2024 Concord City Council Candidate Questions: Carlyn Obringer

By The Pioneer 2 months ago

CONCORD, CA (Sept. 18, 2024) — The Pioneer newspaper presented a list of questions to the candidates running for Concord City Council in the 2024 election. To read other candidate answers, click here. 

What is your name, age and occupation?

Carlyn Obringer, age 44, Healthcare Educator/Councilmember

Why do you want to run for a City Council Position?

During my 15+ years of community and city service, I have served as a bridge helping hundreds of Concord residents and businesses find solutions to their challenges. As a former Concord Mayor, and current Vice Mayor and Councilmember, I have taken my problem-solving abilities to the next level by:

  • Allocating more funding and resources for Concord police and public safety personnel, including two School Resource Officers at Concord high schools
  • Overseeing the investment of $114M to improve the condition of Concord roads, including Grant/East Street, the streets of the Estates, Hillcrest, and West Sun Terrace neighborhoods, and roads around John Muir Hospital, Mt. Diablo High School, and Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. And more is on the way. Look for construction crews coming soon to the Alameda, Holbrook Heights, and Northwood Drive.
  • Getting back on track with a community-driven redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station including more housing at all affordability levels, family-supporting jobs, open space, and parks and sports fields, and higher education opportunities.
  • Overseeing the planning and approval of nearly 1,000 units of new Concord housing at all affordability levels, including approximately 500 new residences, affordable to those making between $33,000 and $84,000 annually
  • Leading the establishment of the Concord Industrial Center, creating 100 new living wage jobs in North Concord at companies like Papé Material Handling and SF Bay Area Provisions.
  • Co-founding the Diablo Valley Tech Initiative to attract and retain innovative companies, and support start-ups, entrepreneurs, educators, and students
  • Supporting the development and establishment of the A3 Miles Hall Crisis Call Center in Concord to ensure that Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime has access to professional, timely and compassionate mental and behavioral health support during a crisis
  • Co-developing and adopting the City of Concord Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness with implementation underway
  • Financially supporting 400 Concord small businesses in their recovery from the pandemic by creating the Concord Small Business Grant Program
  • Facilitating the transfer of 2,000 acres of open space to the East Bay Regional Park District for the new Thurgood Marshall Regional Park—Home of the Port Chicago 50
  • Founding and annually organizing Concord’s “September of Service” Community Clean-up Initiative. Since 2019, I have lead hundreds of volunteers in planting trees and bushes, removing trash, and cleaning creeks, at beloved parks including Hillcrest and Willow Pass community parks
  • Annually balancing the City budget and bolstering reserves, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic

Much remains to be done in the areas of road repair, public safety, economic revitalization, affordable housing development, support for the unsheltered, and the redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station, and I want to serve on the Concord City Council for another four years to continue this important work.

What experience or training do you have that qualifies you to make decisions for the City of Concord?

I am honored to have been elected by the people of Concord and District 2, to serve on the Concord City Council since 2016. I served as Mayor in 2019 and Vice Mayor in 2018 and in 2024. I currently hold or have previously held the following Appointed Offices:

  • City of Concord Planning Commission—Past Chair and Past Member
  • City of Concord Design Review Board Member–Past Chair and Past Member
  • East Bay Regional Park District Parks Advisory Committee—Current Member, Past Chair and Vice Chair
  • Contra Costa Mayor’s Conference Representative, East Bay Economic Development Alliance Executive Committee—Current Member
  • Marin Clean Energy Board: November 2018-December 2019 and December 2021-November 2023—Past Member
  • Contra Costa Airport Land Use Committee Member—Current Member
  • TRANSPAC (a Central County regional transportation planning body)—Current Vice Chair, Past Chair
  • Innovate 680 Policy Advisory Committee–Current Member
  • Governing Board of the Green Empowerment Zone—Current Member representing the City of Concord

What engagement have you had in Concord civic affairs? Do you regularly attend city council meetings?

