Candidate Q&A: John Uy for Del Rey Oaks City Council.

As part of the 2022 election season, the Weekly asked candidates for several offices to answer questions about some of the issues by email. John Uy is running for one of two open seats on the Del Rey Oaks City Council. The other two candidates, Louise Goetzelt and Jeremy Hallock, declined to respond to the Weekly's questions.  

What are the biggest issues facing Del Rey Oaks in the next four years, and why are you the best candidate to address them?

The most significant issues facing Del Rey Oaks in the next four years are public safety, high water bills, economic development, and access to affordable housing.

Public road safety is my top priority! Because of the design of our roads and the lack of sidewalks and traffic slowing measures, many residents feel unsafe walking on our streets. We can and should do better in this most basic safety function. I will fight for public safety by identifying ways we can improve road safety to keep our neighborhood streets safe for our seniors, families, and pets.

Secondly, I understand that water costs are a real issue for many Del Rey Oaks residents, including myself. I will act to address the water shortage that results in high water bills. I believe that our community must work on cost-effective and environmentally sustainable solutions to our long-term water needs in Del Rey Oaks and the Monterey Peninsula. Therefore, I support innovative and environmentally sustainable water supply solutions that will provide a drought-proof water supply in Del Rey Oaks in the long term.

Thirdly, economic growth is vital for Del Rey Oaks to be able to provide continuously improving services, a safe environment, and strong property valuations for our residents. I will propose fresh ideas for increasing sustainable and resilient city revenues at the Fort Ord development and elsewhere by creating incentives for businesses and other city revenue sources to keep Del Rey Oaks thriving. Financial transparency and responsibility, smart and long-term economic investments, and well-analyzed budgetary actions will minimize the need for tax assessments, produce higher property valuations and offer a better quality of life for Del Rey Oaks residents.

Additionally, Del Rey Oaks will be confronted with the challenge of offering affordable housing in our community. I believe that a safe and decent place to live is a basic human right. Therefore, every individual and family here at Del Rey Oaks has the right to a decent, safe, stable, and affordable home. I also believe that housing is central to our ability to live a good life, get a good education, and get a good job. Thus, I am taking action to help reverse the growing trend of homelessness and the increasing cost of housing. Addressing the water supply issue is also one of the many initiatives to achieve affordable housing here in the Peninsula. I will also explore ways to increase access to affordable housing for a range of incomes and incentivize the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by leveraging California’s ADU grant policies.

Altogether, I am the best candidate to address these challenges of Del Rey Oaks because, as an immigrant, I have a deep and abiding respect for the American way of life. I’ve lived in a part of the world where life was much harder, and I’ve come to love the American focus on freedom, social responsibility, and democratic activism. I feel that my education and life experiences will help me become a great City Councilmember, but mostly I truly care about what it is to be American. We don’t have to be intelligent, rich, beautiful, or perfect to make a difference in our community. We just have to care.

How often do you currently attend City Council meetings? Do you think the current council is effective?

Since the start of the Covid pandemic, I have attended most of the City Council meetings because they were being held online. However, if I do miss a meeting due to schedule conflicts, I have almost always read the meeting minutes and watched the video recording to catch up with the things that were discussed during the meeting.

Based on my observation, I can say that the City Council meetings are being handled effectively. Our City Council leaders typically find a way to talk about even the most controversial topics in a thoughtful and non-inflammatory way as part of a deliberative discussion. Moreover, they communicate respectfully even when they disagree.

However, I think that from a performance perspective, the Council could have done more. The Council could have moved ahead with many issues and opportunities and solved more of the problems of our community. I want to see our City Council do more things and make things happen more effectively. I understand that after the election is over, it can be challenging for people to put aside their differences, move beyond politics and begin working together as a unified team to do what’s best for the community. However, successful councils focus on doing the best for their community. It’s the responsibility of the council members to work together, listen to each other, seek to understand and to be understood, investigate the facts, focus on issues, not on personalities, and ensure that they are doing everything possible for the good of the community.

Everybody should be open to ideas and alternatives being brought by other council members. There should always be intensive dialogue and collaboration in making decisions. In doing this, there should always be an atmosphere of decency and respect in the council rooms and among council members during public and closed doors meetings.

What would you like to see happen to the city’s Fort Ord land, and when? There are so many failed projects proposed for that property. If elected, what will you do to help ensure something gets done there instead of more lawsuits?

My vision for the future of Del Rey Oaks’ Fort Ord land is that in 5 to 10 years from now, a community will grow up on that beautiful piece of land, having a special character and identity that will fit with the nature of Del Rey Oaks and the Peninsula. It will be established using a mixed-use development approach with villages and open spaces as focal points. It will show appreciation and respect for the unique natural environment of the Peninsula and the Monterey Bay.

