Candidate questionnaire — Janneke House

Question 1: Mayor Rocky Anderson has said the city needs to increase its 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: New officers will be necessary, but we need to examine the budget before raising taxes and look at other alternatives.

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: The RDA has wonderful programs to lend money to downtown businesses at very low interest rates. They also have grants for business that want to move downtown. I think the city is doing the right things, but it is a slow process. One of the problems we face is developers who are land banking on main street (land banking is buying up properties at a low price and letting them sit empty until they become more valuable, or till they amass contiguous properties that can be demolished for a larger development). The City Council needs to explore solutions to this obstacle of revitalization.

People residing in downtown are the beginning of change. Look at any revitalized district in metropolitan cities around the country and you'll see it all started with successful people with a disposable income moving in, like students and artists. The LDS Church's plans are exciting and need to compliment increased retail and social developments that will draw people to the downtown area on a daily basis, but should not be the only revitalization going on.

Question 3: One of the biggest issues of late in District 3 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?