City Council Top Priorities
Given my experience in Finance, one of the first things I did after deciding to run for City Council was to visit the City's Budget Office and pick up a copy of the two-inch thick Operating Budget. I was pleased to learn that the budget was formulated around four priorities that were set in consultation with Palo Alto citizens:
-- Global Climate Protection
-- Sustainable Budget
-- Emergency Planning
Citizen participation is invited, as the Council will reset its Top Four City Council Priorities on an annual basis.
I will also offer support and cooperation to our new Police Chief Dennis Burns in advancing his declared top priority, Community Policing and improved Community / Police relations. Let the mending begin.
I will advocate for broader participation in setting the priorities each year. Once priorities have been established, I will diligently work to guard those priorities.
A sure way to protect the momentum of forward progress is to avoid getting distracted on issues that might seem important at the time, but are not aligned with the declared priorities. Keeping an intense focus will allow the Council to be decisive and get the job done. I will honor and strengthen the tradition of setting priorities to reflect the greatest public benefit. Once the community has spoken, we’ll get moving on implementing these plans.