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Candidates face questions on environmental issues
By Jana Seshadri
With many of their viewpoints similar, voters will have to look for differentiating factors between Santa Clara City Council member Rod Diridon Jr. and Mayor of Mountain View Sally Lieber to select their candidate for the 22nd district Assembly seat in the Democratic primary elections in less than a month. The Democratic candidate will compete against Republican candidate Stan Kawczynski at the elections in November, for the Assembly seat in Sacramento. The seat has the cities of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, San Jose, Santa Clara and Mountain View under its jurisdiction. Democrat Elaine Alquist, the current 22nd District Assemblywoman, will be termed out at the end of the year.
All four candidates in this year's race--Democrats Diridon, Lieber and Rosemary Stasek and Republican Kawczynski--were invited to a debate by organizer Terry Trumbull, who teaches environmental politics at San Jose State University. Diridon and Lieber were present at the Sunnyvale City Council chambers on Jan. 31 to answer questions and voice their opinions on several issues dealing with the environment.
Moderated by Lynne Trulio, chair of the Environmental Studies Department at SJSU, the candidates answered questions on their background, political affiliations, future visions and goals and the economy. Each of the six debate sponsors--the SJSU Environmental Studies department, California League of Conservation Voters, Sustainable Mountain View, Pacific Industrial Business Association, Silicon Valley Bicycle Association and the Sierra Club--each asked one question of the candidates. Afterward, audience members asked questions as well.
Both Diridon and Lieber had similar responses to the wide span of environment-related questions, the only notable differences being their experiences and accomplishments in the areas. While Lieber made numerous accusations against her competition, Diridon said he refused to engage her and urged the public to examine his track record and decide for themselves who the better candidate would be.
Diridon said that since he was an avid supporter and fundraiser for measures A & B, he would support public transportation, especially high-speed rail, in the state because not only would it alleviate traffic and congestion problems, it would greatly reduce pollution. Lieber echoed Diridon's sentiments and said that public transportation will impact the environment in a very positive way.
While explaining his idea of smart growth, Diridon said cities should build in an environmentally conscious way--along transit corridors--and he would support legislation if elected, to pass housing ordinances in the state Legislature and provide additional state transportation dollars. Lieber said compact housing and mixed development connected to transportation and the availability of water are key factors in smart growth.
Regarding the energy crisis, both Diridon and Lieber said they would support stricter regulations for emission standards, while doing more to conserve energy across the state. Lieber said developers should use resource-efficient technology, while Diridon extolled the virtues of renewable energy resources. Diridon said he would work hard to increase the state's renewable energy from 10 to 20 percent.
Both candidates are members of the Valley Transportation Authority's Advisory Committee. Lieber said the public should pay close attention to the membership record of committees.
"I have been a member of the VTA Advisory committee for five years and you were absent from the meetings for a whole year," Lieber said, addressing Diridon.
Along with all seven Sunnyvale City Council members, the Democratic Forum of Silicon Valley has endorsed Rod Diridon Jr. as the Democratic candidate for the upcoming primary.
"We think that Diridon would be the right candidate, especially with his experience in Silicon Valley's new economy," Executive Director Nicole Bergeron said.
"I grew up right here and care very deeply about our community," Diridon said.
As a strong supporter of Proposition 40, which will allocate funds for park bonds and coastal protection, Diridon said he will focus on coastal and Tahoe conservancy if he is elected to the state Assembly, besides doing everything he can for public education and to fund those departments that protect the environment.
"We have to clean up our resources and invest more in the environment," Lieber said.
Lieber added that besides working closely with Sustainable Mountain View, Save the Bay, Audubon Society and several other environmental groups, she is an activist for wise land use and clean air and water.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Kawczynski, the only Republican candidate, in November.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
