2018 Carmel City Council Candidate LandWatch Questionnaire Responses

All candidates are in alphabetical order

Land Use Policy - Affordable Housing

Jeff Baron
What is your position on affordable housing? Please be specific with regards to policies you support or oppose. I believe that Carmel should (A) require more affordable housing (than is now required) when units are built downtown (where the only apartment units can/will be built), and (B) eliminate short term rentals downtown, as these STR units reduce our supply of available rental units.
Do you support modifying city policies to make it easier and cheaper to build housing? If so, what specific policy changes do you support? No.  I support policies that would require downtown developers to include more affordable housing in their developments.
Do you support requiring developers to actually build inclusionary units instead of paying an “in lieu” fee? Yes
Do you support requiring that “inclusionary housing” units be made permanently affordable, even upon resale? If not, please explain. Yes
Do you support requiring developers of hospitality, commercial and industrial projects that significantly increase demand for already scarce housing resources to also build workforce housing? This is not applicable to Carmel.
What other housing policies do you support or oppose?

Water Supplies

Jeff Baron
What specific proposals do you support to ensure your community can meet its water demands without over-drafting groundwater aquifers or, if you live on the Monterey Peninsula, also the Carmel River?
Do you support expansion of Pure Water Monterey as an alternative to building a desalination plant? I support the notion that the community must move forward, and that we as a community have decided that the desalination plant is the correct way to do that.  The Pure Water Monterey proposal appears viable as a proposal, but I would not be willing to hold up progress on the desalination plant.  The community has been fighting for a water supply for decades, and I do not wish to reverse our forward motion.

Sprawl Reduction

Jeff Baron
Do you support the creation of “urban growth boundaries” or expansion of the existing boundary as a way to prevent urban sprawl, and to insure that future growth is compact, efficient, and protective of the environment? If not, what measures would you support to prevent urban sprawl? If yes, will you sponsor an urban growth boundary in the upcoming year, and make it one of your top three priorities This is not applicable to Carmel, which is built out and has well established urban boundaries.

Transportation

Jeff Baron
New commercial developments and hotels create more trips and additional vehicle miles travelled on already overcrowded roads and highways. Both residents and visitors pay the price of delay and increased pollution. What specific traffic congestion relief solutions do you support? For Carmel specifically, I support the following ideas.  1) Investigation into how the city, in cooperation with MST, can more effectively provide, and incentivize, those that come to work in town to take public transportation rather than driving personal automobiles. 1) Investigation into how visitors to town can be encouraged to park out of town, or even to leave their cars at home, including possibly public or private shuttles to and from: airports, parking beyond the city boundaries, and local attractions.
Do you support roundabouts on Highway 68 and other roads? What other transportation policies or practices have you seen that local governments should incorporate? I support staff’s analysis on traffic congestion on the Highway 68 corridor.

Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA)

 
Jeff Baron
What is your position on the Fort Ord Reuse Authority? Do you believe the Authority has achieved its original goals? If so, what evidence do you cite?
Which do you support: 1) sunsetting the Authority in 2020 as current legislation contemplates or 2) extending the Authority beyond that date? If you support extending it, please explain why. I support sunsetting FORA in 2020.
What is your position on the Eastside Parkway/Freeway/Road? I believe that the Eastside Parkway should not be constructed.

Leadership

Jeff Baron
If you are elected, what will be your top three priorities? 1. Seeing that the Carmel city government is made transparent and accountable to its constituents. 2. Addressing ways in which the Carmel city government can begin to address the concerns of its residents, and the slow decline in the community character of our city. 3. Addressing the ways in which Carmel interacts – or does not interact – with the communities around us, and understanding how actions that we take and forces that we experience impact surrounding communities, and vice versa.
What land use policies are you willing to champion for the community? Affordable housing. Sustainable tourism.
What accomplishments in your career or public service are you most proud of? Helping those around me solve problems through critical thinking. My time on the Carmel Forest and Beach Commission.

Background

Jeff Baron
Occupation Retired
Years Lived in Area 13
Education Harvard University, BA in Computer Science
Experience Work experience in Computer Science managing people and projects.  Worked in finance at the beginning of my career.

Carolyn Hardy and Carrie Thies did not respond.