I have been attending and participating in Concord City Council meetings since 2010. I am honored to have been elected by the people of Concord and District 2, to serve on the Concord City Council since 2016. I served as Mayor in 2019 and as Vice Mayor in 2018 and in 2024. I currently hold or have previously held the following Appointed Offices:

  • City of Concord Planning Commission—Past Chair and Past Member
  • City of Concord Design Review Board Member–Past Chair and Past Member
  • East Bay Regional Park District Parks Advisory Committee—Current Member, Past Chair and Vice Chair
  • Contra Costa Mayor’s Conference Representative, East Bay Economic Development Alliance Executive Committee—Current Member
  • Marin Clean Energy Board: November 2018-December 2019 and December 2021-November 2023—Past Member
  • Contra Costa Airport Land Use Committee Member—Current Member
  • TRANSPAC (a Central County regional transportation planning body)—Current Vice Chair, Past Chair
  • Innovate 680 Policy Advisory Committee–Current Member
  • Governing Board of the Green Empowerment Zone—Current Member representing the City of Concord

Other Concord-based organizations with which I am/have been involved include:

  • American Association of University Women (AAUW), Concord Branch Member: (October 2010-Present); Co-founder and Chair of the annual AAUW-Concord Art and Wine (and Beer!) Walk (2011-2015); 2011-2014 Branch Vice President
  • Concord 4th of July Parade Chair (2016-2023)
  • Concord Ambassadors: (2014-Present)
  • Concord Historical Society Member (May 2010-Present); Galindo House Docent (2012-2016)
  • Friends of Concord Creeks (2023-Present)
  • Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Business and Education Committee (2010-2016)
  • Monument Impact Board Member (2011-2017); Board President (2015-2017)
  • Soroptimist International of Diablo Vista (December 2010-2023); Club President (2014-2015)

A community driven Grand Jury identified a City Council lack of transparency in regard to financial reporting of Concord Naval weapon station Reuse Project.  What changes, if any, would you make in response to the report?

Since 2020, I have repeatedly called for transparency and accountability around the city loan of $14.6 million, to the project, that will be repaid by the project with interest. I requested that staff prepare and bi-annually update the Concord Reuse Project Program Report which provides both the current and historical expenditures made by the City of Concord (acting as the Local Reuse Authority) to perform tasks related to the redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS).  Since the Grand Jury report was released, the report has been updated and focuses on the following:

  • Current Budget and Expenditures
  • Summary of Total Project Expenditures
  • Expenditures by Fiscal Year

Listing of Project Vendors & Consultant and can be found here: 2024—06—CRP-Program-Report (civicplus.com) There is also a quarterly public presentation by Reuse Area Staff to the City Council so that the public can receive more information. Notifications about the report updates and the public presentations are distributed via the City of Concord e-newsletter and the notification list for the redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

There has been some discussion among residents that the Naval Weapons Station development is too big a project for the City Council, and that the project should have regional oversight. Do you agree?

No, I don’t agree. Redeveloping the former Concord Naval Weapons Station requires collaboration with federal, state and local agencies, which is a complicated process. We are now on track with a master developer that was selected with active support from and engagement with the Concord Community. This master developer also has the most positive history of working with the Navy of any master developer selected for the redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station, to-date. If you look at other Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) redevelopment projects, such as those taking place in Alameda, Fort Ord, San Francisco, and Vallejo, it can take three, or even four master developers before the redevelopment gets going. Concord is no different.

The major issues in the city have been homelessness, roads/infrastructure, safety and housing. What have you done, or would you do to address these issues? Are there other issues you would champion?

I have done the following to address these issues:

  • Allocated more funding and resources for Concord police and public safety personnel, including for two School Resource Officers at Concord high schools
  • Oversaw the investment of $114M to improve the condition of Concord roads, including Grant/East Street, the streets of the Estates, Hillcrest, and West Sun Terrace neighborhoods, and roads around John Muir Hospital, Mt. Diablo High School, and Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. And more is on the way. Look for construction crews coming soon to the Alameda, Holbrook Heights, and Northwood Drive.
  • Oversaw the planning and approval of nearly 1,000 units of new Concord housing at all affordability levels, including approximately 500 new residences, affordable to those making between $33,000 and $84,000 annually
  • Worked to ensure that Concord allocated $7.8 million of our $14 million in affordable housing dollars to Resources for Community Development’s Rick Judd Commons, a 62-unit complex affordable to extremely low through low-income households, serving a mix of seniors, veterans, small families, and special needs households. 12 of the units will be allocated for formerly homeless individuals.
  • Voted to ensure that one-third of the units of the new Enclave Place market rate townhome development were sold at a price affordable to families of four with an annual household income of $110,000.
  • Have supported reducing costs for building Accessory Dwelling Units and Junior Accessory Dwelling units since my days chairing the City of Concord Planning Commission.
  • Co-developed and adopted the City of Concord Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness with implementation underway

I have also been championing economic development and the community-driven redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

A recent press release from the city announced the potential rezoning of selected areas of Concord to accommodate high density housing (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Projects). What are your thoughts on this proposal?

