The Proposed 710 Expansion and School Budget Top Candidates' Concerns

Editor's Note: This is the first of several stories Patch will post about the March 8 municipal election. Future stories include in-depth profiles of the candidates and their platforms.

Except for the challenger who told the crowd that serving would be a burden, the rest of this week’s Candidate’s Forum ran quite cordially.

Sponsored by the LCF Coordinating Council and the Kiwanis Clubs of La Cañada, the forum was held at . Headmaster Peter Bachmann admonished candidates that if Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speech could consist of only 266 words, they, too, could deliver their points concisely.

And concise they were. The seven people running for three seats, including two incumbents, answered eight questions generated from the crowd and told a snippet about themselves, all in less than two hours.

In addition to incumbents Mayor Don Voss and councilwoman Laura Olhasso, the remaining candidates running in the March 8 election include business owner Charlie Kamar; registered nurse and aviator Jacki Harris; Michael Davitt, a member of the city’s planning commission; James Hill, a retired reserved sheriff’s deputy; and retired engineer Robert Richter.

All but Richter mentioned the proposed 710 Freeway expansion and the $6 million budget gap facing the schools–because of the state’s fiscal crisis–as issues that concern them. Only Richter, who stood to answer each question but closed his eyes while everyone else spoke, differed in his answer. Richter believes the current city council and its lack of responsiveness to the community are the city’s worst problems.

La Cañada sorely needs an engineer or scientist on the council, Richter said--a sentiment that appeared to be the sole message he wished voters to hear. During the candidates’ wrap-up commentary, Richter addressed the 80-some members of the audience by saying, “If you vote for me, I won’t even thank you for it. It will be a burden.’’

The following is a list of the candidates’ responses to arguably the most important question posed by voters: What are the major issues facing La Cañada?

• Harris – The need for increased communication with residents and more visbility by the council members.

• Kamar – The empty storefronts need to be filled with merchants, so as to increase sales tax for the city.

• Olhasso – The continued, staunch opposition to the 710 tunnel, maintain fiscal stability and economic vitality and continue to cooperate with the school district to address their budget shortfall.

• Davitt – Find new and creative solutions to work with the school district to ease their financial crisis, continute to oppose the 710 expansion and continued fiscal responsibility.

• Richter – The major issue is a dysfunctional city council.

• Hill – A more user-friendly city hall and one that is better prepared to handle an emergency than the way the city responded to the Station Fire.

• Voss – The number one issue facing the city is the potential expansion of the 710 Freeway, a continued fiscal responsibility and ways to continue increasing economic vitality.