Jobs and economic developmet is the top issue facing the city of Petaluma, according to those who responded to this week’s online poll. Voters were asked to vote for their top three of nine choices. Jobs and economic development got the most votes at 41, while traffic and transportation improvements were close behind with 39 votes. Public safety came in third with 21 votes.
Another issue that many raised in their responses was what one person termed, “the divisive nature of the council.” Here are some of the comments from those who voted.
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“Each year the Petaluma City Council has a goal setting meeting, where staff, mayor and council list the top issues for the year. Many of the goals like fairgrounds and public safety’s new facilities were put in a “parking lot” because of lack of funds. If the council members really wanted to reach their goals, they would approve projects much quicker and increase revenue. Revenue pays for improving the streets, public safety, maintaining community center and park facilities. So voters need to vote for the candidates who will help contribute to the solution of the top issues facing Petaluma city government and not create problems by being anti-business.”
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“Flooding will cause problems for all issues; smart development has to be tops. Let’s get the (Army) Corp of Engineers’ input on the buildout of this valley.”
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The three top issues for the council are the same for the citizens. We need jobs and economic developement, tied in with improvements to the infrastructure that will allow our growing population to live in a safe, healthy enviroment. The three top issues for the voters are who to elect to the council. As long as our former and current mayor try to control and corrupt the election process with back room politics,the citizens and voters will not be properly served. We need everyone who can vote to get out and elect a balanced team of leaders.”
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“I think the top issue right now is the divisive nature of the council. Everyone seems to have staked out a position of pro-growth or no-growth and are unwilling to compromise. The latest shenanigans with the Democratic Party endorsement are a perfect example of this divisiveness. What we need are people who are willing to actually listen to the citizens of Petaluma, (all of them, not just the ones who agree with you) and find working solutions to our problems.”
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“None of the ‘canned’ answers. The top issue facing Petaluma is leadership, specifically the lack of.”
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“Top concerns should be roads (Pot-hole-luma), traffic and increasing business. Become more “business friendly” to attract new businesses to Petaluma. New business equals more revenue. People vote with their dollars. If your favorite store goes out of business, they obviously didn’t have products enough people wanted.”
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“For the good of the whole community, I sure hope that Healy, Miller and Kearney are elected in November. They understand the importance of sensibly moving this city forward, something their opponents don’t seem to get. Fix traffic. Fix the streets. Provide families with places to shop. Give us a crosstown connector. That’s why citizens elect council members!”
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“Politicians not doing their jobs to mitigate our developments (is the biggest issue).”
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“It’ll be interesting to see how many people feel the Dutra issue is more important than all the other real choices we face. Too many people around here live in a bubble.”
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“The only construction going on in this town is federally funded low income housing. Don’t we have enough of that? Public safety has to be a high priority because of the type of people this town is attracting.”
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“We need to totally rethink the fairgrounds.”
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