Home About Ellen Help Ellen Meet Ellen Positions on Issues	Ellen's Comments at the Campaign Kick-Off Party Thank you all for coming out this rainy Sunday afternoon. I appreciate your presence more than you will ever know. Twenty-seven years ago, when Marshall and I moved to Claremont I had no idea I would be standing up here kicking off my campaign for the Claremont City Council. We loved this community from the beginning because it enveloped us - made us feel welcomed and made our contributions seem appreciated. When Marshall opened his law office 20 years ago, our level of involvement increased, but running for office was still not in my plans. However, here we are, I stand before you and have to talk to a group of people about why I am running for City Council. Some say I am doing this because I am crazy. Others say because I do not have enough to do. The first may be true - the second is not. The questions will always be: What can I bring to the council? I will bring a dedication to Claremont, a desire to serve the public, and three attributes that will be of assistance on the council EXPERIENCE INDEPENDENCE VISION What distinguishes me from the other candidates? For one: Commission experience - I was on the Traffic and Transportation Commission for 8 years, four of those as Chair. No one currently on council has any commission experience, and no other candidate has as much commission experience. The benefit of being on a commission is that you learn the process of how the city system runs -what review is necessary & at what step of the process should that review be done. Claremont had a strong council/commission system. Commissioners are volunteers, but they really play the role of staff to the council. Commissions should review issues before they go to the council. That is not happening these days, and there is a palpable difference. I also have business experience. I have managed a local office for nearly 20 years - made sure the payroll is met, supervised personnel, hired and fired employees, saw that the office ran smoothly for everyone. No one else currently running has that hands-on practical business experience. I have been actively involved and have held leadership positions in many community organizations, including city commissions and committees. In that leadership role, I have been successful in bringing disparate voices together, in making the organization work to its highest level, in working cooperatively rather than divisively. My volunteer activities have been varied and deep. Take a look at the material the campaign committee prepared - I have been actively involved with the League of Women Voters, the Chamber of Commerce, the library board, Claremont Heritage, and school issues such as the bond campaign and Save Our Schools. It is because of the both the range and extent of my volunteer work that I feel such a part of the many aspects of this community. Primarily I believe that everyone has an opinion worth considering. Public discourse and open government are important - transparency necessary. Excluding people from decision-making is counter- productive. I do not have to agree with someone to listen to that person's ideas with respect. It is no secret that the council as it is constituted is not working well together. Issues become altercations. Decisions, when they are made, are made in controversy, not compromise. I know I can make a difference in that decision making process. Many people ask if the council runs the city? I strongly believe that the council should run the city - council sets policy and staff follows through on that policy. Council members have to be strong to make difficult decisions that set fair and workable policy. Council members should have a passion for issues - not an agenda, but a caring passion about things that are important and necessary for the success of the city. That passion and a healthy dose of independence brought me to the forefront during the Landrum situation. I could not sit back and watch the city I loved be pulled apart. I independently organized Study Circles, small discussion groups that bring people together to talk about the issues and what they want to do to rectify the problems they see. Study Circles gave hundreds of committed Claremont residents the opportunity to talk with other people who might have had different opinions and to work out a plan. The success of Study Circles was credited with starting the healing for this community. In addition, of the two-dozen or so recommendations put forward by the Study Circles participants, more than 20 have been put into effect and are successful. Most of all, I bring vision, the ability to consider the impacts of council decisions (and non-decisions) on the future of the city. Past councils have made decisions that have made Claremont the wonderful place it is today - some examples are the plan to have a park next to each school, to build a full fledged senior center and youth activity center, or the idea to plant trees on each street. Claremont is a better place because of these policy decisions. We have several vision issues coming up that I support - keeping the hillsides as undeveloped as possible; redevelopment of Foothill Boulevard post-Route 210; development of the area south of the village; business changes along both freeways; affordable housing opportunities; regional approaches to transportation and environmental concerns; the completion and, most importantly, the implementation of the new general plan; improving the service and hours of our public library; solving the freeway noise problem; keeping sustainability (recycling) in the forefront; continued state budget problems that vex the city - the council must have vision to deal with these and more. Vision = faith in the future. I do not seek to be elected because I have all the answers. As a councilperson, I pledge that I will study all sides of every issue, not jump to conclusions, and apply a fair and objective approach to every decision. Before I close I want to give a special thanks to Zoe TeBeau and her committee for putting on this party. Thanks also to my campaign chairs, Helaine Goldwater and Mary Jane Merrill who have taken well to telling me what I must do. And to my committee that has helped me get this campaign kicked off. And special thanks to my husband for his support during the campaign - honey, when this is over, I promise you a home cooked meal for a change! Before you leave, be sure to taste the ice cream that Bert & Rocky's devised in honor of my campaign: EllenBerry Ice Cream. In closing, let me just say I hope to bring EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP TO CLAREMONT as well as an INDEPENDENT VISION FOR CLAREMONT'S FUTURE, and I ask your support and your vote on March 8th. Ellen Taylor for City Council   FPPC#1272843 Cindy Sullivan, Treasurer  1016 Emory Drive  Claremont, CA 91711 Tel: (909)626-1801  Email: electellen@yahoo.com  Website: electellen.org