Four council hopefuls for three open seats split on cuts versus new revenue before tonight's League forum

Saratoga voters will choose three of five City Council members on Nov. 3, and only four people are running. The League of Women Voters of Southwest Santa Clara Valley puts all four in front of voters Thursday night in an online forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; registration is through the league's website.

None of the three seats has an incumbent in the race. Neither Mayor Chuck Page nor Councilmember Belal Aftab is running for a second term, and a term limit keeps Yan Zhao off the ballot, the Mercury News reported. Saratoga elects its council citywide rather than by district.

The candidates are planning commissioner Ping Li, former Sunnyvale councilmember Glenn Hendricks, Library and Public Arts commissioner Jeri Bromley, and Bill Dalton, who worked in tech and made a council run in 2022. Their positions below are as the Mercury News reported them on Tuesday.

Housing and builder's remedy

There are 21 builder's remedy applications pending in Saratoga, every one submitted during the period when the state did not consider the city's housing element compliant. All four say they want to keep the city's single-family character while regaining local control.

Dalton opposes dense development in bedroom communities and wants it near job centers. He supports statewide ballot efforts to return zoning power to cities and says the city has to get its next housing element certified by Jan. 31, 2031, though he expects it will involve some high-density housing.

Bromley says tall, dense projects hurt neighborhood privacy and parking. She wants to team up with other cities facing builder's remedy projects to press Sacramento for zoning laws that fit buildings to their locations.

Hendricks wants a narrow change to the state Housing Accountability Act that would let cities turn down or change projects in high-fire zones on wildfire, health or safety grounds. "I'm not an anti-housing guy," he said.

Li agrees multi-story projects do not belong in high-risk hillside areas but backs a plan built on lot splits under Senate Bill 9 and accessory dwelling units for older adults, young families and people who work in town.

The budget

City staff projected earlier this year that reserves would run out in about three years if the city kept paying the sheriff's increased rate of almost $12 million a year. The current council voted 4-1 on Wednesday to stay with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, NBC Bay Area reported.

The candidates split on how to close the gap. Dalton rejects new taxes or bonds to pay for day-to-day operations; he would leave some positions vacant, including the open assistant city manager job, rely less on consultants and form a resident finance commission that would audit city spending.

Li wants to keep joining forces on costs and contract terms with Cupertino and Los Altos Hills, the other two cities that buy police service from the sheriff.

Bromley and Hendricks lean toward revenue. Bromley wants more foot traffic and family-friendly businesses downtown and wants to push for changes to the rules that give Saratoga a small slice of the property tax its residents pay, 5.46% according to the Mercury News. "You can't save your way out of a budget deficit," Hendricks said.

Sources

mercurynews.com

my.lwv.org

nbcbayarea.com