Candidate questionnaire — Terry Jessop

Question 1: Mayor Rocky Anderson has said the city needs to increase it's police force by 90 officers by 2010. In order to do that he will need the City Council to allocate the funding needed for these new officers. Adding that many more officers will be wildly expensive for the city and may require tax increases. As a council member will you support adding so many more officers to the force? Would you support tax increases for more police officers?

Answer: Criminals are trying to destroy our society. They endanger not only the lives of our citizens but the men and women police officers that try to protect us. Instead of just adding a specific number of police officers to the force, I would first be inclined to help the existing officers not only with financial compensation but by using the high technology that is available, such as in dealing with the international terrorist in London, England or the sophisticated technology that is used in Las Vegas casinos to fight crime. By using those technologies fewer officers are able to be more successful in fighting crime. It's time for Marshall Dillon and Wyatt Erp to use the CSI technology that exists!

Question 2: Downtown remains a concern for many residents. Do you feel the city is doing the right things to help revitalize downtown? What would you do as a council member to help downtown?

Answer: Too much attention and emphasis is given to attract the "Big Box Stores." They do pay their taxes but the majority of the profits of these companies are not spent in our city. The smaller family businesses reinvest their profits back into our economy. We need to do a better job in welcoming visitors into our city. The more revenue that comes form travel and tourism, means fewer taxes that will be imposed on our citizens.

Question 3: One big issue that could soon become an issue in District 7 has been people tearing down traditional homes and replacing them with monster homes. Some say new, bigger homes are needed to attract families to the city and maintain property values. Others feel these large homes are ugly and aren't compatible with the city's traditional neighborhoods. What's your opinion? How should city government handle this issue?

Answer: Our city, and especially our district is a very diverse multi-lingual and multi-ethnic center. With background in nine languages I feel particularly better qualified to represent the entire district. In San Francisco or other large cities, there are districts for Koreans, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Polynesian around Chinatown. I would prefer to use the formula that was used by the early pioneers when they came in the valley; communicate and mainstream every culture into our unique city. Using the talents and expertise of a veterans ombudsman could be a great help to each culture.