Budget woes dominate races for council, mayor in Morgan Hill

In Morgan Hill, where a suburban and well-to-do town has sprouted from the fields, three candidates seek to become mayor and eight more vie for two open seats on the city council. We asked them to discuss the town’s worst problem, another priority of their choice and a personal accomplishment.

Seeking a third term,

Mayor Steve Tate says declining revenues from the economic downtown remain the town’s most pressing problem, but it’s under control. He said the town’s reserve fund of $5 million to $6 million should carry Morgan Hill for the near future without a need to drastically cut public services.

He would like to develop the downtown into a lively shopping and residential district, largely with redevelopment funds. He’s proud that, under his watch, the city built the city’s new library with developer fees and redevelopment funds.

If elected mayor,

jewelry business owner and councilwoman

Marby Lee would seek to rein in the town’s pension and benefits costs for municipal employees.

“It’s going to be the biggest problem in the long run,” she said. Marby said she’s willing to look at pay freezes or cuts, hiring new employees at lower wages and increasing contributions to health and pension plans.

Another priority is bringing new businesses to town mostly by giving them breaks in fees and reducing red tape. For one of her best accomplishments, she counts rallying residents against building a new library downtown and leaving it in place at great savings to taxpayers.

As mayoral candidate

Art College sees it, a City Hall guided by a “lack of priorities and general fund dollars” has cut public safety to a dangerously low level. The college accounting teacher and former Morgan Hill city manager would restore the policing level to 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents by cutting other departments that remain fully staffed or close to it.

Another priority for College is to refocus the town’s redevelopment agency on flood control. One of his best accomplishments, he said, was a certificate program in government and non-profit accounting he set up at the UC Riverside in the 1980s.

Council candidates

After a career in public works,

Gordon Siebert wants to tackle Morgan Hill’s worst problems and set a course for the future as a councilman. He was the town’s public works director from 1989 to 1995 and acting finance chief for a year during that time.

The town’s most pressing problem, he says, is the revenue shortfall that has forced the town to cut basic services, including policing, and threatens to make fire protection all but unaffordable.

Siebert said he would try to negotiate less expensive contracts with police, city managers and ask all employees to contribute more to their benefit packages. To increase revenue, he would increase local fees on heavy trucks and other vehicles.

Another priority, he said, is to turn Llagas Creek where it crosses downtown into a pedestrian and bicycle path lined by outdoor restaurants and shops. With what money? He says it would take $250,000 to $500,000 a year for several years, mostly from federal, state, county and water district programs for flood-control projects.

After opening his delicatessen in town,

Rick G. Moreno said customers occasionally asked him if certain vacant buildings were for rent and vacant lots were for sale or lease. That got him thinking about under-used, city-owned property.

“It’s rentable” he said. “Money is being tied up here.”

As a councilman, he said he’d review every under-used city parcel and, if its role in the town’s master plans doesn’t look realistic, he’d sell or lease the properties to businesses that could move in quickly and starting generating sales tax revenue and new jobs.

He’d also like to build up the town’s sense of community by adding street festivals and allowing more vendors at city-sponsored events at the community center and parks.

Among his accomplishments, he cites the all-around management and business experience he’s accumulated after owning 17 different businesses, from a motel in Lake Tahoe to a grocery store in town.

Businessman

Lee Schmidt, who is seeking his first public office, said the town’s budget has to be brought under control by cutting unnecessary costs, starting with fees paid to consultants on building, landscaping and other pricey projects.

“They’re a little loose in spending,” he said about town hall’s spending in general.

But before cutting any services or jobs outside of consultants, he said he would scrutinize every department and position to make sure government is the right size. He said his proudest, work-related accomplishment was selecting a group of managers who stayed together for 10 years at his car dealership, a skill he said would help the town hire the right people for future, open positions.

Retired businessman

Michael A. Castelan said Morgan Hill’s worst problem is low revenue from taxes. He would work to make it easier for new businesses to set up shop in town by offering incentives, such as special allowances or rebates for sewer and water fees.

A former emergency medical technician in Santa Cruz County, Castelan said he would improve the overall quality of emergency services, and he would pay for it by placing a special tax on the ballot. He’s also willing to consider contracting for police services with the county sheriff’s office.

Among his accomplishments, he named the Parrot Heads in Paradise chapter he started in town, a philanthropy that has raised more than $20,000 for local charities and a 6-year-old boy who suffered a traumatic heady injury.

At age 21, actor

Joseph Carrillo is the youngest candidate in the field and has lived in Morgan Hill for three years. He would look for federal stimulus money and more citizen volunteers to help solve Morgan Hill’s persistent budget crisis, in his view the town’s most pressing problem. Another priority is to make the town more “pedestrian friendly” by adding sidewalks and bike lanes built mostly by volunteers.

Carrillo, who chooses not to own a car, campaigns on a bike, which he also uses to haul around tools and materials for jobs. His proudest achievement is becoming free of “oil and motor vehicles and knowing that I could still keep a city maintained if there were no oil left.”

Ken Galloway, a computer company manager, said the town needs to “eliminate wasteful spending” such as outside consultants for town projects, and improve public safety by having one police officer for every 1,000 residents.

Challenger School director

David Mounteer would stop “dipping into reserves to balance the budget” by streamlining new business applications, leading to more tax revenues. He would let private outfits operate recreational facilities and get the city out of risky, commercial development.

“If a project is viable the developer will build it and reap the rewards,”

As for his best accomplishment, Mounteer cited teaching students to understand and appreciate liberty and individual rights.

Candidate

Rich Constantine did not respond to requests for an interview or information.

Contact Joe Rodriguez at 408-920-5767 or jrodriguez@mercurynews.com.