Five candidates in Belmont are lined up to fill three vacant seats on the City Council, with two newcomers facing off against two incumbents and a former mayor.

Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach has served on the council for 10 years now and is seeking her third full term on the council. Councilman Warren Lieberman is finishing up his first full term on council and Dave Warden, former mayor, is looking to rejoin the council after stepping down two years ago.

Current Councilman Bill Dickenson is not seeking re-election, leaving two first-time candidates, Gin Nikoloff and Michael McGuinness, the opportunity to add a fresh voice or two to the council.

The five candidates have varying views on issues ranging from the Belmont Sports Complex, parks preservation, downtown, declining property tax revenue and consolidating services with other cities.

The Belmont Sports Complex has been an issue in the city for years. Lieberman notes the complex is showing signs of aging and that demand for its use exceeds its capacity. Lieberman supports making sports-related improvements to the facility.

Warden supports installing artificial turf on the north field but does not support the use of redevelopment money for the sports complex due to legal concerns.  

McGuinness says the sports complex needs to be enhanced and could eventually become a draw to attract more visitors to Belmont. Nikoloff wants to build up the complex to accommodate more sports events at the facility and generate revenue for the city.

Parks are a big issue in the city and Feierbach tried unsuccessfully this past year to pass a measure that would permanently protect the city’s 17 parks by allowing Belmont residents to vote on whether to allow future development at any of the parks.

It is a mission the councilwoman is still on as she intends to reintroduce the measure again in her next term. Lieberman, however, said Feierbach’s proposal might lead to unintended consequences and said state law already offers parks a great level of protection.

But McGuinness thinks the council has more important tasks at hand than this issue.

“I would much rather see the council focus on more relevant issues to the community such as revitalizing our business community and dealing with the state’s budgeting crisis and the impending impacts,” he said.

Warden supports Feierbach’s approach to protecting the city’s parks and Nikoloff said some of the parks are underutilized and should be set up as full-service parks so residents would enjoy them more.

The city is hoping to one day have a true downtown area and each candidate has separate thoughts on boosting the city’s center.

McGuinness said Belmont needs to brand itself.

“We need to focus on building a brand like ‘Destination Belmont’ or ‘Dine Around the World in Belmont’ to attract  more visitors,” he said.

Lieberman wants to consolidate some smaller parcels in downtown to allow for greater uses in the future.

“The city should review its zoning policies and modify those that inhibit smart development,” Lieberman said.

Warden said the council should continue to increase code enforcement compliance and offer development fee waivers and greater incentives for beautification and facade improvements and Feierbach said business retention is vital for the future. Nikoloff, who owns the Beli Deli cafe, said the city needs to do a better job at bridging the gap with commercial land owners who are not often involved in discussions on the future of downtown.

Belmont faces millions in losses in state takeaways and trimmed $1 million from its budget this year to balance its budget. It also shares fire services with San Carlos and participates in other joint powers authorities that reduces redundancy at the operational and administrative levels.

“Belmont already sets a great example for other cities to follow with it’s over 20-plus joint power authorities today. Belmont should continue evaluating its services and share with others when appropriate,” McGuinness said.

Lieberman agrees, saying the city’s resources are getting stretched more and more each year.

“Working cooperatively with neighboring cities to provide equal or better services at lower costs is hard to argue with. We already do this in several areas other than our fire service,” Lieberman said.

Warden praised the current city staff, including City Manager Jack Crist, for managing the city well.

“Belmont has always been a fiscally well-managed city.  Because of the exceptional foresight of our city staff and the numerous past corrective budgetary actions taken by the council, Belmont can absorb these income reductions internally. With the use of our reserves, Belmont should not have to cut city services,” Warden said.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.