Redwood City Council races heat up

Meanwhile, District 6 voters, which include residents from parts of the Mt. Carmel, Central, Woodside Plaza, Roosevelt and Eagle Hill neighborhoods, will have their choice between Councilmember Diane Howard and Jerome Madigan, a Realtor, minister and member of the Housing and Human Concerns Committee.

And three are running in District 2, made up of residents in the Downtown, Centennial and Bair Island neighborhoods. In that race, voters will choose between Margaret Becker, chair of the city’s Housing and Human Concerns Committee, Chris Sturken who sits on the county’s LGBTQ Commission and was recently named to the Redwood City Planning Commission, and Alison Madden, a housing attorney.

Whichever candidates are elected will adopt a portfolio of issues with which to grapple — growing the city’s housing stock, managing a budget that faces significant deficits, supporting small businesses and tackling environmental threats.

District 2 highlights

Major financial woes may be looming for the city amid pandemic-induced economic uncertainty and small businesses also grappling with their own recovery will likely need support from City Hall.

With that in mind, Becker said she’d like to see the city review where costs can be cut internally and to share services with neighboring agencies to help balance the budget. As for small businesses, Becker said officials should not consider implementing additional fees that would only add to many’s burden.

“The future of budgeting is going to come in cutting costs at the city level, consolidating departments and sharing services. That’s really where we’re going to make significant savings,” Becker said.

Sturken cautioned officials from making cuts in departments that provide essential services, noting the city needs to rebuild trust with groups like firefighters and “walk in lockstep with our unions at every step of the way to ensure that we are maintaining a good relationship with city employees as well as ensuring city employees can afford to live in our community.”

When thinking of small businesses, Sturken said driving foot traffic downtown is key and argued additional rental units in the area is one way to accomplish that goal. Getting residents off the street and into housing would also support businesses by reducing the number of negative confrontations, Sturken said, suggesting the city could work closer with nonprofits already interfacing with unhoused residents.

“Balancing the budget is always a challenge. I do not believe that businesses, specifically small businesses, should have to bare the brunt of balancing the budget,” Sturken said.

Alternatively, Madden spoke in favor of a business license tax but one that would treat large companies differently than small- and medium-sized businesses in the city that Madden said currently feel disproportionally affected.

Continuing the city’s street closure and parklet programs implemented during the pandemic is another method for supporting small businesses, she said. Similarly, Sturken said the city should consider expanding that program to merchants on Broadway that are closer to the train tracks after he said they told him they felt like an “afterthought.”

Candidates also found quick common ground on environmental issues. They all shared full support for the city’s move to all-electric building policies while advocating for doing more. Becker advocated for full enforcement of reach codes, which initially made concessions for some business types; while Madden suggested downtown be made a green district; and Sturken said the city should focus on increasing the number of electric vehicle charging stations.

All three candidates said they would like to see the Cargill salt ponds site returned to the public domain and restored to marshlands rather than being developed. Developing east of Highway 101 should be a cautious task, they agreed.

“The people of Redwood City have made it very clear that they don’t want high-density development east of 101,” said Madden, a longtime advocate for Docktown: a floating community in Redwood City’s marina that’s faced evictions since 2013 following legal challenges. “I think some of the low-impact housing can be done there — tiny home lots, RV lots, well-managed camp lots — but I think there should absolutely be nothing built on what is the salt flats.”

While Madden advocated for new building models — like small homes and for protecting naturally affordable types of housing like RV parks — as a method for addressing the affordable housing crisis, Sturken stressed the value of building near transit, supporting the development of accessory dwelling units and keeping people housed in the first place.

Meanwhile, Becker touted the work she’s done around issues like inclusionary zoning and anti-displacement policy. If elected, she said she would look to continue that work with a focus on expanding housing units at all affordability levels, essential worker housing and establishing a homebuyer program.

“I’ve been at the forefront of developing housing policy for a long time,” Becker said. “That’s the type of work that I’ve been doing at the grass level, boots on the ground for years.”

District 6 highlights

On the other hand, Howard and Madigan largely agree on how to address issues within the city. Neither supported raising taxes on residents to help deal with projected budget deficits and instead advocated for finding new sources of revenue to balance the budget while reviewing internal practices for greater efficiencies.

Both candidates shared similar support for the city’s efforts to transition to all-electric development while stressing that it be done in a phased approach to ensure the grid can support the move and the city reduces any burden placed on the community.

“We need to do it in a measured way. We need to make sure that we’re paying attention to the reality of the situation and make sure that it’s realistic however we move,” Madigan said.

They also spoke about the importance of supporting small businesses, both noting they try to frequent local establishments regularly. If elected, Madigan said he would like to see a greater emphasis on encouraging residents to also shop local.

Pulling from her time on the council, Howard highlighted the value in collaboration between businesses, their representing associations and city officials, especially during the health crisis. She also touted the city’s street closure and parklet programs, which they are currently codifying.

The candidates did differ slightly when discussing the Cargill salt ponds. Like the District 2 candidates, Howard said she’d like to see the site returned to the public domain and restored to marshlands. In contrast, Madigan said he “mostly sides with keeping it green and preserved” but wouldn’t want to take the issue of developing the area completely off the table given the high demand for housing in the city.

He also spoke in favor of greater transit-oriented housing as a way to help address the housing crisis. Howard also cosigned the idea, noting it’s one of many being incorporated into the city approach to bolstering its housing stock along with upzoning busy areas along El Camino Real, Woodside Road and Veterans Boulevard and adopting anti-displacement policies.

“We’re not alone. Every city has this problem but I think we’re a leader in what we do,” Howard said.

Councilmember Elmer Martinez Saballos was recently appointed to represent District 4 after Michael Smith stepped down from the role to tend to family matters on the East Coast. Like Eakin, Smith’s race was also uncontested when he ran in 2020.

Also elected that year were Councilmember Jeff Gee in District 1, Councilmember Lissette Espinoza-Garnica in District 3 and Councilmember Alicia Aguirre in District 7. Their terms will expire in 2024. Mayor Giselle Hale opted not to run for reelection.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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