Some additional notes on Glendora’s City Council election and some recap:
Each council candidate has seemingly put the budget and the economic crisis as the major issues for this election.
Joseph Tweini wants to initiate an immediate hiring freeze, salary freeze, promotion freeze, and explore cutting bonuses.
Mayor Karen Davis wants to avoid layoffs, but “golden handshakes” are definitely on the table.
Kristen Parisi wants no one department to bear the whole burden, but instead wants it shared.
Gene Murabito wants to look at group purchasing agreements. Attack revenue streams before cut services.
In terms of business, all of them say they want to help business stay strong in Glendora.
Murabito feels the city is already “built up” and the building boom the city has seen over the last 8 years or so will begin to slow down. With that, the focus should be on attracting consumers to area businesses.
Davis points to Route 66 as one area that still could use some work, as well as building to prepare for the future Gold Line.
Tweini is all about the Gold Line. The project will “revitalize” the downtown area, in his words. People will commute to Glendora just to shop and eat, he said.
Parisi thinks the city’s efforts to help business should be more broad as some areas and businesses get more positive attention than others.
And on the issue of the often 5-0 vote council (which I think is an interesting):
Parisi doesn’t think it is healthy. Many of those who speak at the public comment time during council meetings, often chastising the council, support Parisi. She wants to add some perspective to the council.
Tweini, who isn’t very critical of the council, still believes they are often guilty of “groupthink”.
Davis says “Having a 3-2 vote doesn’t make a point more than a 5-0.” As long as there is healthy discussion, it is good for the community, she says. Also, each council members various background adds to the dynamic.
Murabito has said he has voted differently than the council on some of his Planning Commission votes, but still supports the council. His opinions are similar to that of Davis on the issue.
Some interesting quotes:
“When I hear the word cut, I hear the word eliminate and that is not what I want to do. Would I be willing to reduce a service from 8 hours to 6? Certainly. My fear is when we eliminate a service it is always difficult to bring it back.”
Gene Murabito
In response to a question about the often contentious public comment portion of City Council meetings, Davis had this to say:
“I think that comes with the job. When we agreed to put ourselves in public service, with that comes the good and bad. We have to be willing to listen to people’s input even when sometimes you may not particularly like it.”
“We need some balance on the council. Some common folk. I don’t think Glendorans are all one mind”
Parisi
“It is on us to come up with a different approach. We can improve in that area.”
Tweini