Priorities
As a parent, I have concerns with traffic, both local and on Hwy 29, and recreational opportunities for kids and young adults. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the economy and we have likely not seen the worst of it as tax revenues are down significantly. As such, having financial acumen along with a collaborative mindset is how we will be best able to handle what the next few years throws at us. In terms of specifics, I offer the following thoughts and ideas and would appreciate your feedback. Please let me know what you like, what you don’t and ask questions:
We must work with the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, wineries, etc.) to convince the State that HWY 29 is a problem and causing a reduction in revenues, sales tax, hotel TOT tax, etc., for the State. Napa County is just too small, with a County-wide population of under 150,000 people, to merit much attention from the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). As a State agency, CalTrans needs to spend funds where they will have the most impact and where we live, the corridor from City of Napa through the City of Vallejo, impacts less than 170,000 individuals. Many Cities in SoCal have that many people in a single City and are right next to other Cities with nearly as many residents, so that’s where most of the money goes.
As people begin to travel again, and offices re-open, the gas tax revenues dedicated to local jurisdictions for street improvements will start to flow. As that happens and, if elected, I will push for a schedule to be published announcing which streets are scheduled to be repaired and re-paved. Of Course, this schedule will be subject to change, but it will provide information so people can make better decisions. Also, we must get Newell Drive on the Eastside of town connected to South Kelly Road and develop a Westside connector that does not put our residents or property values at risk. As such, it must be an alternative to Eucalyptus Road/Wetlands Edge. Additionally, we must enhance public safety with better crossings for HWY 29 for pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, scooter riders and all others. This can potentially be accomplished by adding pedestrian bridges &/or tunnels, creating bike lanes, using flashing light and cross-hatched or raised crosswalks, pedestrian countdown beacons and more. Lastly, we need to look at alternatives to slow traffic down on our local streets, as too many neighborhoods see high speed vehicles racing through creating dangerous situations for those who live here.
We are a part of the Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) and they are responsible for our public schools. We must hold them accountable, while working with them to ensure our children get the best possible education. Personally knowing people who lost a niece & daughter in the Parkland, FL school shooting and, as Dad to 2 public school kids, school safety is a critical issue for me. I would like to see our City work with NVUSD to provide closed campuses, with at least 1 Community Resource (Police) Officer on site during the entire school day, at each of the schools in AmCan. I believe that as a City we must contribute to provide this enhanced safety for our community’s children.
The City’s General Plan is in the process of being updated and community input is essential. A General Plan is the underlying document that guides all City Government decision making. These plans are usually looking out at least 10 years into the future. In American Canyon, while certain portions of the General Plan have been updated since incorporation as a City in 1992, we have never done a full update. For this reason, public input is critical – the general plan update is all about what we want to see our City become over the next decade or more. Please make your voices heard!
Most residents with whom I have spoken would like to see American Canyon improve its offerings for dining and grocery shopping. Reality is that in order to survive, these kinds of businesses (3, 4 & 5 star restaurants, upper-end markets like Whole Foods & Trader Joe’s, etc.) need a certain level of people to reside within a well-defined territory. As a small City with larger, but still small, Cities as neighbors, the headcount is not there presently but, in the past, no one has been willing to acknowledge this publicly. However, there are ways to change this and as both Watson Ranch & the Broadway District develop, our population will increase. This population increase, anticipated over the next decade, will make it more viable for the kinds of stores we want to come here to actually come and succeed. This, in turn, improves the odds to these stores choosing to come to American Canyon in the first place. Also, I want the City website to provide education to our community regarding details on how our government operates, as I believe that the more people know, the easier it is to get involved and provide valuable input.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 may be the death of most retail shopping as we know it. Amazon was already doing a number on many retailers, but the pandemic has caused many clothing and specialty retailers to file bankruptcy. The sad truth is that many will not survive. The positive is that food businesses and medical are opportunity areas and they are both things we would like to see more of in town. As such, the City should be encouraging these businesses to open their doors in American Canyon and, if elected, I will make determined efforts to see this happen.
