CARLSBAD: Candidates divided on city's financial management

Six people running for two spots on Carlsbad's council

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Saturday, September 27, 2008 6:09 PM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- With the nation's financial industry bailout looming and the recent troubles with the local housing fresh in people's minds, fiscal responsibility is a frequently mentioned topic by the candidates running for Carlsbad City Council.

What separates the six candidates is how well they think Carlsbad is weathering the storm and what can be done to improve city revenue.

Long-time incumbent Ann Kulchin's position is that the city has managed its ship well so far and should continue on its current course. At the other end of the spectrum is challenger Thomas K. Arnold's position that the city has spent money "willy-nilly" of late on things such as the costly municipal golf course construction project and the old Farmers Insurance building.

Some would argue that both perspectives are accurate. Carlsbad is known among San Diego cities for its fiscally conservative nature. It typically spends millions less than it collects in revenue each year, and it has more than $40 million stashed in reserve accounts.

But it also won a "Golden Fleece" award from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association earlier this year for its new golf course along Palomar Airport Road. Golf industry experts have said that course, which cost more than $60 million to build, may be the nation's most expensive municipal golf course project.

There are two council seats up for election this fall. One is held by Julie Nygaard, who is not running. The other is held by Kulchin, a seven-term incumbent. The five other folks on the ballot are Arnold, Glenn R. Bernard, Keith Blackburn, Farrah Douglas and Evan Delaney Rodgers.

Thomas K. Arnold

The publisher/editorial director of Home Media Magazine and an editor for the Hollywood Reporter, Arnold said his experience as a journalist working on deadlines and a business manager dealing with budget cuts will serve him well on the council.

Arnold, 50, said one key issue for him is fiscal responsibility, and he argues that the city hasn't experienced much of that of late. The city purchased "a white elephant" when it bought the Farmers Insurance building in 2002 because it hasn't done anything with the structure, he said. The city also made an "unwise decision" when it spent millions more than initially forecast on its golf course, he said.

Voters agreed more than a decade ago that the city should build a golf course, but city leaders should have gone out for a second vote several years ago as the proposed price tag began to climb, Arnold said.

Initially, the course was forecast to cost roughly $15 million.

"That thing is a $70 million golf course, and it's costing money every year to operate it," he said. "It's decisions like that that make me question the council's business acumen."

Keith Blackburn

A sergeant in the city's police department, Blackburn said his police work will help him as a council member.

"By working as a police sergeant, you have a very unique perspective on the needs of the community," he said, mentioning the time he spends working one-on-one with people to solve problems.

Blackburn, 49, has served on the city's police force for 22 years and plans to retire if elected to council. In addition to his police work, he manages some $35 million worth of rental property in the Los Angeles area and serves as president of the Blackburn Foundation, a family-funded charitable foundation that donates money to local youth organizations. He also was one of the main investment partners in the Carlsbad Company Stores outlet shopping center project, he said.

Blackburn supports the renovation of the Westfield shopping mall in the city's northern end and the expansion of Hoehn Motors on the west side of Interstate 5, arguing that the city needs to do more to increase its sales tax base.

His second key issue is reducing traffic troubles in town, he said. He wants the city to explore purchasing some of the neat equipment he's heard about as a police officer ---- there are devices with sensors that can detect traffic congestion at multiple traffic lights at once, he said.

Glenn R. Bernard

Known locally for his pick-up truck that advertises a soccer-golf game he invented, Bernard has a wide range of proposals he'd like to put forward if elected to the council.

The 56-year-old Carlsbad resident said Wednesday that he has decided not to participate in media interviews. Instead, he submitted a statement listing his campaign ideas and commenting that he is a retired Marine and has experience in real estate sales.

The first three items on his campaign goal list are establishing a U.S. car ownership requirement for city government employees, keeping neighborhoods without curbs and sidewalks in their current state, and removing the metal memorial plaques on city buildings that state the names of city officials who participated in the project.

"I want to remove all such plaques everywhere, and pass an ordinance to forever ban the practice," his media statement declares, commenting that such signs encourage elected officials to pursue costly building projects. "Yes, I'm the fellow who made the news in 2006 when my campaign for mayor involved no signage."

Bernard has run twice unsuccessfully for mayor.

Farrah Douglas

A recent appointee to the city's Planning Commission, Douglas has jointly run a local print shop with her husband for some 20 years. The 60-year-old Iranian immigrant is active in many local organizations. She helped gain passage of the city-sponsored agricultural lands ballot measure in 2006, and is a former leader of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's board.

"I'm running because I really have a passion for public service," Douglas said. "Carlsbad is the place where I really started feeling I had a home after I escaped from Iran (in the 1970s)."

In the decade that she went from being a new business owner to a Chamber of Commerce leader, Douglas "learned how to lead, how to bring consensus," she said.

Douglas said one of her goals will be to keep Carlsbad fiscally sound. She said she wants to encourage environmentally friendly businesses to locate in town and believes that the city isn't as business-friendly as it could be.

She also would like to see the proposed desalination plant become a reality, wants to improve tourism revenue and will push for renovation efforts in the downtown Village and Barrio areas, she said.

Ann Kulchin

A former teacher who has been a councilwoman for nearly 30 years, Kulchin is running for her eighth term on the council.

"I feel like I've got the experience, I've got the energy," she said as she described why she was running again.

Known for her support of beach preservation efforts and her people-skills, the 76-year-old Kulchin is endorsed by her fellow council members and by state and federal folks. She's got one key issue --- "the economy, the economy," she said. "We need money to continue the wonderful things ... we do in the city."

Kulchin said the city has done well with its finances so far, mentioning that Carlsbad has delayed projects over the years because of concerns about expenses.

Years ago, the city held off on building the Dove Library because while it had money to build the structure, it didn't believe it had enough money for day-to-day operating costs, she said. Recently, the council decided to delay building the proposed Alga Norte Park project because of cost considerations.

Evan Delaney Rodgers

A 19-year-old Cal State San Marcos student studying criminal justice, Rodgers is well aware that she is the youngest candidate in the race. If elected, she may be youngest council member in the state, she said.

Working her way through a crowd and participating in some social situations can be challenging for her, she has said. Rodgers was diagnosed at age 8 with a mild form of autism called Asperger's syndrome, which affects social skills, among other things.

Rodgers, who holds two community degrees and is majoring in pre-law program, has said that having Asperger's also has its benefits.

"I wouldn't be where I am today if I were neurotypical because I would have been interested in social things," she stated when she announced her candidacy. "Having a little autism helped me achieve my goals and not miss what most people thought I was missing out on."

Rodgers became involved in city politics when the council began debating whether to build the Alga Norte Park project, which is proposed to include a swim complex with three pools. She wasn't pleased when the council decided earlier this year to put the project on hold, and getting the complex built is the first item she lists among her key goals.

She's also interested in skate park issues, and in creating downtown arts programs, encouraging the establishment of satellite college campuses in town, and in improving vacancy rates in the city's business park region, she said.

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