47° CLOUDY, Michael Allen
Candidate for Council Member, City of Santa Rosa (4-Year Term)
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 11:54 a.m.
Opponents: Eddie Alvarez, Carol Dean, Hans Dippel, Bobbi Hoff, Ernesto Olivares, Lee Pierce, John Sawyer, Don Taylor, Marsha Vas Dupre, Gary Wysocky
Age: 61
Hometown: Santa Rosa
Occupation: District director for state Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), attorney/mediator
Background: Former chairman, Coalition for a Better Sonoma County; president, North Bay Labor Council; former general manager, SEIU Local 707
Web site: www.michaelallenforcitycouncil.com
Priorities:
BUDGET
Problem: A combination of a bad national economy, local sales tax declines and increasing city payroll.
Solution: Talk to employees about early retirement incentives, job furloughs; reduce redundancies. Example: Consider merging Santa Rosa police and Sonoma County Sheriff dispatching services.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Problem: Collapse of telecommunications industry.
Solution: Aggressive campaign to attract innovative industries such as a bike manufacturer or a branch office of Google or Microsoft. Develop a reputation where "inventors could come and where intellectual property could be licensed."
PUBLIC SAFETY
Problem: Failure to fully implement neighborhood-oriented policing.
Solution: Expand Neighborhood Watch programs and police presence in neighborhoods to create an early warning system to potential problems.
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