Answers to Green Party Candidate Endorsement Questionaire 

Please review the following list of 33 proposed legislative / policy solutions to various environmental and social challenges within our community, then indicate whether you are supportive of, indifferent to, or opposed to each issue by checking one of the three columns which follow each proposal. Thoughtful answers to the 11 essay questions will be appreciated. Please return by Friday, September 27, 12:00 Noon to greens@santacruzgreenparty.org. To send a FAX, call 464-0877 to request FAX service.

Candidate Name: Thomas Leavitt
Office or position: Santa Cruz City Council
Website address: http://www.thomasleavitt.org/cc/
Telephone number: 408-591-3342
Campaign manager’s name: Candidate (for the moment)
Campaign manager’s telephone (if different):

 General Candidate Questions 

Ecology Proposals	Support	Indifferent	Oppose
Rapid phase-out, within four years, of diesel engine-powered vehicles and equipment within this county / district (exception: bio-diesel)	1
Moratorium on automobile parking facilities creation and expansion			2
Moratorium on road widening for automobile use			3
Establishing non-automotive transportation as the primary transportation funding priority	x
Rapid phase-out, within four years, of synthetic chemical pesticides within the county / district	x
Rapid phase-out, within four years, of use of gasoline which contains MTBE	4
Increased regulation on purchase and use of synthetic chemical pesticides by individual consumers	5
Restriction on use of genetically modified organisms on any county land zoned for agricultural use	6
Conversion of most of Pacific Avenue into a pedestrian mall	x
Nonviolence
Clearly defined and publicly available use of force policy by local & regional law enforcement agencies	7
Mandate to increase training in the use of non-lethal options for local law enforcement personnel to ensure citizen safety	x
Publicly funded community workshops to teach nonviolent conflict resolution skills and to address bias awareness issues	x
Publicly available registry of hand gun owners in the county			8
Periodic public hearings on the allowable extent of association between local law enforcement personnel and the Federal agencies: DEA, BATF, INS, IRS, FBI, CIA, & NSA	x
Establishing enforcement of camping ban ordinances as the lowest priority for local law enforcement personnel	x
Social Justice
Establish that people have a right to access basic health and other social services regardless of their immigration status	x
Establish goals within public agencies to match the racial diversity of the personnel with that of the general population	x
Living wage requirement for all businesses operating within the county / district	x
Would you support a Just Cause Eviction ordinance for renters?	9
Unrestricted access by all community members to reproductive information and services	x
Victim restitution and community justice programs as an alternative to incarceration	10
Establishing affordable housing as the top funding priority (City Council candidates only)			11
Democracy
Establishing IRV-Instant Runoff Voting as the preferred method for all future elections within the county / district	x
Set the establishment of a MUD-Municipal Utility District as a high priority	x
Establish the county as a DEA-free zone until such time as the Federal Government recognizes the State of California’s right to set its own laws in regard to medical marijuana	x
Empower the County Sheriff to detain and arrest DEA agents who violate State and local laws			12
Establish the county as a DEA-free zone until such time as the Federal Government recognizes the State of California’s right to set its own laws in regard to medical marijuana - empower the County Sheriff to detain and arrest DEA agents who violate State and local laws		x
Establish publicly-funded campaign legislation which empowers the economically-challenged and places strict spending limits upon well funded candidates	13
School Board Candidate-Specific Proposals
Ban all forms of military training from school grounds, including JROTC	x
Mandate that all privileges granted to US military recruiters also become available to local, regional and state-wide peace groups, including access to students, physical access to campus and access to the names and addresses of students	x
Moratorium and rapid phase-out of commercial advertising on school grounds, such as soda machines and any teaching aids which include commercial advertising as part of the package	x
Moratorium and rapid phase-out of for-profit food service providers	x
Rapid phase-in of all-organic locally-grown produce for school meals	x

Notes:

2,3 I support development priorities that minimize these activities, but I can't support an absolute moratorium, because it may well be that this is appropriate in certain circumstances. I oppose widening of Highway 1 in general, even though my neighborhood is heavily impacted by traffic. I support re-engineering the Fishhook. I am open to the concept of widening Highway 1 for some stretch if the exclusive beneficiary is rapid transit, but I'd have to see a firm plan and costs, etc. before I made any commitment.

