Novato council candidates outline priorities in consequential race

Oct. 5--As Novato grapples with administrative turnover, fiscal difficulties and a growing list of issues from housing to wildfire safety, seven City Council candidates are vying to chart the city's course.

In the city's first by-district election on Nov. 5, most of the council candidates -- including Jim Petray, Susan Wernick, Melissa Galliani, Marie Hoch and Amy Peele -- are newcomers. Voters of downtown and northeastern Novato will choose between two familiar faces: two-term incumbent Eric Lucan and challenger Kevin Morrison, who ran in 2017.

District 1

In the northwestern district, the city budget, development and wildfire safety were identified as key areas of interest by the two candidates.

Petray said he is not a politician and that he is not accepting campaign contributions; donors are being directed to give to charity. After "agonizing" over the city's budgeting process this year, Petray said he thought his experience in finance could help the city.

"My desire is to be an advocate for the taxpayers," Petray said. "I want to be a fiduciary for their money as well and that means to make sure that all the money that is entitled to the city is collected and all the money that goes out is spent prudently."

Wernick, who was raised in Mill Valley by parents who served on the City Council, said giving back was a value instilled in her at a young age. In Novato, Wernick began working on the city's housing issues in 2010. She was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2014.

"Now I think I have the skill set to bring to the council and the background and experience," Wernick said. "I just think that I'd be a great addition to the council."

Wernick said Novato must find new revenue sources such as looking at increasing the city's sales tax rate back from a quarter-cent to a half-cent.

Other options include establishing a waste franchise fee and attracting new businesses by improving the city's permitting and planning processes.

"We just need to be a welcoming community," Wernick said. "I'm not saying Novato, but some cities have reputations of not being business-friendly and we don't want to be that kind of city."

Tax increases should be a last resort, Petray said.

"The hard solution is really digging into the budget and figuring out ways to become more cost-conscious and more efficient and looking at other revenue sources, which I have some ideas for," he said.

These ideas include establishing a waste franchise fee and creating a nonprofit supporting organization for the city, similar to what some hospitals have, to raise money for city programs.

To address the city's unfunded pension liability, which was at $47 million earlier this year, Petray said the city can explore borrowing money at a lower cost to pay it down and grandfathering new employees under a less costly scheme. Wernick said she would consult with whoever the city picks to be its new finance director on how the city could proceed.

Both candidates agreed that Novato needs a stronger focus on attracting developers to use the large, vacant properties in their district, including the Fireman's Fund property, the 17-acre Novato Unified School District property on San Andreas Drive, the Square shopping center and the Birkenstock distribution center.

To promote business growth, Petray said the city could work collaboratively with the Chamber of Commerce to develop strategies. Both he and Wernick support streamlining the permitting processes. Both candidates are wary of the minimum wage acceleration the council advanced last month, which is set for a final vote this month.

Other issues important to Wernick include exploring creative ways to construct more housing for city workers and residents; maintaining a consistent level of city services; environmental protections and climate change initiatives; effective communication in City Hall and beyond; and fire and flood control.

For Petray, other issues he'd like to address include creation of a fire safety plan and maintenance of the open space of the district.

As for cannabis industry expansion, Petray said he has concerns about the government "getting into the drug business," but said he would favor limiting expansion to delivery businesses only. Wernick said she supports the Planning Commission recommendations on the rules and said the city should approach retail storefronts in a way that keeps downtown as a family-friendly destination.

District 3

The race for the council's downtown and northeastern seat is arguably the most contentious.

Similar to his council run in 2017, Morrison has not shied away from making public challenges. He is seeking to upend the current city structure and policies through his "Green Novato" initiative under which taxes and fees would be waived for green development and businesses.

Morrison said he was prompted to run after the council adopted the by-district election system. He described the city's district map as "gerrymandered to favor incumbents" and quashing the voices of minority voters. As for Lucan, Morrison called him "dishonest" and "misleading" about his statements on crime reduction and housing creation and said he has eroded public confidence in the council by being divisive with councilwomen Pam Drew and Pat Eklund.

