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Fourth
District, Calaveras County, CA |
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Approach Events (Updated)
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A Balanced Approach to The Next Practical Step Forward A key step in achieving a balanced approach to county government is discussed in the web page "Housing and Jobs". This web page addresses how to actually link jobs to houses. In a balanced approach, the first thing to recognize is that Calaveras County can not afford to isolate itself. While some may wish for the past days of benign neglect, reality is that the Baby Boomers have discovered us. With their retirement equity, they will buy and build, and bringing with them a significant economic boost to our economy. To successfully integrate the Boomers and those service workers who follow them, we need to understand how to handle both the local and regional impacts. The Calaveras Council of Governments is our regional transportation planning agency. During my service as Chair, we published the Calaveras Regional Transportation Plan. In that plan, not only we consolidate community inputs but we also aligned Calaveras' transportation planning model with those of our neighboring counties. Regional transportation planning is critical to understanding the interdependency of roads, jobs and housing. Just as the Tri-County Memorandum of Understanding was key to obtaining the millions of additional dollars needed to complete the Highway 4 by-pass, regional cooperation is going to be critical in enhancing our quality of life. We need to strengthen the effectiveness of our regional Locally, we must complete a first-class general plan. While the need is urgent, we must not compromise the quality of community participation and planning. And once the general plan is adopted, we must continue to reform and strengthen the county planning process. For example, basic administrative processes such as tracking building permits must be bought up to modern business standards. Also, we must support the general plan with more detailed community design guidelines. Most builders want clear, efficient, consistent guidance from planning departments. Establishing and documenting community expectations can go a long ways in facilitating appropriate greenfield and in-fill development. "I'm running for Supervisor because changing times require a change in leadership." -- Lee Seaton
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Copyright 2008 Citizens for Seaton, P.O. Box 855, Altaville, CA 95221 |