In my vision, each village will have a central area with services and amenities for the community, such as parks, retail stores, and service providers. Then surrounding this central area is affordable housing. The villages will be connected by public transportation and by bicycle and pedestrian-friendly open space corridors. The villages will be developed to be compact and easy to get around on foot. The community will truly be a one-of-a-kind place to call home and visit and a wonderful place of employment. It will offer a diversity of experiences and opportunities for all with a development approach that is practical, appropriate, foresighted, and environmentally friendly.

In order to help ensure that the development of Del Rey Oaks’ Fort Ord land will not result in more lawsuits, I will see to it that the development will be in accordance with the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) and adopt the guidelines set by the state and federally required Base Reuse Plan (BRP). In addition, there should be a broadly-inclusive public planning process that will incorporate significant participation by local residents, property owners, and other stakeholders. Del Rey Oaks must consider the guidelines set by FORA and BRP in submitting proposed land use plans, zoning codes, entitlements, and other implementing actions. Further, we must be smart and foresighted in our contracting process to minimize risk and ensure that Del Rey Oaks gets what we’re looking for at the agreed cost and on schedule. I will advocate for hiring unbiased consulting experts to help guide us in this highly complex process.

What is your view on FORTAG?

The Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway (FORTAG) is planned to be a continuous 12-foot-wide paved bikeway with a buffer of open space on both sides, including wildlife habitat, playgrounds, parks, developed outdoor recreation sites, unpaved trails, and other amenities, that would traverse in the cities of Del Rey Oaks, Monterey, Seaside and Marina. It is also envisioned to connect communities in the Monterey Peninsula to open space and will make active transportation easier, giving more people in our region the chance to walk, bike, or use a wheelchair to get from home to work or school or to a park or store.

As a cyclist, marathoner, and walker, I am passionate about road safety. As a special education teacher, I care about people with disabilities. As a nature lover, I am committed to preserving and enhancing our beautiful parks. Having said these, I firmly believe that the proposed FORTAG development will offer safety, mobile accessibility, and enhancement of our beautiful environment. FORTAG will provide safe passage across Highway 218 for our seniors, families, pets and wildlife. It will also allow our elderly and mobility-restricted neighbors easy access to the Frog Pond and the Del Rey Oaks City Hall and Recreation Park area. Additionally, it will enhance our environment in a beautiful way, which protects more of the trees and removes invasive species. I acknowledge the many risks that some residents are concerned about, including crime, the influx of homeless people, trash, noise, and others. Still, I am also aware that all of these have been carefully considered within the planning process. I believe that in the long run, FORTAG will be a wonderful gift that will benefit Del Rey Oaks immensely.

If elected, how will you lead in relation to FORTAG as TAMC proceeds with the project as far as garnering community support? Nearly half of DRO voters said yes to Measure B.

The FORTAG project is indeed a controversial proposal with many good promises and just as many potential risks that confronted Del Rey Oaks  residents. And yes, the recent Measure B was decided by a very small margin.

If elected to the DRO City Council, I am committed to safety, transparency, community involvement, and doing what’s best for our city, our residents, and our future generations. In that regard, I believe that we must preserve natural habitats where they are unique or offer valuable experiences for people. And similarly, I believe that we must work to encourage the use of walking and biking for accessibility, exercise, wellness, and transportation. I think the FORTAG trail does both, but many residents have eloquently noted that the FORTAG trail has risks. Since this is now decided by the recent vote, our City Council, the Planning Commission, and other community groups must work together in a non-divisive manner to address these risks, plan for risk mitigation, and imagine new risks that are even unknown today. We must be principle and fact-based, foresighted, and realistic. And we must recognize that for these and other big issues, there are no simple Yes or No answers. It is always a difficult choice, weighing pros and cons and listening to better arguments or learning new information, but we must ultimately recognize the voice of the people.

In seeking the truth, truth needs to be examined and needs to be revealed, and that can only happen on the anvil of competing ideas. If I seek the real truth, it’s important to engage with people who think differently from me. I will always listen to both sides of the issue. It is my nature to seek diverse and conflicting inputs, insights, and ideas from others. My experience and commitment to this kind of decision-making are one of the reasons that have compelled me to run for the DRO City Council.

What is Del Rey Oaks going to do to fulfill its RHNA obligation, 184 new housing units by 2031?

