Compare and Consider: Morro Bay Candidates

by Jack McCurdy

Some past Morro Bay city elections may have been viewed as ho-hum affairs, but not this time. Not by a very long shot.

Everyone who lives or works in Morro Bay has a huge stake in who gets elected as mayor and to the City Council in the city primary on June 8.

That is because there are so many far-reaching decisions to be made in the coming year or two, including (1) whether the city will have enough money to provide the level of services residents and business owners are accustomed to and what to do if it doesn't, (2) whether there will be enough water to drink, (3) if the city's old sewer system will survive mounting deterioration, (4) if a truly modern new wastewater treatment plant will be built to ensure advanced technology and keep rates as low as possible, (5) if a downtown business makeover may be undertaken and—perhaps the biggest of all—(6) whether the city should allow the Morro Bay Power Plant to continue to operate and continue to take its toll on the remaining aquatic life in the Morro Bay National Estuary, the lifeblood of the community (read: property values and the viabiliity of businesses).

Wait. There is something even more momentous: what to do with the power plant when it shuts down, which could be in two years to five years.

Voters had better cull carefully through the four candidates for mayor and four candidates for four City Council positions to select the ones most capable of handling these challenges and still protect the small-town beauty and other special features of Morro Bay, which has survived threats to its very existence over the past 40 years—and still faces serious challenges.

The candidates for mayor are Rick Grantham, first-term member of the City Council; Neil Farrell, managing editor and reporter of the Bay News; Betty Winholtz, two-term member of the Council, and Bill Yates, former mayor. Council candidates are Nancy Johnson, chair of the city Planning Commission; D'Onna Kennedy, first-time candidate; George Leage, who ran for mayor two years ago and was defeated by present mayor Janice Peters, and Jack Smith, also running for the first time.

If no candidate for mayor receives 50% plus one vote in the primary, which would mean a win, the two who receive the most votes will face each other in the general election on November 2. Since there are two City Council seats open, all four candidates in the primary will be on the ballot on November 2, and those who receive the most votes will be elected to the two seats.

There is a way to size them up: listen to what they said at the one and only debate among all candidates on May 4 (through Channel 20 live streaming over the city's website) or read their views on their web sites (listed later here). It can be revealing.

Here is a summary of where they stand on the main issues, taken first from the debate (the questions asked of mayoral and City Council candidates were not the same) and then from their websites :

Mayoral Candidates at the Debate

1. What to do about the city budget?

Grantham: We need to find new revenue sources.

Farrell: The budget is the city's biggest problem. The city is spending more money every year than we take in with taxes. And with the labor contracts that keep getting signed, government employees are guaranteed raises and cost of living adjustments automatically, whether they are doing the job or not. Whether or not they are obstructing business and in turn economic growth, they not only get paid, but they get raises. We are rewarding inefficiency and even sloth. I propose that with the next employee contract we change from the status quo — ensuring people’s jobs and giving raises whether they get the job done or not — to a "goal-oriented" and "achievement-based" compensation formula. We need to make it clear that there will be NO RAISES for at least two years and if the cost of medical insurance goes up, they will have to cover it.

Winholtz: City savings have been used to balance the budget yearly. I have opposed this practice. We need to balance our budget by focusing on revenue enhancement and expense reduction. On the revenue side, we need to help business to encourage creativity and aggressiveness. We also need better oversight of staff projects to reduce waste, a review of hiring and promotion, reduce staff through attrition and staff reorganization.

Yates: More budget cuts are needed. Stop using reserves to balance the budget. Too little attention has been paid to increasing revenues. The best way to increase city revenues is to increase tourism, our largest, by far, "industry." Increased tourism translates into more hotel and sales tax money. Make it easier to get business permits to expand businesses.

2. What should the budget priorities be?

Grantham: Emergency services should be the top priority, which are police and fire. Then the storm drain system, roads.

Farrell: Fire and police departments.

Winholtz: About 75% of budget is for personnel. We need to become more efficient, more effective with less. And how we use volunteers more effectively, such as in parks and other places.

Yates: Public safety, police, fire and harbor patrol. Tourism and more cuts in the budget should be made.

3. What are your views on the wastewater treatment plant upgrade being developed by the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA)?

Grantham: We (the JPA board) is on a path (toward a plant upgrade). We are open to other forms of treatment. But it is going to be more expensive in the long run. I am for (water) reclamation. I don't see it happening right away.

Farrell: The JPA is making great progress (toward building the upgrade). But it should have looked at alternatives. I would support holding off on awarding the contract for design-build until PERC Water was able to make a full presentation and formal proposal for its plan.

Winholtz: I support where we are now (with the upgrade plan). We have looked at the standard method. But it is critical to make (the) right choice and go to reclamation (of water). Why wait? We should go for the best and cheapest. Alternative technology may be one-third cheaper. Why not review it? Hopefully we will.

