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Candidates kick off race for council--cordially
Schumann offers a libertarian perspective on election
By Sam Scott
David Schumann, probably the least known candidate in this year's Sunnyvale City Council race, wasted no time trying to distinguish himself from the other hopefuls on the dais in last Wednesday's Candidate Forum. From the get go, he hammered out a libertarian theme that set him apart from the five other candidates--Jack Walker, Pat Vorreiter, Manuel Valerio, Tim Risch and Francis Rowe--who sat, tellingly, to his left in the council chambers.
Government, Schumann said, does not mix with housing, transportation, downtown development or indeed much else. Its domain is policing, supporting courts, and repairing and maintaining the city's infrastructure, he said.
"City Council ought to lighten itself and promote market solutions to problems," he said, replying to a question asking his opinion about the most important challenge facing Sunnyvale in the next five years.
Questions were compiled by moderator Ray Montalvo, from those submitted by the audience. Each candidate fielded the questions in turn and had one minute to respond. There was no debating. Schumann's attitude on the role of government contrasted with that of his opponent for seat four, the incumbent Walker. Walker said he strongly supports the involvement of city government in various aspects of civic life.
Sunnyvale offers "more services with fewer people than almost any other city in the Bay Area," Walker said. He believes things like youth programs end up saving the public money by preventing problems.
Schumann, a financial analyst, also attacked the current council for not allowing a private school to open in a commercially zoned area, and he dismissed the area's public schools as below par.
Though Schumann's laissez-faire attitude and his attacks on the current council earned him some shaking heads in the score of people in the audience, he did provide spice to a night some in the audience thought lacked it.
Resident Warner Gans says the candidates were thrown softball questions, which is what he expected. "By the very nature of the process, nobody wants to offend anybody," Gans says. "All these things kind of end up blah." Gans wanted to see somebody ask Schumann what programs he would cut.
Candidates were asked how well they would collaborate with other members of the council, an issue important to resident Constance Cook-Turner. "We want people who can work with each other," she said.
Tim Risch, who is running against Francis Rowe for the seat that will be vacated by Stan Kawczynski--who will be "term-limited" out of office in January--seemed cognizant of this concern.
Claiming the support of the seven sitting council members, Risch said several times that his experience as a project manager in high-tech and his time on city commissions had established his ability to work with others.
Rowe, whose tumultuous relationship with her peers on the council resulted in her being removed from her position as mayor in 1995, didn't try to claim a similar skill. Instead, she said the city was in a budget crisis and that things needed a radical shakeup.
Vorreiter and Valerio, who are running unopposed, both voiced a stay-the-course philosophy.
"I love this job," Vorreiter said.
"We're all going to be getting more mature chronologically," Valerio said.
The Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters sponsored the forum. Suzi Blackman, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce, was pleased with the event.
"We're very happy. We think it went very well," she said. "The issues are tough and I think the candidates were prepared."
The forum will be cablecast on KSUN several times over the coming month.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
