Three Critical Issues
Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection
Carlsbad remains a very strong city because of thoughtful, fiscally
conservative decision making. This must continue. My first commitment is to
protect your tax dollars and keep our city’s finances robust so we can afford
first-class services and facilities and improve infrastructure, without raising
taxes. We need to make sure that every spending decision considers our overall
current fiscal condition and future financial health, avoiding overspending
even for those projects that provide clear potential public benefits. Our
reserves remain strong. I will oppose spending them without a thorough and
public review of that spending. I support increasing the city’s reserve fund to
40 percent of the operating budget rather than the current 30 percent
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Diversifying Carlsbad’s Economic Base
Thanks to wise city policies as we were growing, much of our infrastructure has
been built with the help of the developers who have profited from the fine
neighborhoods they have created for our residents. Now we are nearing the
limits of our physical growth. And yet there is great value in continuing to
grow our economy. If we can’t rely on developer fees to fund and maintain
infrastructure, we must find other sources of income. How?
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We can make sure Carlsbad has a business-friendly environment. This is not
always the case now when considering fees and permitting scenarios.
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We can work hard to attract more clean technologies and businesses to our city.
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Only 30 percent of Carlsbad residents work in the city; we must attract higher
paying jobs so that people can work close to home.
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We can gain revenue by developing tourist-attractive facilities that increase
our tourism sales tax revenues.
The Future of Carlsbad’s historic Village and Barrio represent a perfect
example of initiatives that can help diversity our economic base. A
family-focused and friendly Village and Barrio will invite residents and
tourists alike and will increase sales tax revenues. I will support funding the
new Carlsbad Village Improvement Partners (CVIP) to drive improvements in that
critical area.
I am a businesswoman who understands what makes business succeed – and fail. As
past Chair of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, I understand how to forge
partnerships between city government, businesses and our residents.
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Protecting Our Natural Resources
Our most important natural assets are our city’s beaches, lagoons and open
space. I will work to create a reserve fund and an umbrella organization to
protect our three lagoons and beaches. When they passed Proposition C in 2002,
Carlsbad citizens were promised, among other things, purchase of land for
permanent open space by the city. After six years, this has not been done.
Purchasing some of the open space areas identified by the Citizens’ Committee
is one of my priorities. I will proactively meet with our neighboring cities’
leaders to implement good-neighbor policies and to ensure excellent planning
and cooperation in watershed and water quality issues. I am a strong supporter
of the recently approved desalination plant, which will provide a secure source
of water for Carlsbad well into the future.
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