Yates: We have let the contract. We would have to change now in the middle of stream. Costs would go up. PERC Water is too late.

4. What are your views on tourism?

Grantham: Touirism is down because of the economy. The city has to encourage tourism.

Farrell: Tourism is our No. 1 thing. We need to make sure not to cut the promotion budget. The city needs to invest some money in tourism attractions, like a maritime museum.

Winholtz: The city provides money for the county Visitors & Conference Bureau, city's Community Promotions Committee, and the Chamber of Commerce's Visitors Center. We need to bring in a person to coordinate all activities (to promote tourism) and have one person accountable. Some things haven't always been well coordinated.

Yates: Our city industry is tourism, and it pays pretty much everything. We need to hire a full-time promotions person, a marketing person who will spend 40 hours a week writing press releases, articles, on the phone, hosting travel writers, attending travel trade shows, getting our name out. We also need to re-invent the Embarcadero. Replace the street lamps, paint the lamp posts, fly banners from the posts, drastically reduce the street signage, paint the curbs, bring back street entertainment on weekends and during the summer, roving ambassadors (volunteers), flags everywhere. And get the maritime museum off the ground once and for all.

5. What do you see as the role of the mayor?

Grantham: The mayor is leader of the Council and leads by example. The mayor represents the Council and sets the tone for meetings. I want to thank our (current) mayor for keeping everything in line.

Farrell: The mayor has to be a leader. The mayor needs to stand up, give directions, get the Council to come together and lead by example. I think Rodger Anderson was best mayor. He did a heckuva job. He gave clear direction to staff.

Winholtz: The mayor has the same vote as the other Council members. The mayor runs the meetings, sets the agenda, represents the city, and sets the style. It's surprising to me that the city doesn't do a lot of reaching out to other agencies. That would be more beneficial. On the wastewater treatment plant, we will have to go before the Coastal Commission. We should have those discussions now.

Yates: The mayor is the one person citizens can turn to when they can't get anywhere with the bureaurcracy. The mayor can be accessible and can have influence over city staff.

6. What problems do you see in implementing your ideas.

Grantham: It takes money, and the problem we have is budget shortfalls. We need to to look at other revenue sources. The mayor has to get consensus on things that they believe in and want to put forward, and to do that, you have to have the ability to work with people, you have to be open-minded, be willing to change, willing to tweak a little bit where you are coming from, and the ability to work with other people. You need to be an example for others and be a full-service mayor who gives the job everything you have. The biggest thing is getting informaation, being able to relay it in a clear and concise way to people you work with, and fight for what you believe in.

Farrell: We need to use business stimulation to raise revenues. It's going to take a complete change in thinking. This town has always been very conservative in its thinking and in the use of its money. I think we need to be a little more more risk takers, and frankly I don't think it is much of a risk to invest in our own community. But we are going to have to pry the hands of city staff off that money. They want it and are going to get it if we don't change the way we are doing things. I don't believe we can give raises we can't afford. Everybody loves to do that. But would you bankrupt yourself to do it? That's where we are heading. It makes sense to stop. So I have called for a two-year freeze on wages and benefits while we try to get these other things going. Like take over the state park. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are generated from fees and leases. I think they would love to hand the park over to us. We need to change our own thinking. We need to be more creative and be willing to take a bit of a risk.

Winholtz: I think, rather than look at them as problems, it is better to look at them as opportunities. Certainly money is the first thing we always say is a deterrent to fulfilling our wishes. If you look at some of the things we have accomplished in town, it was because people have taken the initiative. They have thought outside the box. We have used residents as resources. One example is the downtown visioning process over the last two weeks. It happened solely because Noah Smukler said we need to do this and didn't ask the Council or staff. He said I'm going to do this. He pulled some people together and did it. I think we have lots of opportunities if we invest in getting people active. Look what's happening to our library. We were able to turn that into a use we can all take advantage of. It's something that goes beyond money. It's about determination, about perseverance, and about having a vision to get what the community wants as a place to live that we enjoy and want others to enjoy. I don't think we need a Council going in one direction. Each of us has our own peg and together it gives a bigger pool of choices.

Yates: I agree with Grantham about consensus building. We need to take a look at all candidates, and it is good to have diversity, but at the same time, we need people going in the same direction. We do need to build consensus. I would need to build a consensus to have a Council majority. If I have two more people with me, then we have political will to get things done. The most important thing is to have some people on the Council who are aligned. If you are pro-business and can see the connection between being pro-business and that being pro-citizen, then I would vote for the pro-business person. If not, nothing gets done that way.

Mayoral Candidates at the Debate             Mayoral Candidate Website Highlights

City Council Candidates at the Debate             City Council Candidates Website Highlights

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