EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 24, 2016 Page 5 Election 2016 Herald’s Candidate Q & A Carol Pirsztuk Don Brann Drew Boyles Marie Fellhauer Dave Atkinson We do not edit or correct the candidates answers. All answers are limited to 100 words. Good luck to our candidates. #1 How do you feel about the chosen aquatics facility option and how it should be funded? Carol Pirsztuk: There are benefits of having an aquatic center in addition to the plunge. However, by adding the facility the city will incur significant costs. Beyond the construction and maintenance of the facility, the city will have to fund 1) A new two-tier Parks and Recreation Identification card system to accommodate the inclusion of the Wiseburn resident’s 2) Add staff within the Parks and Recreation department to manage the expanded operations. 3) Add fire and police resources to ensure the safety of our residents. Funding for the above costs fall outside the negotiated contract and will be the city’s responsibility. Don Brann: El Segundo has needed a second aquatics center for many years. With another pool in service, the needs of diverse users--competitive water sports and senior recreation swimmers--can be accommodated. The location of the new pool is excellent in that it has adequate parking and can manage traffic. Importantly, there are, of course, no residential issues such as noise, glare, etc. With Wiseburn providing $6M plus $7M (land), the City is more than at the half way mark in funding the aquatics venue. The remaining gap will be closed through corporate and individual contributions, grants, etc. Drew Boyles: The aquatics facility partnership with Wiseburn can be mutually beneficial through fostering competitive swim programs, but El Segundo needs to ensure that its interests are protected in this shared arrangement. Details to carefully consider include: accurate forecasting of maintenance; clear revenue share guidelines; facility reservation and management systems; and equitable use for our citizens. El Segundo has already made some strong concessions to Wiseburn, such as allowing the district to expand its student base substantially, resulting in significantly more funding for the new school, so we must be mindful that we stand our ground in this relationship moving forward. Marie Fellhauer: Because Wiseburn School District covers the east side of El Segundo, they have protected rights and can build a school anywhere within their district, including our city even though they don’t serve our residents. We could have created delays for the inevitable through the CEQA process and otherwise, but instead, we negotiated with Wiseburn to gain something. Wiseburn is funding the lion share of the cost to build a world-class aquatics facility and the City is looking for corporate sponsorships to make up the difference. We made lemonade out of lemons. I support how the pool is being funded. Dave Atkinson: I support the new Aquatics Center. Wiseburn School District donated $6 million, plus $1 million towards equivalent replacement over the lease term. I’m El Segundo’s delegate for this project. We have been waiting over 20 years and it’s finally going to happen! The main pool is 54x25 meters, with 2 moveable bulkheads. This enables us to hold up to 2 or 3 programs at once. The second pool is 20x40 feet, allowing warm-ups, excising, and other water activities. We will attract swimming clubs and teams, resulting in revenue, which will help offset many expenses. El Segundo Rec & Parks will operate and schedule all activities at the Aquatics Center. #2 How much money should the City devote to infrastructure repair and what projects are most important? Carol Pirsztuk: The City Council is responsible for ensuring funds are added to the annual budget for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. Unfortunately, the city has been borrowing money earmarked for infrastructure in order to balance the budget and has differed planned maintenance. As a result, many components of the city’s aging infrastructure now need funding and money is unavailable. One example of a project that needs immediate attention is the replacement of the outdated elevator at the Jocelyn Center. The elevator is continuously broken and at times traps its riders. This a hazard to seniors, handicapped residents and young mothers with strollers. Don Brann: For the 2016/17 Budget Year, the City should allocate around $5 million from the General Fund for infrastructure projects. There is a huge backlog of such work to be undertaken given the deferred maintenance during the Great Recession. It will take years and millions of dollars to remediate the deteriorating conditions of El Segundo streets and buildings. With our streets being the City’s largest asset, we need to re-cap them rather than just slurry coat periodically. Let’s repair/replace the elevator between the parking lot and Joslyn Center to ensure that seniors can get there. Drew Boyles: I will use my MBA in finance and extensive management consulting experience to run a thorough analysis of the city budget to discover that actual spending figure, but it is certain that we ought to invest in technology to improve efficiency and reduce operating expenses overall, including a new city website. Many of our streets and sidewalks are a dilapidated liability. The elevator at Recreation Park should be replaced, as seniors cannot access the Joslyn Center. Campus El Segundo needs new turf, for which we can possibly share the bill with corporate sponsors. Uhari pool requires an extensive, long-overdue overhaul. Marie Fellhauer: Infrastructure in our city has been deferred way too long. We simply can’t afford to continue this practice. We need to devote as much money as practical toward our aging streets, sidewalks, buildings, parks, and lack of technology to streamline our services and to service our community, both residential and businesses (i.e. fiber). Economic development relies on the city being able to keep up with the needs of businesses, so ensuring we have appropriate levels of staffing is also very important. We have a Capital Improvement Program Advisory Committee, whose recommendations I would use to prioritize the cities infrastructure needs. Dave Atkinson: The current City Council set aside 3 million dollars in last years strategic planning. This represents about 5% of our total budget. I believe this practice should continue, but be increased to 4 million. We can’t stop our infrastructure repairs, like we have been doing in the past. The longer we wait the more expensive the repairs cost. More importantly is the safety aspect of our aging buildings, fire and safety equipment, and streets and sewers. This will enable us to start catching up, as it’s long overdue. Lets fix it today! #3 What would you do to improve foot traffic in Downtown El Segundo and what steps would you take to unite different sectors including Downtown, Plaza El Segundo, Smoky Hollow and east of Sepulveda? Carol Pirsztuk: Vision, strategic planning, collaboration, and transparency are requirements for managed progress. By annually reviewing and updating a holistic strategic plan, the city will have the road map they need to optimize each sector of our city as well as drive change that complements our community. To attract and retain businesses in our downtown sector the city needs to convert the civic center into a destination gathering place as well as improve the ascetics of public land and sidewalks, enhance parking signage, and manage current parking restrictions. Additionally, a targeted downtown marketing plan needs to be developed, implemented and managed. Don Brann: Downtown El Segundo, south of Grand, is thriving to the point that parking See Candidate Q & A, page 16
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