecture and construction, what about building codes? What are her qualifications to be a member of the Green Building Task force? What has she done here?
8. You are misinformed. This was being pushed by, of all people, Sue Digre and Julie Lancelle.
9. A lot of people support the dog park, what is remarkable about that?
10. She's a publicity flak who is known throughout Pacifica and San Mateo County as someone who can tell you how good they are, but hasn't actually accomplished anything.
What has she actually accomplished, what does Barbara Arietta have her name stamped on as the person who did the work? Answer that and I'll consider her as a candidate.
Anon @ 9:41am, for some people "the glass is half empty", for you the glass appears to be completely empty.
1. Highway 1 (1.3 mile fix). Barbara pushed the Highway 1 application in front of then Mayor DeJarnatt to get it on the County Supervisor's agenda and meet the funding deadline. She organized citizens to advocate for highway 1 advancement (including the DEIR) at the County Supervisor's meeting. How do I know? I was there.
2. Golf course. Barbara attended all the San Francisco citizen meetings and more, where she spoke and advocated for Sharp Park Golf Course. Yes, she did the newspaper reporting, email groups, blog and other notifications. She contacted city counties officials for support. Where important San Francisco government votes were needed (Sharp Park is their golf course), she organized and rounded-up citizen advocates. How do I know? I was there.
The fact that Barbara was able to function at a different level of Golf Course advocacy, does not take anything away from Butch Larroche and all the other golfers and non-golfers who functioned at other levels of advocacy to achieve a common goal: save Sharp Park golf course. Whereas, the alternative advocacy was to "restore Sharp Park golf course" (tear it down), allegedly along with the berm sea wall in West Sharp Park. Common goal, clear choice-- just as supporting 3 pro-economy city council candidates vs. the anti-economy candidates is a clear choice.
People function and volunteer according to their own talents, and frequently this is done with an urgency. We each volunteer, its our time-table, our involvement for the cause. We have different personalities, different styles, and that's what we bring to the table. All of this is part of the human tapestry and team effort to achieve a common goal. And, cooperation through divisions to achieve a common goal usually tends to work-out better than plotting against people who are part of the solution-- and if that is you Anon, you might consider getting unstuck.
3-10. Barbara was appointed at and by high level county committees, and city appointments and placed in positions of leadership and trust through election because she is affective.
Anon I ask you: What have you done that is remarkable? If you can't get unstuck, for the Fall ballot maybe consider writing-in the "perfect candidate": you 3x. Then, bitch about the outcome after the election, good luck.
"2. Has not saved Sharp Park, she has only reported on the process. The bulk of the work has been done by others, namely Butch Larroche and the other golfers and members of Sharp Park clubs."
Probably 75% of the items I received about meetings and updates relating to the Sharp Park battle came from Barbara. The rest would have been from Butch, Mike Wallach, and Richard Harris. In Pacifica, she was the focal point of the campaign to save the golf course.
Anon, I'm amazed at your in-depth, incredibly detailed knowledge of all the candidates and all the issues. I'm afraid it's a little TOO DETAILED for me to believe, though. I have no doubt you're pulling your counter-arguments out of your ass on-the-fly.
Kathy has given some pretty solid backing-up of her claims.
Anonymous' counter-claims against Barbara's involvement in our community don't amount to much. It appears that she's been involved in a lot of work for local issues -- I don't know how you can claim that doesn't count for much. Disagree with those issues? Okay. Disagree with her local involvement? Give me a break.
Are you actually going to say Barbara doesn't deserve to refer to committee-work she's been involved with because no single individual could ever claim credit? That's totally weak sauce.
Barbara, if elected, will have to work with four other council members. We should all hope whoever gets elected has good committee experience.
I often criticize Kathy for not backing up her claims. Here she has, and has well.
Kathy said:
"8) she was the initial proponent of Pacifica being put on the San Mateo county convention and visitors tourist map"
to which the Nattering Nabob of Negativity replied:
"8. You are misinformed. This was being pushed by, of all people, Sue Digre and Julie Lancelle."
to which I reply . . . anonymous is clearly (and I think deliberately) misinformed.
The city, the Chamber of Commerce (with Don Eagleston at the helm), and a few of the hotels were dragging their feet on joining the SMCCVB. There is/was a "Business Improvement District" and some members did not want the additional overlay of the SMCCVB. I think the city wanted a majority of the hotels to support this membership, but a few the hotels resisted.