4 I support banning use of MTBE immediately and unconditionally, not in four years - the danger it poses to the water supply is too great, and the costs of clean up so high, as to justify this.

5 I want to qualify this by saying that we should avoid imposing regulations on end users as much as possible, and instead deal with these substances at the source, and before the point of sale; we should educate consumers about IPM and organic farming, etc.

6 I support a ban on the growth and sale of GMO products.

7 It is absolutely ridiculous that the Citizens Police Review Board has been asking for a written "use of force policy" from the Santa Cruz Police Department for over a year, with no results!

8 It is a well established fact that the vast majority of guns on the street are there as a result of theft from the original owner - a publicly available list of handgun owners is likely to result in such homes being targeted by theives. Gun ownership should be regulated and restricted to those individuals who are throughly educated as to the proper use and storage/safety practices, and can demonstrate this. Only under those circumstances can a weapon be safely owned, and effectively used in personal defense. Rapid fire weapons clearly designed for combat situations and derivatives of such should be banned from private ownership.

9 A Just Cause eviction ordinance is of limited use without rent control, as owners may simply raise rates until the tenant can no longer afford the unit. I support extended eviction notice times based on sensible formulas that take into account the availability of simliar housing within the general area. If there are a dozen empty apartments that are of roughly equivalent cost and size/amenities just down the road, then 30 days should be adequate. If there are exactly three unrented four bedroom apartments in the entire county, and each one of them has a waiting list of twenty people waiting to rent them, then 90 days is appropriate.

10 Ending the "Drug War" should be our highest priority - the waste of human lives and resources is appalling beyond believe, and the effect on young African-American males is close to justifying the use of the word "genocide"; the fact that 58% of the federal prison population consists of non-violent drug offenders, and that similar percentages prevail in the state, is just plain crazy. Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." This is the "Drug War" in summary.

11 I oppose arbitrary prioritization of public expenditures - it may well be that funding for drug and alcohol treatment (just for example) should be a higher priority than funding for affordable housing.

12 This is symbolic politics, and a waste of the public's time. It will never happen, and furthermore, we need to be very careful about the concept of "State's Rights" and reversal of established precendents with regards to civil rights and civil liberties as defined under federal law, etc. The proper policy tactic is to work for exemptions and legal changes at the federal level.

13 I support clean money and public financing; the Supreme Court has pretty clearly limited the ability of government to restrict personal expenditures if candidates choose to forgo public financing.

Essay Questions (please limit the length of each answer to 200 words, or direct people to your web site for more extensive explanations of your positions)

1. Is traffic congestion a problem or a symptom of some bigger problem? What is your proposed solution?

It is a symptom of urban planning policies that have discouraged the construction of affordable housing at a density adequate to support public transit and neighborhood businesses that can be reached foot. The lack of affordable housing near where people work, and the lack of high quality jobs in Santa Cruz, has lead to service workers and public sector employees having to commute into work from outside of Santa Cruz (with congruently greater dependence on the use of the automobile to run errands throughout the day), and skilled and white collar workers having to travel out of town and over the hill to earn the income necessary to remain a resident in Santa Cruz. The term for this is a jobs/housing imbalance. The solution is to alter zoning regulations to permit the construction of smaller, market rate rental units, via ADUs (which spread the impact at a very low density over a large area and re-use existing infrastructure), and via SRO hotels and mixed use commercial/housing developments along urban transit corridors, and via selected high density developments in core areas such as Front Street. None of which will substantially alter the fundamental character of the city.
2. Is homelessness a problem or a symptom? What is your proposed solution?

Symptom. Of many different problems. Lack of affordable housing. Lack of decent jobs. Drug and alcohol abuse. Mental illness. An atomized culture where it is easy to become completely disconnected from friends, family and the crisis support network they provide. If I could solve the problem of homelessness, I'm sure I'd be President or richer than Bill Gates, because I would have surpassed the collective genius of an entire society. But there are first steps that can be taken: restructure the housing market so that more lower end units are built that people with low incomes can afford to live in, and that allow them to build up a cushion against hard times. Establish a Living Wage that affects a broader array of workers and increases wages across the board at the lower end of the scale. Spend money on schools, not prison, drug and alcohol treatment, not jails and incarceration. If you want something immediately feasible: fund the CAB emergency housing assistance voucher program so that it doesn't run out of money before the end of the year is out - the best solution to homelessness is to prevent it in the first place.
3. Is the limited availability of clean potable water a problem or a symptom? What is your proposed solution?