As our City stands now, there are only 2 significant areas for development – Oat Hill and the old landfill. It is likely that Oat Hill will end up with some residential uses and if done well, they can enhance our community and further help us get the businesses we want. My hope for the old landfill is to turn into in a revenue generating property for us. While I do not know if this is attainable, I want to explore turning that site into a high-end golf course (for the golfers reading this, think Bandon Dunes in Oregon), as we have strong winds here which serious golfers enjoy. Should a golf course not work for the landfill site, perhaps we can develop a sports complex including new Little League Fields. This would enable us to engage with the NVUSD to buy the current Napa Junction Elementary School site and convert it into a new large recreation area of some sort. As part of the Broadway District, I have pushed to see a Youth activities area incorporated within this development zone. What could/should be included in this area is something on which significant public input is needed. Lastly, I will push for our City to annex additional lands into our City through the LAFCO process, as long as the property owners are on board with this approach.
We must start working toward preparing our physical infrastructure for the future. While a small City, there is no reason that American Canyon should not be a leader in creating public WiFi networks and preparing for autonomous (self-driving) vehicles. This should include undergrounding of all utility connections, which will help beautify our City by removing telephone and utility poles and improve safety by reducing fire danger. Of course, we must first finish with adding sidewalks throughout our neighborhoods.
If elected, I will lead the drive to have regular updates provided and made public regarding the new reservoir with which the City is involved that should help us meet future water needs while stabilizing and, hopefully, enhancing our water supply. Next, we need to start planning for the eventual upgrading or replacing of our current water treatment facility. This means trying to find ways to set-aside funds that can be safely invested to make this happen. Additionally, we must maintain our “Zero Water Footprint Policies,” require new developments to utilize recycled water wherever possible and maintain, or improve, our incentives to replace lawns with drought resistant alternatives.
Presently, our City does as is required and meets the mandated goals for posting meeting notices. Obviously, this must continue, but I will encourage significant additional efforts beyond the required newspaper postings and use of the City website. I want notices posted on the Nextdoor app, on a City Facebook page, on Instagram and other social media platform accounts, on a few public notice bulletin boards placed in key gathering areas around town, etc. As a Planning Commissioner, I can assure you that there have been many issues where public input has significantly impacted the end result and as a City Council Member, I will encourage attendance at all Commission and Committee meetings, as well as at City Council meetings.
While we will not be able to do this immediately, due to COVID-19, I want to see the City develop a “rainy day” fund. This can be created by setting aside a small portion of the annual budget to be used for any number of reasons, to be determined with public input but, hopefully, including to prevent the furloughing of City employees when the economy is hurting.
In order to remain a vibrant community, we need to have a variety of housing types at different levels of affordability. I will continue to push for the development of condominiums, which are great entry and exit points for homeownership, along with generally requiring that developers actually build affordable housing rather than pay an “in lieu of fee,” which is money that goes to the City to support affordable housing initiatives. Also, I believe that it is time that American Canyon stop taking on the bulk of the affordable housing requirements for the remainder of the County, as the other Cities (Napa, St. Helena, Yountville & Calistoga), as well as the unincorporated areas of the County, should make room in their communities for working people. I want us to take our fair share, which has not been the case in the past, and for these other communities to work to build as inclusive a community as we have in American Canyon.
We are a blessed community in that we have excellent Fire/EMT and Police services. Our firefighters have done an amazing job in keeping our community safe from the recent rounds of fire and assisted elsewhere in the region to save lives and property. Likewise, the ACPD provides excellent service to our community and is doing a fantastic job in handling the recent murder that was committed at our local Safeway. It is imperative that we maintain this high level of service and when & where possible to further raise these levels of service. I believe that if a community is not completely confident in the responsiveness and fairness of its public safety officials there can be potentially devasting impacts, including increased crime and property damage, including arson. As such, maintaining these services at the already high level we have is among my highest priorities.