Politics & Government

Council Candidate Alegria Pledges to Fight Overdevelopment

Rancho Palos Verdes City Council candidate Eric Alegria talks about his campaign and what he'd bring to the council.

With the Nov. 8 elections fast approaching, eight candidates are vying for three open seats on the .

Candidates are Eric Alegria, small business owner and teacher; Susan Brooks, former Rancho Palos Verdes mayor; Ken Dyda, former Rancho Palos Verdes mayor; Dave Emenhiser, current Rancho Palos Verdes planning commissioner; Dora de la Rosa, current PVPUSD Board of Education president; Jim Knight, current Rancho Palos Verdes planning commissioner; Jerry Duhovic, current vice chair of the RPV Finance Advisory Committee; and Cynthia Smith.

Palos Verdes Patch asked candidates to talk about their campaigns, in addition to what each would bring to the council if elected.

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Previously:

Here is how Alegria responded to a Patch questionnaire about his campaign:

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Palos Verdes Patch: If elected, what would be your top priorities in the city?

Eric Alegria: Protecting the city against overdevelopment: When we all moved to RPV, most of us did so because of how open the city feels. We aren’t overdeveloped and that is what makes us unique. However, every now and again, large-scale project proposals are brought to the city council for consideration. Oftentimes, those projects just don’t fit with RPV and may not only take away from the natural landscape, but also may negatively affect the quality of life for our residents. ... I believe that protecting the feel of RPV needs constant watch and will always fight against overdevelopment.

Working to enhance and expand the city’s open space: Rancho Palos Verdes possesses unique geographic features that attract a wide array of residents and tourists who wish to enjoy its beauty. I believe that being able to adequately and safely accommodate the public’s desire to enjoy this resource is important, so in terms of development I would work to enhance the vast open space for residents to enjoy. This would be achieved by expanding the trailways and their connectivity as a greater trail network, as well as by expanding the adjacent parking opportunities around the Preserve, therefore making it easier for the public to access and enjoy. I would also work to create more active parks. In conjunction to these efforts, I would like to expand the amount of open space already owned by the city, which could be utilized safely by the public.

Watching city finances: In our tough economic times, recent discoveries of ill-managed and misappropriated funds in various cities have put elected officials under warranted public scrutiny. RPV thankfully hasn’t fallen into that trap. However because of the ongoing budgetary constraints we have to be extra diligent to carefully monitor our spending. As a small business owner, I know this practice well. I will always keep a watchful eye on how the city spends its resources, fighting against wasteful spending while working to maintain the quality of city service delivery to our residents.

Managing the city’s infrastructure: I will work to ensure that we prioritize the much needed repairs of our streets (both residential and arterial streets) throughout the city and improve the flow of traffic in our neighborhoods. Also, given the city’s eligibility and a need to identify the remaining $10 million to match those dollars, I will work to begin to put this long term project in motion in order to ensure that the potential negative impact to our city by the landslide is mitigated before it can pose a real threat to our infrastructure and to area residents.

PV Patch: What makes you best suited for a spot on the council?

Alegria: I believe my background and training which is both diverse and specific to local government qualifies me to be a new member of the council. Given that background, as well as because of my experience as a teacher and small businessman, I believe I would have a diverse, but important perspective to offer the council and would give voice to the families and children in our city. Click here for more on Alegria's background.

PV Patch: What are the biggest issues facing Rancho Palos Verdes?

Alegria: I would say that the biggest issues facing RPV are the protection of the city against overdevelopment, the enhancement of the city’s open space, the ongoing monitoring of city finances and the management of the city’s vast infrastructure.

PV Patch: How might you conduct business differently than the current council?

Alegria: It is time for our leaders to proactively listen to their constituents. As elected officials and community leaders we must make policies that are beneficial to our city’s future, but ultimately we must remember that it is our future. ... Given what I have heard from residents throughout the campaign process, if I were to have the honor of being elected my very first priority would be to establish different forums that would allow me to regularly hear from and communicate with city residents. ... If elected, I would work diligently to remain connected throughout my tenure on the council. I believe this can be improved by establishing regularly occurring “open door” times for residents to come and speak with their representatives in person, as well as by the effective utilization of many modern technologies and avenues for communication. I am certainly well aware that many of my decisions would be questioned, but I would never want to exclude the residents from my rationale and how I arrived at my decisions.

PV Patch: Are there any issues you feel deserve more attention in the city? How would you address them?

Alegria: Part of our quality of life comes from the safety of our community. The Sheriff’s Department has always done a commendable job of keeping RPV safe, but there have been recent burglaries that have made our residents think twice each day when they leave their homes. I believe that safety is an integral aspect of quality of life and will also need attention. If elected, I would work closely with our deputies to ensure the safety of our city.

PV Patch: Where do you stand on the city’s ?

Alegria: I am in agreement with the current council’s recent pension reform decision. ... Fortunately because RPV is a contract city with no police department, we will be less impacted than many of the other cities in the greater Los Angeles area by long term pension obligations. These pension obligations may very well deplete the budgets for many cities across our region in the coming years. The International County and City Managers Association (ICMA) is working on some common sense suggestions for pension reform for all cities. I am very interested in seeing what their suggestions are and if they make sense for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in the near future as well.

Click here for more information on Alegria's campaign. And visit Palos Verdes Patch for more candidate responses in the coming days.


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