Beryl Baker, Ward I City Council Candidate

Beryl Baker, Green Party candidate for City Council, answers our questions below:
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Q1) What would your first priorities be as a Ward I council member?  

I would invite the neighborhood leaders and other constituents to meet with me and express their opinions about the issues of the Ward. As a founding member and facilitator of the Santa Cruz South West Neighborhood Association and Desert Voices Coalition, I know how important my neighbors' input can be. I have participated in numerous committees including the Storm Water Management Study Committee (15 years) and Neighborhood Infill Coalition. I was part of the neighborhood team which got the West Branch of the Santa Cruz bought by the County for a conservation area.   I am sure the planning and advice that came from these meetings made a positive difference and continues to make a difference in our city.  

New programs and fancy reports are no substitute for old fashioned opportunities to talk to the public and listen to their ideas.  We can use the neighborhood meetings and coalitions as a starting point for open communication between the community and the City Council. I want to seek community ideas for solutions to the issues and discuss how the solutions might effect different parts of the Ward as well as the City. I will work with them to come up with plans to deal with the issues in a way that would solve the issues while protecting the needs, wants and concerns of the Ward at large as well as citywide.

Q2) What do you see as the main need or needs in Ward I?

Traffic congestion is our main concern now. ll the road construction going on in Ward 1, and limited access roads to get around during rush hours adds to frustration, and traffic safety concerns.

This is a perfect opportunity to provide good bus service to encouarage people out of their cars. Once people were used to riding the bus as a habit (which must be as convinent as possible) then when the roads are no longer under construction people would have seen the economical, and environmental advantages to continuing to use public transportation.


Q3) How would you approach the Rio Nuevo situation?


The concerns I had about Rio Nuevo at its start are becoming evident as it snails along. Those concerns included:
higher taxes for long term residents;
money sunk into engineer and design studies as yet bearing little fruit;
additional traffic problems;
land give-aways, against the protest of citizens, that have destroyed icons;
ride roughshod over long standing plans for areas, again against the protest of long time residents, by giving special consideration to developers who have not only not come through in their plans but if and when they do will help destroy more of the archtectural history of the area.

Plan Downtown with the structures that give downtown its character. Look at projects holistically at how they are going to effect the entire area. For instance, the sports park on Ajo uses acres of land for parking. Where are they going to put all the additional cars for all the proposed projects in the downtown area?

(Enlarging 4th Ave underpass, if it gets done, and extending Aviation has the potential of having negative impact on the quaintness of 4th Ave stores by increasing through traffic flow down the street. Right now 4th Ave has become what people are envisioning downtown to return to.)

I would like the council and planners to listen to the concerns, suggestions, and ideas of citizens of Tucson

Stop finding ways to keep people from going downtown (making traffic more congested with less lanes). Provide methods of free parking (businesses could stamp parking garage tickets when people shop or buy from their store). If TICET is going to continue to be financed make it more user friendly so people can actually use to get around (knowing when it is expected to arrive at a stop would help)

Increasing presences of police officers has been a positive move.


Q4) What is your feeling about open vs. closed meetings?

In general I don't approve of closed meetings. Though I understand in some cases like when receiving legal advice they may be necessary. Another reason a closed meeting might be needed is for employee privacy, in personnel discussions, where the employee should be invited, but not the public.

Q5) Would you have a strong policy in this regard, especially for subcommittees that are currently sometimes meeting behind closed doors?

Most meetings, including subcommittees should be open to the public. In order for the public to be informed and be able to participate in decisions about the city the public must be able to be informed which includes the opportunities to attend meetings.

Q6) Is there anything you feel needs to be changed in the way the current
council operates?

Interestingly enough, the issue that I would most like to change has three different opportunities for improvement being presented to the neighborhoods now. I want the City to seek advice from neighborhoods that talk to each other.  
There are three meetings being put together to talk about how to create greater involvement by the public through the neighborhoods.

When the council makes decisions, I think that they should look at how that decision will effect the whole city as well as whether it helps toward a sustainable future.

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