It’s all about money in South San Francisco, specifically being prudent with funds while trying to support local businesses, according to answers given by four City Council candidates at a forum last night.

Community volunteer Kamala Silva Wolfe is challenging incumbents Mark Addiego, Pedro Gonzalez and Karyl Matsumoto for one of the three seats on the South San Francisco City Council. On Monday, the candidates participated in a forum hosted by the local parent teachers’ association and ran by the League of Women Voters. Among the concerns were maintaining a conservative budget while maintaining services and supporting local businesses.

Budgets are hard for all cities, particularly when the state passes a budget that includes taking funds away from a city after its budget was passed. Such was the case this year and continues to be the fear for the year ahead. Those reasons resulted in putting finances as the number one issue facing the city according to all four candidates.

Addiego said it will be important to maintain essential services, not just emergency services but also public works. Thankfully, the city has healthy reserves, he noted, which could be used in an emergency.

Matsumoto said the difficulty in creating a budget is approving a balanced budget and then losing funds as a decision from the state. The challenge now is maintaining the services without pushing the impact fully on residents, she said.

Gonzalez agreed with his fellow councilmembers noting these financial challenges are the worst he’s seen in his tenure and will most likely continue for the next two years.

Silva Wolfe suggested taking a line-by-line budgeting approach to really be sure programs that are receiving funds are working; a point with which Addiego agreed. A follow-up question asked other candidates their opinions on the idea. Gonzalez was supportive of the idea, but said it will take much time.  Matsumoto was not against this, but noted the massive budgets are not the council’s to be micromanaged. It should be a focused effort if undertaken.

Secondly, Silva Wolfe wanted to focus on creating job opportunities.

Gonzalez argued there are jobs in South City, but the training needs to be promoted. Businesses on the east side of Highway 101, for example, are bringing employees from other countries he said, rather than hiring locally.

Revitalizing the downtown has been a topic of conversation for some time in South San Francisco. The city is close to finishing a plan for the area, including a vision for multi-use. When asked what they would like to see in the downtown, candidates were really talking about bringing people into the area.

Silva Wolfe and Addiego noted a parking garage is underway, which will bring people. People need a place to park, to increase traffic, and hopefully become a draw for larger businesses, Silva Wolfe said, which will benefit smaller businesses. Addiego agreed adding he hopes the increase will create a renaissance of businesses.

Matsumoto said building up, as in building market-rate housing above the retail development, will help for multiple reasons. First, it will support the businesses in the area. Second, it will create more affordable housing options while allowing people a greener living option.

How available city officials are currently was a topic of disagreement for the candidates.

Gonzalez said homeowners associations were a good place to start. He explained some misinformation was released recently about the need to pay a fee to speak with the council, which is completely untrue.

Addiego and Matsumoto both noted they are available often, even when out and about around town.

Silva Wolfe did not see city officials as being as accessible as their answers would allude. She wanted the city attorney to spend time creating a template as a guide to promote neighborhood groups.

A contentious moment occurred when one public question noted an e-mail Silva Wolfe penned previously in which her anger included negative comments about Gonzalez’s accent. The questioner noted that using a slur is not the standard or ethical move of someone running for office and asked for a comment. Neither Silva Wolfe nor Gonzalez responded.

Matsumoto and Addiego did.

Matsumoto noted people, especially those in the public eye, should be aware of what they say and how it can hurt others. Addiego agreed but added this incident is one most people have been guilty of at one time or another. He encouraged people to be more accepting of one another.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.