Contra Costa Times
For the four candidates in Clayton's City Council race, the goals are mostly the same: keep the town financially afloat and draw businesses downtown.
The question is whether the current council has done enough.
Incumbents David Shuey and Hank Stratford both endorse each other, saying the current council has done a good job steering the town through the financial crisis.
Challengers Jim Diaz and Ted Meriam agree the city is doing well, but say it could do more to bring businesses downtown.
Shuey was first elected to the council in 2002; Stratford was first elected in 2006. Diaz has run for City Council twice before, in 2006 and 2008. Meriam is new to city politics, though he serves on the city's Planning Commission.
Diaz said he wants to serve on the City Council to focus the city's attention generating new revenue, protecting public safety and shifting trail maintenance to volunteers.
Meriam said as a young man who grew up in Clayton, he understands the city's "deep history" and could bring a fresh perspective to the council.
Shuey said he has good connections among Clayton families, because he has children in elementary, middle and high school. He also said his training as a lawyer has already saved the city thousands in legal fees.
Stratford said he wants to continue serving the community because he thinks he can still do some good for Clayton. "Clayton's a good little town. We're doing well," he said.
Both incumbents said the city has done what it can to spur development downtown, but the flagging economy has made it hard to draw new businesses. "I think we're really doing a good job and we're suffering with the economy," Shuey said.
Both challengers, Diaz and Meriam, said the council should do more to woo businesses to the city's downtown.
"What I don't think they're doing is aggressively trying to attract (businesses) or promote (business development)," Meriam said.
Diaz said the city should offer tax breaks or other incentives.
"They haven't been thinking outside the box and bringing businesses to downtown Clayton," Diaz said.
Stratford said it has been hard to get development moving downtown in recent years, but said it is not the city's fault.
"We've tried to give some incentives to developers ... it's not easy," Stratford said. "It's just a matter of finding people who want to come in."
Meriam said the city should have picked a local developer for the Flora Square project, noting that the site is still empty after the original developer foreclosed on the project.
Shuey, on the other hand, said the city picked a developer with a good plan. But like with many other projects, the economy got in the way.
"That developer couldn't, at the end, weather the economic downturn," Shuey said. It is still a good development, he said. "We have a new owner over there ... there are people waiting to move in," Shuey said.
Diaz and Meriam both proposed extending the city's boundary farther out Marsh Creek Road.
"Even if we expand it doesn't mean we have to develop it," Meriam said. "It's an area that potentially could be developed over time."
Both Stratford and Shuey said that would be a bad move, as any change to the county's Urban Limit Line would prompt other cities to try to expand in other places. "That's going to create a nightmare for us," Shuey said. "There's no way we're going to be able to (expand Clayton's boundary) in a vacuum."
All except Diaz said they support adding second-floor residential units in new downtown developments; Diaz said office uses would be better.
Diaz and Meriam also both said the city could be saving money in other ways, like by outsourcing landscaping work.
Meriam said the city has not gone far enough on pension reform for its employees, saying the new two-tier pension program is not enough. He said the city should look at using 401(k) plans for employees, instead.
And Diaz said the city should not be involved in a community character education program, saying character traits should be taught at school, home and church. Meriam said the city's involvement in such a plan should be minimal, and that he does not support putting banners around town.
The City Council approved the character education plan in September. The plan was developed by a committee that included Stratford and representatives from local schools, businesses and the police department.
