Michael Kyes answers to WaccoBB Sebastopol City Council Questionnaire

[Barry]

Please tell us a little about your background and why you want to run for the Sebastopol City Council.

I grew up in Berkeley, California, graduated from Berkeley High and went to CCAC and UC Berkeley, where I majored in mathematics. My family, who were Russian immigrants, owned a furniture shop on College Avenue in Oakland and I regularly helped in the store, including furniture repair and upholstery. Once I stared college, I worked as an auto mechanic primarily on high end foreign autos (I worked on Clint Eastwood’s Ferrari) and spent my spare time learning about the emerging world of micro computers. This led to a 35 year career in the computer industry.

As a child I spent my summers in Twain Harte and loved the outdoors. I joined the Boy Scouts and regularly participated in camping and backpacking trips. When I moved to Sonoma County in 1979 and met my wife I became involved in environmental issues and politics partly because she was active in environmental issues and also because it fit with my love of nature from my childhood.

When we moved to Sebastopol in 1989 I started attending city council meetings and rapidly became a crusader for preserving Sebastopol’s small town character as well as conserving the Laguna and our natural environment. I participated actively in civic life including joining the Chamber of Commerce, the Laguna Foundation Board, the Parks and Recreation commission and various other activities.

Running for City Council seems a logical extension of my long time activism on behalf of the environment, preserving Sebastopol and my experience as a small business owner with a commitment to our local economy. For the past five years I have become involved in the solar industry and am also very concerned about climate change. I am proud of the leadership that Sebastopol has shown in moving toward renewable energy and implementing sound environmental policies. I believe that because of our committed forward thinking community we can continue to show other communities how to move forward in a sustainable way while preserving quality of life.

When and why did you move to Sonoma County?

I moved to Santa Rosa in 1979. My business partners and I purchased a ComputerLand store and I came to Sonoma County to manage it. I thought I was being banished to nowhere but once I started living here I quickly fell in love with the county. I cannot imagine living elsewhere. I met my wife and we were married in 1980. We moved to Sebastopol from Roseland in 1989.

How have you been involved in the Sebastopol community?

I am most proud of my contributions to the creation of the City’s Laguna Park. I served on the Laguna Park Implementation Committee as well as the Board of the Laguna Foundation. The Park was a contentious issue up until Emmet Blincoe donated $200,000 toward the park. Once that occurred many more people began to see the vision and possibility of the Park. I served on these two organizations when the Park was not such a popular idea and worked hard to get more people to see what an asset the Park would be. I also rolled up my sleeves and worked in the field planting trees and clearing blackberries. I continued to serve after the Park became more popular and was gratified to see it so used and appreciated.

I have been involved in a number of other activities including the addition to the Chamber of Commerce building using recycled building materials and participated in creating the current process for developing the City’s budget.

Community Activities
Fifth District Representative Zone 1A Flood Control Board
City of Sebastopol Energy Committee
Solar Sebastopol, Advisory Board
City of Sebastopol Sun Dragon/Art Committee
Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation Board Member
Solar Sonoma County, Advisory Board, Technical Advisor
City of Sebastopol Parks and Recreation Commissioner
City of Sebastopol Laguna Park Implementation Committee
Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce Board Member

What experience and values do you bring to the table?

I owned a software company that developed accounting software for 25 plus years. Over that period of time I talked to thousands of small business owners so I have a broad understanding of the problems they face. I have an extremely good understanding of accounting and financial information. My skills in this area will be very useful in helping Sebastopol through these difficult financial times.

However, running a small town is not the same as running a business. Elected office requires listening and respecting diverse opinions, bringing many factions to the table and finding solutions. Elected office requires building consensus and showing leadership rather than issuing commands.

My work on numerous City and County boards/committees has given me the kind of experience needed to understand how government works and how to get things done. I also am kind of a “wonk” and will read lots of material to fully understand the technicalities of an issue. I think this will also be helpful to the Council.

I now make my living as a solar and energy consultant and have a lot of expertise in that area. I am proud of Sebastopol's leadership in adopting renewable energy and preserving our environment and I believe my expertise in these areas will also make a contribution to charting a positive course for our town.

What important decisions of the Sebastopol City Council from the last 4 years, including the Northeast Plan, do you particularly agree or disagree with?

The city council election of two years ago was basically a referendum on the Northeast Specific Plan. The plan was rejected by a margin of two to one. The new council majority decided not to go forward with the plan, a decision I agree with. I believe there were significant problems with the plan and that the consultants did not do a very good job facilitating communication within our community.

I agree with the City’s aggressive pursuit of renewable energy, adoption of greenhouse gas reduction goals, its significant investment in affordable housing and support of Street Smart and iWalk.

Would you vote to spend $20,000 for a study of the feasibility of eliminating one or more city parking lots?

I support the City’s investigation of the best way to utilize our parking space inventory. I believe staff is looking at how to optimize use of City owned property and still ensure that we have adequate parking where we need it. We must keep adequate parking for shoppers to support our downtown businesses however there may be a way to rearrange our public assets to better serve the public.

Would you support a free wi-fi system for Downtown Sebastopol at no cost to the city?

There are already a number of free wi-fi access points in the City. If the question refers to the Sonic offer which required a Sonic subscription for security, then the City would have to make this offer to all vendors. If Sonic’s offer would have reduced the total number of wireless routers and corresponding wi-fi clutter, I would have supported it.

