You asked, they answered: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, City Council candidate

1. What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make in your professional life?

They were decisions I made in my first job after graduating from college. I was a probation officer for Plumas County, a small rural county in the beautiful Feather River Canyon, with only 4 probation officers in the entire county. We divided the county into quadrants and handled every case that occurred in our region – juveniles, adults, misdemeanors, felonies. The difficult decisions I made involved writing pre-sentence recommendation reports for the court that outlined appropriate sentences for adults convicted of crimes, or dispositions in the case of juvenile offenders. Working within sentencing guidelines, I still had discretion, when drafting my recommendations and conditions of probation, to consider the nature of the crime, input from victims and their families, whether this was a repeat offender, potential for rehabilitation and appropriate restitution. I was acutely aware that my decisions affected many lives and spent hours interviewing victims and their families, the defendant or juvenile offender, their families, law enforcement personnel, employers and teachers, in order to produce a thorough, well-reasoned recommendation. And my pre-sentence recommendations were almost always adopted by the court. I continue to approach the decisions I make as an arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau, and as a Planning Board member, in the same way.

My experience as a probation officer highlighted for me the importance of a good basic education – most of my adult caseload were functionally illiterate and my juvenile offenders were often struggling students – and the need for job training programs and jobs that pay decent wages so people, especially young people, are engaged in constructive activities and able to support themselves and their families. The importance of family, or some caring figure in a young person’s life also cannot be overstated.

2. Explain your understanding of the current state of the City Budget.

In June, the City Council adopted the Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. Assistant City Manager Lisa Goldman reported that the City’s proposed expenditure budget, excluding transfers, is $160 million, 40% of which comes from the General Fund, the City’s main source of unrestricted funds. To address a projected $5.1 million budget deficit, all City departments reduced their budgets, but avoided reducing core services, e.g., no reduction in Recreation and Parks programs or hours of operations for Main Library and branch libraries. The City also relied on certain “one-time” funds, negotiated increased employee contribution rates to PERS (the state Public Employee Retirement System), and closed the city jail to close the budget gap. The current City Budget includes a 24% reserve, but Ms. Goldman cautioned that these General Fund reserves will be exhausted by Fiscal Year 2016-2017, unless corrective actions are taken. (Transmittal letter from Lisa Goldman to City Council, dated June 26, 2012)

3. Much is made of the City’s “unfunded liabilities,” briefly explain the issue and what solutions, if any, do you feel should be pursued.

The term “unfunded liabilities” applies when the City’s financial obligation for employee pension and retiree healthcare costs exceeds the actuarial value of the City’s assets to pay these obligations.

To cover its pension and retiree healthcare obligation, the City contributes a percentage of its payroll to CalPERS, the State pension fund it contracts with to manage employee benefits. In years when CalPERS investments perform favorably, the City’s contribution percentage can decrease. Conversely, when the rates of return on CalPERS investments are lower than expected, as they have been since the 2008 stock market crash, the City must increase its contribution to meet these obligations.

The major factors underlying Alameda’s unfunded liability are the decline of CalPERS investment returns and increased life expectancy of employees. Some steps have been taken to reduce the City’s unfunded liabilities, including agreements by police and fire unions last summer to reduce certain healthcare benefits, but more work needs to be done to ensure the city’s long-term financial stability.

Because pension obligations are governed by State law and existing contracts, they are more challenging to modify, whereas OPEB (Other than pension post-employment benefits) obligations such as medical, death and disability benefits offer more flexibility because they are generally determined by Memoranda of Understanding (MOU’s) with the City Council.

The City is pursuing methods to reduce both its OPEB and PERS costs. The City Manager appointed a Pension and OPEB Task Force to explore solutions to the City’s unfunded liabilities. Some possible solutions the task force discussed include negotiating with employees to pay more toward the employer PERS contribution, exploring a two-tier system where employees hired after a certain date are subject to a different retirement benefit formula, changing from using the single highest year of salary to an average of the highest three years when calculating benefits, and a combination of all of these options. I think all of the methods proposed by the task force should be explored, bearing in mind that there are no instant, “silver bullet” solutions to eliminate the unfunded liability. I would favor solutions that balance significant savings for the City with fairness to City employees. The Pension and OPEB Task Force will report its findings to the City Council in October.

4. Explain how you, as a member of the City Council, would address these issues facing Alameda; falling revenues, increasing costs, deferred expenses and Alameda Point redevelopment.

Falling Revenues: Alameda’s major source of General Fund revenue is property taxes; the second largest revenue source is a combination of other taxes — utility users, franchise, transfer, vehicle and hotel taxes. These tax revenues represent 75% of the 2012-2013 General Fund Budget. Sales tax contributes another 7%. To increase these major revenue sources, we need to assure that Alameda’s property values remain strong by supporting our schools because good schools are a major reason new families come to Alameda and the reason families with children stay here. By attracting new businesses and retail establishments to Alameda, we will create jobs and also increase revenue from utility user, franchise and sales taxes.