Symptom. Of past development policies that lacked foresight. We need to figure out where our water is going, and what we can do to minimize consumption, recycle greater quantities, etc. Development needs to be tied to the availability of core resources, such as water.
4. Is the recreational use of class one illicit narcotics a problem, a symptom or not a problem?

Given the variety of drugs listed, there is no one answer. I certainly don't see a problem with the recreational use of marajuana or certain hallucenogenic drugs (I don't really know enough to be more specific)... on the other hand, all the evidence that I've seen is that most of the drugs listed in that schedule simply cannot be used recreationally by anyone. And some people are simply not capable of using any psychoactive substance without becoming addicted; a friend of mine was virulently anti-pot and claimed that he had been addicted to it (and I've seen plenty of evidence that this is possible); at one point, another friend of mine was acting as the legal guardian for a guy who had taken 10,000 hits of LSD and was on SSI because had absolutely no attention span at all and was unable to work. It is a problem, and a symptom (of a culture which fails to offer useful recreational and social alternatives to "getting high", and which heavily promotes certain forms of getting high that are legal). This is the case to a greater or lesser degree, depending on which schedule one drug you are talking about. Marajuana vs. LSD vs. cocaine, etc.

Of course, on a collective scale, a far greater problem than any one individual's actions is our government's insistence on treating drug use as a criminal problem, instead of a social/medical one.

5. Is the chronic over-use of class one illicit narcotics a problem or a symptom? What is your proposed solution?

See above. The solution: Total abandonment of the "war on drugs". Redirection of that funding into preventative efforts and treatment. Banning commercial promotion of psychoactive substances like alcohol and nicotine and caffine. Providing alternatives to "getting high".
6. Is the DEA justified in enforcing Federal laws in California which conflict with State laws? How do you propose to support the California Medical Marijuana initiative which became law upon passage of Proposition 215?

I think the DEA is within its legal rights to enforce Federal laws that the Federal courts have upheld. I think we need to be very careful about making State's Rights arguments, as they would tend to undermine Federal authority in other areas that are also very important, such as civil rights and civil liberties. Is the DEA "justified"? No. The "Drug War" itself is completely unjustified, in all aspects, and should be ended immediately and unconditionally. The DEA should use its power to choose which areas to focus enforcement efforts to, at the very least, put the lowest priority possible on enforcement activities aimed at clearly legitimate non-commercial Medical Marajuana collectives. I propose to do everything possible to facilitate the establishment and operation of medical marajuana collectives, including exploring, along with San Francisco, whether we can establish mechanisms by which the city can grow and supply it themselves.
7. Have you agreed to limit financial expenditures for your campaign? If so, at what level? If not, why not?

Yes, according to the Santa Cruz City municipal ordinance, and the Green Party code of ethics which prohibits corporate donations.
8. How would you address the situations where your personal views differ from the majority of your constituents on a key vote?

I intend to vote my conscience, after engaging in dialog with the public and taking as much input as possible. There is no way that my personal views can be congruent with the public at large on every issue. The citizens have the right to either recall me, or simply refuse to re-elect me if they disagree with my performance and votes. I am attempting to be as honest and detailed as possible about my position, so that no one is surprised by how I vote.
9. School Boards: Do you support or oppose state or federally subsidized school voucher programs? Why?

I'm opposed to voucher programs in any form.
10. School Boards: How would you encourage parents to become more involved with their children’s education and the school board?

Support PTA's, work with the media and local community groups to develop a greater awareness of the school system among the citizenry and how they can participate, and pro-actively reach out to all sectors and put a strong emphasis on encouraging involvement.
11. What question(s) do you feel would have enabled this survey to be more effective?

I feel the survey was more about values, and issues that exist on a national stage which local elected officials have very little ability to affect. I would have preferred more questions that focused on specific, tangible aspects of policy relevant to my particular race (City Council).