Alameda is still stuck in the mindset of panicking over the loss of the Navy. It has been nearly 15 years since the closure of the NAS, and there is still no clear vision of what to do with the land. Now that the ENA with SunCal has ended, this issue is once again at the forefront of the minds of Alamedans and is by far the most important issue of this election. I have always felt that SunCal was a bad fit for our City and was among the 85% who voted against Measure B. The city needs clear leadership over the issues concerning the NAS and the direction Alameda will take into the future.

We do not need to build more housing at the NAS- we currently have hundreds of units on the market. There are so many complications with building on the site and no plans have satisfactorily taken into account the myriad issues from hazardous waste to public transit to the Least Tern's habitat to low income housing balance vs jobs that I want to see a better answer for Alameda's citizens.

I think that it makes more sense to reuse the existing structures and leverage all the existing assets to generate income for the City, rather that bringing in mercenary developers who are tone- deaf and more interested in lining their own pockets than doing what's best for our community. We also have a historical background that is worth preserving.

I see an Alameda Point four years from now that honors and respects the history and value of what is there now. I envision it taking community input and building upon it with available resources to make a neighborhood of revenue-generating light industry, green technologies, internet technologies, entertainment and other businesses. This would then in turn provide funding for valuable community resources like parks and sports fields and recreational centers that would benefit the citizens of Alameda.

I would hope to find a public transportation-friendly area, where the Navy is busy doing its job, cleaning up, preparing to hand over the land by 2017. I welcome a Point that generates revenue for Alameda to the point where it will become a magnet for new residents and, perhaps then, it will be necessary to consider the issue of building new housing on the cusp of my second term in office.