Questions and Answers
with David Durant

1. Why are you seeking this position?

It’s all about serving the community. Quite simply, I am seeking this position to continue helping to make a positive difference in the lives of Pleasant Hill residents and residents of the region. I have a proven track record through nearly nine years of service in a variety of positions (TRANSPAC representative; Airport Land Use Commissioner; Shaping Our Future Steering Committee member; So. Pleasant Hill FEMA Task Force; City Rep. to Regional Committee to Develop a Mutually Agreed Upon Urban Limit Line; Council Rep., Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District Master Plan Task Force; Mayors’ Conference Executive Committee member; Mayors’ Conference City-County Relations Committee member; and Director of two non-profit organizations (Legal Assistance for Seniors and Youth ALIVE!)). And, I have a passion for service. Local government service provides a unique opportunity to serve one’s community and to engage in activities that help people. I want to continue helping to make our city and our county a better place to work, live and raise families. I think that my approach to problem-solving remains relevant: independent, principle-based decision-making; consensus-building; big-picture thinking; and solutions based on reason, open disclosure, professional and respectful communication, and common sense.

2. What will you do to ensure that the Crossroads Shopping Center is completed properly?

After years of disrepair at the collection of properties now known as the Crossroads (formerly known as the Contra Costa Shopping Center or Wards Center), the City Redevelopment Agency stepped in. When we sought developer candidates to make a proposal for a unified development there, we wrote an RFP that sought plans for uses that would compliment and not cannibalize from the Downtown. And, we also knew that the long and tortured history of the site was going to make unified development difficult. Indeed, the project has been complicated.

I have been actively engaged with the developers and neighborhood residents, working to create a development that is both compatible with the Downtown and also neighborhood-friendly, to bring to life a truly quality shopping center that substantially benefits the residents of the area and the City as a whole. Our City worked to expedite the project and work with the developers through a combination of incentives, restrictions, and meaningful compromise, but never simply caving in to expediency or the need for sales tax revenue. We have been realistic, but without abandoning our dreams for a quality and dynamic development at this location. We overcame a set of unique constraints at the Contra Costa Center – from fractured ownership, to area economics, to site pollution, to frivolous lawsuits. Throughout the process, I continued to hold a vision for this property and to work hard to bring it about. And, the results prove it.

We still have work to do at the south end of the Crossroads. The road ahead will continue to take courage, tough negotiations and diligence in getting the developers to make and keep their commitments. It will also require that we reject any effort to increase our contribution to the project or to use Redevelopment Agency funds for a project that fails to substantially meet our goals. We have, can and must continue to use all available, reasonable means to secure the desired ends.

3. How do you plan to help the City of Pleasant Hill weather state budget cuts? How will you help the city be fiscally responsible?

During the past 9 years, I have made tough choices to streamline and improve city services. I’ve fought to protect our budget and ensure effective city services. We adopted a 10-year revolving budget forecast system to augment our 2year budget, so we maintain a vigilant watch on our funds and can be nimble in responding to changes in our revenues and expenses. I approved setting a prudent reserve in Pleasant Hill, and have staunchly supported policies and procedures that require special actions if our reserves dip below a pre-set minimum (a minimum that allows us to meet the City’s cash flow needs and provide essential services without borrowing). We prudently cut services and have maintained a flexible hiring freeze, so that we are using the reserve to avoid layoffs or deeper cuts in services. We planned ahead, and were in a better position than other cities to absorb the State takeaways in 2004 and the barrage of efforts for further takeaways in the years since then. As we get closer to the minimum reserve level, we will make further adjustments in services, as needed.

The only way to weather these difficult budget times is with increased vigilance and agility. I will keep asking difficult questions, studying, lobbying legislators and the Governor, and working to shore up public support for efforts to protect local funds from State budget grabs. And, I will continue seeking opportunities for re-arranging City service priorities to ensure that we effectively use the money entrusted to us. We have also pursued a new economic development plan, to improve our ability to attract and retain business. We are working to bring a quality redevelopment to our city, so that we can maintain and increase revenues and bring needed opportunity to underserved parts of our city. As I have these past 9 years, I will continue to reject projects where developers seek inordinate subsidies from the City or the Redevelopment Agency, or where developers seek to foist excessive costs or risks onto the City. That way, we can preserve and leverage the funds we have so carefully set aside to assist with redevelopment projects.

Finally, I will continue to maintain and cultivate my relationships with Regional, State and Federal leaders. Only by working with other agencies and elected officials can we best position ourselves to protect and leverage our resources and to obtain funding for our more significant projects.

4. What is your vision for future development in Pleasant Hill, which has few vacant land parcels remaining?

My vision for Pleasant Hill is a vision of a brighter future, with a thriving Downtown, a dynamic Crossroads Shopping Center, a library with greater programs and services, more parks, and reasonable, managed development that protects and enhances our existing neighborhoods. We will continue to seek to eliminate blighted areas, through a combination of loans to homeowners who want to improve their properties, and economic incentives for developers who want to improve existing commercial areas through redevelopment. And, we will ensure that future development both adheres to City guidelines and protects the residential character of Pleasant Hill.

5. In your opinion, how has Pleasant Hill done in addressed the following issues:

1. Affordable Housing? – Generally speaking, I think we have done a good job of embracing policies that favor development of affordable housing, including with our General Plan, our Rehabilitation Loan Program, and our support for housing geared to public safety employees and teachers.
   
2. Environmental Issues? – Again, generally speaking, I think we have done well. Our City Council has emphatically insisted on tree preservation and environmental sensitivity in development planning. We have done a good job of protecting open space, where possible, and in supporting appropriate measures that enhance open space opportunities. And, we’ve been proactive in trying to meet and exceed our State-mandated recycling requirements, including by implementing our new mixed-recycling program. We maintained our focus on the environment in our City’s new Design Guidelines. And, as Mayor, I advanced a resolution committing the City to maintain and expand its long-standing efforts to reduce climate disruption by City operations and to reduce waste and emissions. Our City committed to:

1. Adopting and enforcing land-use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact, walkable places within our community;
2. Promoting transportation options such as bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling and public transit;
3. Increasing the use of clean, alternative energy and supporting the use of waste to energy technology;
4. Making energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting and urging employees and residents to conserve energy and save money;
5. Purchasing Energy Star equipment and appliances for City use whenever practical and cost-effective;
6. Practicing and promoting sustainable building practices whenever practical and cost-effective;
7. Increasing the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles; engaging in an employee education program regarding resource management and waste reduction;
8. Increasing recycling rates in City operations and in the community;
9. Promoting tree planting to increase shading and to absorb CO2; and
10. Helping educate the public about these efforts to reduce our impact on the environment.

C. Traffic and infrastructure related issues? – We continue to “fight the good fight” on traffic and infrastructure! We have made significant investments in roadway maintenance, sidewalk creation and handicapped accessibility throughout our city. We have been somewhat constrained, however, by the difficult budgetary environment in which we have operated. Yet, we continue to re-prioritize our Capital Improvement Plan to take advantage of opportunities and to address our infrastructure issues with the long term in mind.

“David keeps his cool under fire, even when things are getting rather nasty, and makes balanced decisions that serve the greater good of the city. We need him on the City Council.”

--Richard Brewer