A group of us were invited to the Best Western Lighthouse Hotel to listen to a manager of the hotel and a rep from the CVB give their pitch on why the city should join. As best I can recall, this was probably early to mid 2007. My contribution was to bring to their attention that South San Francisco initially saw resistance from their hotels in becoming a member of the SMCCVB and their City Council still voted to join anyway. It seems to have worked out well for them.
Barb Arietta was there. For whatever reason, I lost track of that cause and didn't attend any more meetings, but Barb was very instrumental in bringing that membership back to the forefront of the City Council. I think it was actually Steve Rhodes who took over pushing for it, and you are correct in stating Julie Lancelle and Sue Digre pushed it forward to the rest of City Council.
But had it not been for that initial group and Barb Arietta, the issue would have likely died.
However since "anonymous" seems bent on keeping the status quo in Pacifica, I'll turn their question back into Jim Wagner's question in his recent Letter to the Editor:
Name one revenue generating project this sitting City Council has brought to Pacifica. Name one accomplishment of this City Council for which Pacifica can truly be proud.
Seems there are always people willing to trash new and innovative candidates while overlooking the current malaise that has infected the incumbents.
Mr. Sir 8/13@ 1:56pm, not so fast. With your acknowledgment that my comment looked solid, you closed with "I often criticize Kathy for not backing up her claims." Really?
Reviewing your recent comments I did not find such you complaining or criticizing my common knowledge statements, but I did find your support for nice coastal trails bringing in tax revenue, anti dog parks not bringing in tax revenue, confusion on which city council candidates to vote for: pro-economy or anti-economy (tough decision).
In the 8/8/10 "Watchdogs" article commentary you repeatedly demanding to know of blog readers if pro-economy candidates supported the City Financial Task Force recommendations (100%, 12 pages), but, you didn't seem to know what was in the report, what you supported, or who to ask (namely the candidates themselves).
Same article you commented "members of this site have engaged in slamming, smearing, mocking, and criticizing our City Council members for years." Yet, the answer to that can easily be found in a Pacifica anti-fortune cookie.
For the record, and to keep score on who is say what in this "save Pacifica or not" ping pong game. Also, Jeff, I don't see a reprint of that Wagner "Do I stay or go?" letter-to-the-editor here. I'll send it to Steve for posting.
Hello..You are all a little off. The Pacifica Chamber of Commerce Board, of which Susan Vellone is the president and Len Stone is the president elect, were the ones that called the most recent meeting with SMCCVB along with the City Manager to push this process forward. The former CEO of the Chamber, Don Eagleston, did everything he could to keep the city from joining this group. This shows what the newcomers can do. So what if Julie Lancelle and Sue Digre were for it. Why didn't they push the hotel owners to join and call a meeting themselves? It is again an after the fact statement for people who are too busy to get out of their own way but are right there to take the credit for everything. Sounds like another person running for Council. Barbara might have been involved somewhere along the line but at the end, Susan and Len gave it the push to get it done.
Anon @ 3:11pm actually I think we agree. About 3 1/2 years ago Barbara Arietta discovered Pacifica was not on the San Mateo Convention and Tourist Hotel/Motel map, and Pacifica was losing money for that business as well as for photography and film.
She built a statistical binders with financial advantage information for each hotel/motel owner, Don Eagleston (Chamber CEO), each city council member and talked to each of them individually about this omission. No surprise, they did nothing. Note: the 8 year city council quiet "economic plan" for this city is "recreation", currently transitioned to "eco-tourism"-- new word, limited city infrastructure and limited city council action to make successful.
This year something exciting happened at the Chamber of Commerce. The new board took back the organization for business. And with leadership from Susan Vellone, Len Stone, the board, the new CEO, the organization-- Pacifica is finally on "the map". Congratulations to all, including Susan, Len and Barbara!
City council was happy to take credit for this. Don't forget to add Councilmember Vreeland. As I recall from the council meeting about 2 months ago, Councilmember Vreeland was first to take credit for now being on "the map". No surprise. They all did nothing.
Will this "fix Pacifica"? No, not in itself, and we have a long, uphill struggle ahead should Arietta, Vellone, and Stone win their elections, but being on "the map" is a step in the right direction. We need more of this, rather than a city council economic inactivity and attitude that "we can do nothing".
How do I know what Barbara's action on this was 3 1/2 years ago? She was in and out of my office, and my copy machine also knows.
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