State law requires that local governments zone sufficient vacant land for residential use at standards and densities appropriate to meet the housing needs of all economic segments. Sites should also have available public facilities and services. Del Rey Oaks’ strategy for meeting its RHNA obligation relies solely on ensuring that enough vacant land is available to accommodate the projected growth. To accomplish this task, Del Rey Oaks needs to identify vacant or underutilized parcels, analyze site constraints (e.g., environmental or infrastructure), assess development capacity, and demonstrate that zoning is adequate for all income levels.

Del Rey Oaks currently faces a shortage of vacant land designated for residential development until the General Plan and rezoning is amended to reflect the additional land annexed from the former Fort Ord. There could be parcels within the city that could be developed for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). However, there are no remaining water allocation credits in Del Rey Oaks, and no water is available within the allocation system to the city. Therefore, Del Rey Oaks must look at the former Fort Ord property (247 acres) and the 18.5-acre parcel connected to the former Fort Ord property as the most suitable sites for future development required to meet the city’s RHNA goals. These two sites already have a current water allocation from the Marina Coast Water District.

Do you think the city budget is overly reliant on cannabis, should encourage more cannabis development, or just right? What other opportunities for economic development do you see for Del Rey Oaks and if elected, what will you do to advance them?

Looking at the revenues of the city of Del Rey Oaks on its Budget Summary Report for 2021-2022, Del Rey Oaks is heavily reliant on the sales tax revenues that it gets from its local businesses, which comprise around 40% of the total non-department specific general fund revenue. Cannabis tax revenue only accounts for 9.7% of the total non-department-specific general fund revenue. So, based on this data, I believe that the city's budget is not overly reliant on cannabis. Cannabis is one good source of income for the city, but this is not definitely the only revenue Del Rey Oaks can have. There are many more opportunities for the economic development of Del Rey Oaks.

When thinking about key economic development, retaining existing businesses and employees while attracting new ones and boosting a community's overall tax base are frequently the first success indicators that come to mind. Although this is true, people may now work from practically anywhere as an effect of the pandemic. Some things may have changed post-pandemic that our city can take advantage of as new opportunities arise.

As a forward-thinker, I want Del Rey Oaks to embrace new emerging economic opportunities out there. We need to invest in clean energy because this is the trend and the future. We need to reimagine how we develop our business locations and parking areas, how we traverse our city, how we build our affordable housing, and how we ensure greener open spaces that make Del Rey Oak viable for sustainable city revenues. And we should explore new technologies in small unit wind energy, air/water extraction, advanced analytic technologies for process optimization, as well as other fresh ideas.

Del Rey Oaks must also pursue drafting its Economic Development Element together with its Housing Element. The Economic Development Element is permitted by Section 65303 of the State Government Code, which gives local governments the option to include elements in addition to those required by law. In accordance with Section 65300.5. of the California Government Code, once an optional element has been adopted, it carries the same legal weight as any other of the elements. Although the Economic Development Element is not a required element in the General Plan, Del Rey Oaks can prepare one in order to consolidate and codify a growing body of policy concerning the economic and fiscal viability of Del Rey Oaks.

How is the Airport/city police department sharing going? Would you like to see it continue?

Based on my observation, the Airport/City Police Department sharing is going well. I believe that this is a positive partnership between Del Rey Oaks and other agencies outside of our city’s jurisdiction that has benefitted Del Rey Oaks from a safety and financial perspective. This is similar to the benefit we have from our excellent partnership with the Seaside Fire Department.

With the services of our hardworking police officers and the dedication of Seaside’s firefighters, our city has become safer. Because we established these partnerships, it saves us a lot of money in paying for the services that we are all enjoying. With our small size, Del Rey Oaks cannot operate in a silo. We must continually seek and build partnerships and collaborations with neighboring cities and agencies in the Monterey Peninsula for the betterment of Del Rey Oaks.

Who else are you supporting for council? For mayor?

From my exploration of my co-candidates for DRO City Council, I have not been able to find candidate websites, social media pages, or other salient information about their platforms that could induce me to support either one. Conversely, I have been publicly transparent and an open book in my campaign to provide DRO voters with the answers they need, encourage honest and open communication, and build trust, which is essential in representing my constituents.

For mayor, I am endorsing and supporting Alison Kerr. Under Mayor Alison Kerr’s leadership, I have seen significant social progress and numerous accomplishments in Del Rey Oaks. She was able to bring Del Rey Oaks into the best financial state ever after just two years in office. I’ve seen improved responsiveness to community needs and protection of the Frog Pond and open spaces. She has brought a lot of positive change to our city. She is a hard worker committed to understanding the details in every issue, an overachiever, and I believe that her performance has been stellar. She is the smart choice for Del Rey Oaks!