How would you support our local economy?

First, create/enhance an environment where businesses can thrive, including the support of a business incubator and ensuring that our downtown has the amenities to attract shoppers. This includes doing everything we can to mitigate our traffic problems and improve parking. We must aggressively work to attract new businesses that will be drawn to Sebastopol’s green ethic, progressive ideals and agricultural heritage. We should capitalize on our assets including our arts community, antique businesses, high quality food/ wine, green energy and vintage clothing by promoting these business sectors. Doing more to promote our various festivals and fairs, some of which appeal to regional and even national audiences. Promoting programs that encourage residential and commercial energy and water retrofits which will result in related sales while saving consumers money. We need to promote Sebastopol shopping opportunities and services to people who live throughout West County via various means, particularly the internet.

What do you see as the most pressing current problems in Sebastopol, and what would you do about them?

Other than the national economy, the most pressing issue in Sebastopol is traffic and pedestrian safety. If the national recession continues and City revenue declines, maintaining City services would become the most pressing issue. This of course means that enhancing our local economy is a pressing issue too. We also have the opportunity to show other communities that reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint can be done AND also have a high quality of life.

What is your vision of Sebastopol in 2030? And what's the most pressing long term issue?

I moved to Sebastopol over 21 years ago. In many ways the City is not much different now but there are differences. Downtown, the plaza was a treeless parking lot, and half the buildings downtown were vacant. There was no movie theater and there were no trees lining the street. Today the plaza, downtown benches, streetlights and trees all have increased the quality of life in Sebastopol. It is my vision that over the next 20 years we proceed rehabilitating the other distressed areas of the City is the same measured way including the area along Gravenstein Highway on the south side of town.

What does "sustainability" mean to you?

Too often it means “green washed”.

I live in close to a zero energy/ zero net greenhouse gas emitting home, drive an electric car part of the time, use a clothesline and have a goal of growing 50% of my family’s food. While I may have a long way to go, I believe that my family is heading in the right direction. However, I do understand that not everyone can afford solar or a new Prius. People contribute to environmental sustainability in a variety of ways.

To me sustainable means that we do not use more resources than can be regenerated or reclaimed in our lifetimes. This is very hard to achieve at this time within the confines of viable choices within our economy and culture. It also means that we do not spend more than we can bring in over a reasonable period of time. At present, we need to work toward sustainability by advocating for changes nationally and globally that will make it more viable for everyone to depend on renewable energy, sustainably grown food, and sustainable technologies. We must all do what we can individually and locally, but to really achieve sustainability we need to make changes on a bigger scale. We can set an example.
In 2006-2007 I participated in the preparation of the City’s CAGE Report. I believe that this report provides extremely valuable information on not only sustainability but what will be required to adapt to reduced resources and a changing environment.

The report is available on the City’s website at:
https://www.ci.sebastopol.ca.us/pdfs...rt04-03-07.pdf

What will you do to preserve, protect and enhance the environment?
This is a rather broad question and the environment is a big place, there is probably no area that couldn’t use improvement.

Sebastopol single most important natural resource is the Laguna and its watershed. Sebastopol has had a Laguna Park for 16 years but has done little to replant its riparian forests or oak woodlands. Given the length of time these habitats take to mature, the sooner we get this task started the better. This task is neither particularly complicated nor does it need to be particularly expensive.

On a global scale I believe that climate change is the most significant concern. Because of our forward thinking residents I believe that Sebastopol is in a unique position to showcase methods for reducing our carbon footprint and growing a local sustainable economy.

Do you feel you have any inadequacies as a potential Council member? How would you address them?

I could be a better public speaker. Practice makes perfect!

Who has endorsed you?
Sierra Club
Sonoma County Conservation Action
Sonoma County Democratic Party
Latino Political Action Committee
Progressive Democrats Sonoma County
Una J M Glass—Candidate’s wife
Mike Reilly—Former Sonoma County Supervisor
Bill Kortum— Former Sonoma County Supervisor
Guy Wilson—Vice-Mayor of Sebastopol
Linda Kelley—Sebastopol City Council
Howard Levy - Former Sebastopol City Council
Lynn Hamilton—Former Sebastopol City Council
Anne Magnie—Former Sebastopol Mayor
Susan Gorin— Mayor of Santa Rosa
Jude Kreissman - former Chair of the General Plan Advisory Committee
and many more!

Do you think it is appropriate for the city to take official stands on national issues, and if so, what stands would you like to see taken?

Yes, on issues of major significance that are of concern a large majority of our citizens.

Do you support CA Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana? And if it passes, what taxes or regulations would you want to see applied?

I will vote yes because a no vote means keeping the status quo which is clearly not working. We are spending millions and millions on incarcerating people for having a small quantity of marijuana. These people then come in contact with more serious criminals in the prison system and are thus introduced to more serious crime. They spent on imprisoning individuals for marijuana possession would be much better spent on education and rehabilitation programs.

Should Prop 19 pass, we should clearly tax marijuana and restrict access to it by youth. The City will probably lose taxable sales on medical cannabis which will have an impact on our budget and that must be addressed. Regulations regarding cultivation for personal use should be the same as for medical use.

https://www.kyes4sebastopol.com/index.php