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Here are the facts that respond to the quotes in the
latest hit piece sent by Dave Wheeler’s supporters and that also bombarded people in “robo-calls” starting
11/2/12: 1. Overspent budget
2. Lawsuit abuse
3. Tree fees
4. Golf cart lanes
5. Trash
fees 6. Bankrupting Town
Claim #1. “Liss led the Council to overspend
by more than $2 million - they had to make up the difference by raiding our emergency reserve."
FACT: Dave’s supporters evidently don't understand
the difference between the Operating Budget, Dedicated Reserves, and Emergency Reserves.
The Operating Budget for this year is $2.7 million.
The Emergency Reserves is $2 million. Not a dime
of Emergency Reserves was budgeted to be spent in fiscal year 2012-13.
In addition, about $6 million is in the bank in a variety of special funds that can only
be used for specific purposes, including roads, parks, open spaces and special maintenance districts. As part of the Capital Improvement Program adopted in July 2012, funds were budgeted
for fiscal year 2012-13 for improvements to Taylor Road, King Road/Taylor Road signal light, Sierra College Boulevard, Blue
Anchor Park improvements and Heritage Park Nature Preserve. The latter are funded through a combination of state and federal
grants and dedicated reserves that can only be used for specific purposes such as those approved.
Claim #2:
Liss “has repeatedly voted to spend our tax dollars on legal fees, legal threats and lawsuits against neighboring towns
and communities. To date, Gary Liss' lawsuit abuse has cost the town of Loomis $239,112."
FACT: If you review the line item cited from the Town Budget,
the only numbers that equal $239,112 start with budget year 2008-09, adopted before Gary was on the Council. Most of the legal actions were initiated before Gary joined the
Council and the majority of costs were incurred then as well. Since the
Town began defending itself with legal actions, the Town gained $1.2 million in revenues to mitigate the traffic from neighboring
development. An additional $230,000 is also still pending from the Rocklin
Crossings project, due sometime in the next year. This is not an abuse - it's defending our Town's interests.
Claim #3: “Gary Liss supports charging residents $3,000 to $5,000 to
remove a tree from their property." (cites Gary's campaign website).
FACT: Dave’s supporters clearly don't understand the Tree Protection Ordinance, much
less Gary's website.
The existing Tree
Protection Ordinance that requires fees for chopping down trees was adopted in 2003. Gary Liss was not on the Council then. Ironically enough, Dave’s pro-development supporters controlled
the Council back then. The
Council that last adopted the Tree Protection Ordinance that created the current fees was Miguel Ucovich, Rhonda Morillas,
and Hazel Hineline (Wheeler’s campaign manager) along with Walt Scherer and Guy Fuson. Gary has never voted on revising the Tree Ordinance, so Dave’s supporters should take the blame for the level
of fees currently in place.
That Tree Protection Ordinance has a formula for tree fees that is designed to relate
the fees to the number, size and condition of trees removed. Gary does not support charging residents the fees stated,
and calls for the Town to conduct a study to establish what is legally appropriate.
Claim #4: "Gary Liss voted to spend $26,000 to study golf
cart lanes."
FACT: The claims about NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, not golf carts) have become so twisted as to be nearly unrecognizable.
NEV travel has been in the Town’s goals for several years. This is not to make Loomis anything like Lincoln or Davis
and is NOT for golf carts. Rather, the study will merely identify which major streets in town could be designated with signs as safe for NEV travel. This would allow people to travel from one neighborhood to another
on those major streets in NEVs. No signs would be needed for most neighborhood streets in Loomis. The Town cannot proceed
with such signage without this study.
The study would also be required for the Town to get state and federal grants for any road
improvements needed.
Also, The Village, a large development planned for the land behind Raley’s,
would be an appropriate place to consider incorporating NEV lanes because that development plan includes “affordable
housing”, senior citizen housing, and is in direct proximity to the Raley’s shopping center.
Shouldn’t we be forward-looking and plan ahead for these needs and opportunities?
Some public comments also noted that NEVs would enable them to save on gas and used NEVS could be purchased for about $3,000.
Claim
#5. “Gary Liss pushed to create complicated trash collection - drastically increasing your fees."
FACT: Where do they get this stuff? In fact, Gary proposed
a "Super Recycler Rate"
that SAVES RESIDENTS OVER 40% of their garbage bill if they keep their recyclables separate from their trash. THERE WAS NO DRASTIC INCREASE IN FEES. This approach has been adopted by over 7,000 communities throughout
the country, and is simple to use: recycle with blue bags, put yard trimmings in a green cart,
and provide your own 32-gallon cart for trash. Dave has stated he thinks everyone should just throw everything into the trash cart, and let the trash company sort
it out for recycling. That's OK if you don't mind continuing to pay high fees. But if you want
to save money, Gary has provided a real choice for residents. Over 300 households have signed up for this rate and
are saving money every day.
Claim #6. “Gary Liss colleagues
say – the green policies advocated by Gary Liss are bankrupting Loomis. The town has to reduce its
workforce by 25 percent to balance it’s current budget. Liss is a single-issue candidate supported
by people who do not live in Loomis.”
FACT: This refers to a letter to the editor by Miguel Ucovich, one of Dave’s
key supporters. This was totally misleading to suggest the Sacramento Bee said this. Typical of the sloppiness
of this hit piece.
Miguel
totally confuses facts with fiction in his letter. The
Town is NOT going bankrupt. Loomis is in better fiscal shape than virtually any community in California, has no debt and millions of dollars in
the bank.
The Town didn’t reduce its
workforce by 25% to balance the budget. It was because of good direction from the Council and good management
by the Town Manager that the Town reduced its work force when there was
less work to do because of the downturn in the economy. Less development
and less remodeling meant less time required by Town staff to review plans, issue permits and inspect construction.
From this website, hopefully you have seen that
clearly Gary is more than a single-issue candidate. Gary is supported by Loomis residents and beyond who see
him working to preserve our rural and small town lifestyle that everyone loves. He’s done that by working to strengthen downtown, build new parks and preserve open spaces, living within our means, and defending the Town from impacts of development
from out-of-town developers.
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