"A vote for him is a vote for incivility and lack of progress," Morrison said.

In response, Lucan has avoided aspersions and focused on issues such as continuing the construction of more senior housing; paying down the city's unfunded pension liability; building partnerships to build wildfire resiliency; and investing in paths and infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging stations to promote greenhouse gas reductions.

"I have the experience and proven track record of getting things done so I think I'm very well-positioned to continue to address these issues," Lucan said.

As the city faces forecast deficits in the coming years, Lucan and Morrison have widely different strategies.

Morrison said he would not support any new taxes, but would support eliminating taxes and fees under his "Green Novato" plan, which he said would stimulate business growth. Other initiatives under the plan include building micro-grids to make the city fossil-fuel free by 2029, and a "green showcase" on Grant Avenue that would have an electric trolley and would be accessible by pedestrians and cyclists only.

"I do think what we call now the climate disaster is the biggest issue facing us and I do think that local solutions are important," he said.

Lucan said the city has built up strong budget reserves under his tenure, but said ongoing revenues will be required to weather an eventual economic downtown. To obtain this money, Lucan says the city will be collecting more transient occupancy taxes from new hotels under development and requesting tax payments from short-term rentals such as AirBnb; establishing a waste franchise fee; and loaning a portion of the Hamilton Trust Fund to the city to pay down some of the city's unfunded pension liability.

"If we did it would lower our CalPERS payments annually and save us a significant amount of money in the long run because that unfunded liability assumes a 7% rate of return," Lucan said.

To address pensions, Morrison said the city could use its credit to float a $25 million to $35 million bond to pay down the pension liability and use savings to invest in green infrastructure.

To drive business growth, Morrison is again calling on the council to adopt the "Green Novato" initiatives. For Lucan, he said the city needs to update its general plan and consider other strategies such as offering 0% or low interest loans to promote restaurant development in downtown.

Both Lucan and Morrison said they support accelerating the minimum wage in the city, a proposal that the council approved on a first reading last month. The Chamber of Commerce dropped its endorsement of Lucan after he came out in support of the wage hike.

For recreational cannabis businesses, Morrison said he supports storefront retail sales, including in downtown. Lucan said he supports delivery cannabis businesses, but said he doesn't think Novato is ready for storefronts.

District 5

The most crowded race is for the seat representing Hamilton and the southern Novato neighborhoods.

With a background in communications, Galliani said she felt inspired to run for the seat because she sensed a lack of clear communication between council members and the public.

"I decided that people needed to get involved," she said. "We need to get involved. We need to move things along. Novato needs my help."

Hoch, a longtime Hamilton resident, said she decided to run because she felt it was important for the council to have a representative to tackle the issues her district faces.

"I think given the remaining issues in Hamilton and the future development that is going to occur, particularly all the properties at near Nave Drive and the 50-acre Coast Guard property," she said, "I think it's really important that there be a City Council member who really understands Hamilton."

Peele said that after being active in Novato for 30 years, she was approached by county leaders who suggested she run for council.

"I got this big burst of excitement and energy in a way that I haven't had for a while and that tells me something is right," Peele said about how she felt after deciding to run.

The top issue for Hoch is the city's budget. Hoch said her first actions would be to call for an independent auditor to assess the city's finances, develop a revenue forecasting plan and identify ways to bolster revenues and identify areas to cut costs.

Peele had similar views, but said she doesn't think that there is much to cut. Instead she said the city needs to take a look at taxation, but said outreach would need to be done first.

The city also needs to look at ways to attract new businesses such as restaurants and allow large companies to expand, Peele said.

Tax increases should be a last resort, Galliani said. Instead, the city should begin collecting transient occupancy taxes from short-term rentals like Airbnb, establish a waste franchise fee and streamline the permitting and zoning processes to allow businesses to develop.

Peele said the city should focus on creating more spaces for businesses to open while supporting existing businesses. Peele said she supports the city's effort to accelerate the minimum wage hike.