Increasing Costs: See responses to Questions 2 & 3.

Deferred Expenses: For some deferred expenses, such as road repair, we should be able to obtain Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) grants now that Alameda has adopted a Housing Element. It is essential to address deferred maintenance expenses for City infrastructure such as roads and sewer lines because these items often cost more to repair or replace when regular maintenance has been deferred. It can also leave the City vulnerable in emergency situations such as a bad storm or an earthquake.

Alameda Point Redevelopment: My vision for the future of Alameda Point aligns with the City of Alameda General Plan, the 1996 NAS Alameda Community Reuse Plan, and community input from subsequent Alameda Point workshops. That is, that Alameda Point would contain a mix of employment, open space, recreational, residential and retail uses, and would be transit-oriented, walkable and environmentally sustainable. The three steps I would advocate to implement that vision are:

1. Completion of negotiations with the Navy regarding transfer of Alameda Point to the City, including any outstanding issues such as level and extent of clean-up still to be completed by the Navy.
2. Amendment of the existing zoning for Alameda Point which is still zoned M-2/G (General Industry/Government Overlay) from its years as a Navy base. The Planning Board will soon consider recommending that the City Council approve amending Alameda Point zoning to include six sub-districts and a variety of land uses. This rezoning will ensure that redevelopment of Alameda Point is consistent with community goals set forth in the Reuse Plan and subsequent workshops, and also informs prospective Alameda Point businesses and development partners of what type of development will be allowed in particular areas.
3. The City should begin actively marketing and promoting new business and employment opportunities at Alameda Point, to add to the growing collection of businesses currently located there and increase revenues generated at Alameda Point.

5. Explain your position on employee negotiations and the role of the public in this process.

Labor negotiations with public unions are governed by State law. In Alameda, the City Manager is the City’s principal representative in matters involving Employer-Employee relations, including wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment, but takes direction from the City Council on these matters. The City Council will deliberate new contract or MOU proposals in open session, at which time the public can offer input. There are other opportunities for public input, for example, the Pension and OPEB Task Force referenced in my response to Question 3.

6. As an elected official what is your specific role in promoting civic engagement as opposed to staff’s role?

A staff report of a proposed resolution to adopt a public participation policy included these excellent observations:

1. An engaged public makes for better, and easier, decision-making at city hall.
2. The best engagement always begins as early in the decision-making process as possible.
3. Public engagement is a key component for community building and minimizes public distrust in local government.
4. Successful public engagement requires investment up front.

(April 17, 2012 Staff Report to City Council)

The role of Staff is to present information to the City Council based on their research and investigation of a particular issue, and make recommendations to the council. Staff also conduct public workshops to inform and engage the public, for example, on the redevelopment of Alameda Point and recently, regarding the replacement of Fire Station 3. As an elected official, I would adhere to all of the principles listed above, to encourage civic engagement. As an Alameda resident, I would also have opportunities to interact informally with the public, outside of City Council meetings and workshops, which is another way to hear residents’ concerns and help keep community members informed of what their city is doing. In my 6 years on the Planning Board, I have had residents call and e-mail me about Planning Board issues, or stop me at the grocery store or at Peet’s, to ask questions or report a problem with some City department. I welcome these exchanges.

7. Who is funding your campaign and which groups and individuals have endorsed your candidacy?

My campaign contributions to date have all come from individual donors. A full list of my endorsements can be found on my website: www.marilyn4alameda.com

I have been endorsed by a growing list of organizations and individuals, including the Democratic Party, City of Alameda Democratic Club, National Women’s Political Caucus – Alameda North, East Bay Young Democrats, Alameda County Democratic Lawyers Club, Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Alameda Firefighters, Alameda Police Officers, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 and Teamsters Local 70.

Endorsements by elected officials include Congresswoman Jackie Speier, County Supervisor Wilma Chan, former County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker, Mayor Marie Gilmore, former Mayor and current City Councilmember Beverly Johnson, Councilmember Lena Tam, former City Councilmembers Frank Matarrese and Hadi Monsef, School Board Trustees Ron Mooney and Niel Tam, Oakland City Councilmember Pat Kernighan, AC Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz, AC Transit Board Member Chris Peeples, East Bay Regional Parks District Director Doug Siden, and East Bay Municipal Utility District Director Doug Linney.

8. What current American (not a relative) do you admire the most and why?

President Barack Obama. While I have not agreed with every action the President took in the past four years, I greatly respect and admire his intellect, determination and the calm dignity with which he has conducted himself with foreign leaders and in domestic affairs, faced with a Congress that often seemed more concerned with assuring Obama was a one-term president, than solving our nation’s problems. Add to that his tenacity in pursuing the Affordable Care Act, with a shout out to Chief Justice John Roberts. Four more years.

Bonus Question: There are multiple seats available in the races for City Council, the School Board and the Hospital Board. Besides yourself, who will you be voting for in your race and why?

I’ll pass on this one.