In The News
Council hopefuls talk business in forum
Wednesday October 22, 2008
By By Jon Chown
source: http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=5992
The Watsonville Register-Pajaronian, October 22, 2008
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Council hopefuls talk business in forum By JON CHOWN OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN The future of Watsonville's downtown and its airport were at the center of the discussion Tuesday night when seven Watsonville City Council candidates debated "Improving the Business Climate in Watsonville" at the old City Council Chambers. Candidates Manuel Bersámin and Gabriel Gonzalez for District 1; Luis Alejo and Joe Ortiz for District 2; and Edward Din, Tony Gomez and Emilio Martinez for District 6 were given five questions by the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce, nearly all centered on business in Watsonville. The debate opened with the question: "What role do you see the council playing in creating more jobs and attracting new business?" "Job creation is very important, and I feel as a councilmember that is a big obligation," Gonzalez said as he opened the debate. "I have seen a lack of job creation over the years. I think the city should put housing on hold and work on creating more jobs." His opponent, Bersámin, countered that the city was creating jobs and the new Civic Plaza is an excellent example of it. "There's 2,100 jobs being created in the Manabe/Burgstrom development," he said. "Right now, it's a difficult economic time. . We need to make sure we don't forget the existing opportunities. We have existing businesses we need to support." Alejo said job creation was the primary reason he was running for office and said it would take a collaborative effort with local colleges and other institutions. Alejo also wanted to create a "green" job board, and said establishing a train station in Pajaro would be a real key. "We need to have the vision to plan for that train station," he said. Ortiz favored getting a Wal-Mart and wanted to make it easier for people to start new businesses. "You have to go through too much red tape," he said. "Even a small business is hard to start." Din said the city needed to follow its already established strategic development plan while focusing on light manufacturing and jobs in the agricultural industry. Gomez said education was the key, preparing our local students better for work. Martinez said the city has too many empty buildings as a result of selective code enforcement and other unfriendly business policies. The second question, "Do you think the City of Watsonville is 'business friendly'? If so, how can that fact become better known? If not, what would you do to change that?" was answered similarly by all candidates; all promised to sit down and work with anybody wanting to start a new business. The third question asked about the airport's future in Watsonville; all candidates expressed support for the airport, though some seemed more in favor of building around it than others. Bersámin indicated that planes would be taking off vertically from the airport in the future and mentioned the need for housing. Alejo also said the airport was critical, like a train station would be, but also said he was concerned about housing. Din's answer hedged somewhat. "I definitely do see the airport staying in Watsonville," he said, and explained that any future decisions about the airport must be made by Watsonville residents and not the county. Gomez, Ortiz and Martinez all rejected the idea of more development around the airport. "I fully support the airport and I don't think we should do anything to jeopardize it," Gomez said. The debate then moved back to what the city could do to be more business friendly and what could be done to revitalize the downtown. The incumbents, Bersámin and Din, said the city was friendly to business and city staff should be supported for the hard work they do. As far as revitalization, Bersámin said that youth need better schools so the workforce can be better trained, and that the city needs more affordable housing. Alejo, who also said the city was business friendly, pointed out recent successes and also cited education as a need. Gonzalez, Ortiz, Martinez and Gomez all felt the city was not business friendly. Martinez said we are just "a vacuum cleaner and a bucket of paint away from having a beautiful city," but the city staff needed to do a better job. "Fourteen empty buildings downtown is not a good job," Martinez said. "There is a 'for lease' sign in front of our city plaza. What does that tell you? We need to get ready for the dance, folks. When this economy gets going again, we need to be ready." The final question was limited to a one-word answer: "Should the mayor of Watsonville be elected or appointed?" Bersámin, Gonzalez and Alejo answered "appointed," and Ortiz, Din, Gomez and Martinez said "elected." ........................ Photos by Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian ........................ (Published in 10/22/08 edition) | ||||||||