As for cannabis expansion, she said she'd be open to considering storefront retail dispensaries, but said outreach will need to be performed with stakeholders while checking in with other cities who have adopted similar regulations.

Determining how to tackle business development will require more community input, Galliani said. She said she supports a minimum wage acceleration, but one that business owners would agree to. Galliani said she has seen how allowing cannabis retail has benefited cities and is open to giving it a chance.

For Hoch, the city's priority should be supporting the businesses that are already here and allowing them to expand. The city should not accelerate the minimum wage hike until businesses are on board, she said.

Hoch said she didn't have an answer as to what extent the cannabis industry should expand in Novato other than saying she is looking forward to seeing what is being recommended to the council.

Regarding pension liabilities, Galliani said all employees should get what they are promised. Once on the council, she said, she'll be able to explore more options. Hoch called for an independent assessment to determine the best course forward for paying down the liabilities. For Peele, she also said employees should get what they are promised. She said that the city should consider what benefits it can realistically offer down the road.

Other priorities for Hoch include creating a flood control oversight committee for the district to plan for levee and pump replacement and sea level rise planning. She is also seeking to launch a new planning effort and to update the decades-old Hamilton Base Reuse Plan. Another major initiative is emergency planning for southern Novato, especially for wildfire.

Priorities for Peele include wildfire, flooding and climate change resiliency; improving services for the homeless, including affordable housing development; and transportation and transit options, especially to get senior residents active.

Other priorities for Galliani include advocating for more workforce housing throughout Novato, improving voter registration in the district, creating more programs for community involvement and connectivity and refurbishing downtown Novato, among others.

The candidates:

District 1

Jim Petray

Age: 64

Occupation: Certified public accountant

Education: Bachelor's degree in accounting, Santa Clara University

Experience: Former finance chair, treasurer and trustee of the Hanna Boys Center; former Sonoma County Family Justice Center board member and president; former California State Board of Accountancy's Enforcement Advisory Committee member; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants member; California Society of CPAs member; 43 years in finance services for businesses, organizations

Susan Wernick

Age: 59

Occupation: Community volunteer

Education: Associate's degree from College of Marin; attended UC Berkeley Extension for interior design

Experience: Novato Planning Commission member since 2014, chair in 2017; Leadership Novato graduate, 2017; board member of the San Marin Improvement Association; founding member Novato Forward; founding member of the San Marin Compatible Housing Coalition; member of the city manager's housing working group, 2010-2011

District 3

Eric Lucan

Age: 38

Occupation: Chief marketing officer for Mike's Bikes

Education: Master's degree in business administration, Georgia State University; undergraduate ministerial studies, Christian Life International

Experience: Two-term city councilman; Novato Parks and Recreation commissioner, 2007-2011; SMART board member; Transportation Authority of Marin board member; Marin Transit board alternate; Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers co-chairman; State Route 37 Policy Committee member

Kevin Morrison

Age: 59

Occupation: Environmental and educational nonprofit consultant

Education: Bachelor's degree in English, University of California at Berkeley

Experience: Novato City Council candidate, 2017; volunteer for Not in Our Town Novato, ICE Out of Marin

District 5

Marie Hoch

Age: 63

Occupation: Real estate agent

Education: Bachelor's degree in chemistry, University of Chicago

Experience: Hamilton Field homeowners association president; Novato Planning Commission and Design Review Commission

Melissa Galliani

Age: 58

Occupation: Vice president of sales at KGO Radio

Education: Bachelor's degree in liberal studies from San Francisco State University; master's degree in business administration from Dominican University of California

Experience: City of Hope Northern California Food Industries Circle board member; Rotary International member; Alliance for Smiles volunteer; Spirit of Philanthropy award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals

Amy Peele

Age: 65

Occupation: Writer

Education: South Chicago School of Nursing

Experience: Novato resident for 30 years; chairwoman of the Measure A school bond campaign, 2001; former North Marin Council PTA president

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