There are several underutilized shopping centers within the City of Concord that have the potential to be revitalized as housing or mixed-use sites. This potential rezoning process could enable that. However, it is important to get the buy-in of the property owners at the start of this process, as they ultimately make the decision about their property’s use. If the property owners aren’t genuinely interested in redeveloping a site with housing, then rezoning will not make it happen.

If you had an extra $1 million in the general budget, what would you do with it?

I would allocate some of the funding to hire another police officer to focus specifically on the Downtown. I would allocate the rest of the funding to repaving some more residential roads.

If you had to cut an extra $1 million from the general budget, what would you cut?

One of the most important responsibilities of a Councilmember is ensuring that the City is living within its means. During my eight years on the Concord City Council, I have always ensured a balanced budget by following our guiding principles of fiscal stability, maintaining a 30% reserve and using one-time funds for one-time purposes. A $1 million cut, which is less than one percent of Concord’s $125 million annual budget, would need to be thoughtfully considered within this framework. If this were a one-time cut, for example, reserves could be used.

How do you feel about putting “red light” cameras at high-use intersections, and why? What about in parks?

Because running red lights and speeding continues to be a significant concern in Concord and throughout the State of California, I requested a white paper on red-light camera enforcement programs from City staff in 2023. The synopsis is that red-light cameras can be an effective tool for reducing accidents caused by red-light running, but implementation should be carefully considered due to privacy concerns, potential inaccuracies, the impact on drivers, costs to the city, impacts on staffing, and the fact that currently the Contra Costa County Courts do not have a program to support a red-light program. I am in support of the Transportation Department’s recommendation of a two-year pilot program where five red-light cameras would be installed at high-use intersections. However, operating and maintaining a red-light camera program requires additional staffing support, technical expertise, and management program support which the Police Department currently does not have. As a next step, I plan to work on building support among my Council colleagues for this pilot program. If that can be achieved, the public would need to be invited into the conversation before any action is taken, due to potential privacy concerns.

How can you ensure greater transparency and accountability in the city’s decision-making process?

Improving transparency and accountability starts with increasing accessibility. We recently introduced new software called Wordly to make our Council meetings more accessible to the non-English speaking community. Meeting attendees can use their smartphones to listen to (with headphones or earbuds) or read a transcript of the meeting in real time, available in 40+ languages. We have also developed the FlashVote community which enables Concordians to provide input on the issues you care about from any device, anytime.

While serving as Mayor in 2019, I ensured that we held a budget workshop in every city council district to discuss the City’s financial situation and solicit the public’s input as to how to address our budget challenges. We have continued to employ a combination of in-person and virtual public workshops to engage the community in ways most convenient to them as we develop the Homeless Strategic Plan and the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing initiative.

As a Councilmember, I compose a bi-weekly e-newsletter that is distributed to over 2,500 Concord constituents and provide regular updates about city matters via my Facebook, X and Instagram accounts. Constituents regularly respond to my e-newsletter and engage with me on social media about their city-related questions and concerns. I also encourage constituents to sign up for the City of Concord e-newsletter and notifications about special projects like the redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

How would you address discord or disagreements between council members and/or with city staff?

Even though we don’t agree on everything, I have a strong track record of working well with my Concord City Council colleagues. I am proud to share that in both my 2020 and 2024 campaigns for Concord City Council, I have earned the endorsement of all of my fellow City Councilmembers. Whether interacting with my City Council colleagues or city staff, I listen to their perspective and see where there is common ground so that we can move forward in a direction that benefits the largest number of Concordians.

Do you feel the current measures taken by council on rent control and tenant protections are the correct ones for the city of Concord?

As a Councilmember, I am responsible for fostering the fiscal stability of the city so that we have the funds to keep our community safe and maintain and improve our infrastructure. At the same time, I am also responsible for trying to help Concord residents find solutions to the challenges that they face. Right now a big challenge we are facing in Concord and in most communities, is housing insecurity.

I’ve read many reports and studies on the impact of rent control. It’s incredibly complicated. My concern is that there may be many unintended consequences when you try to control the cost of a good like housing in a capitalist society.
However, when I talk to community members about policies like rent control and just cause for eviction, even with their limited knowledge, what I generally hear from people in District 2 is, “If you can do something to help keep my neighbor who is a struggling single mom with three kids in her home/apartment here in Concord, please do it.”
The fact of the matter is that while Concord has some of the lowest rents in the entire Bay Area, many people can’t afford to stay here. The community has made it clear to me that they want city government to try to help people stay. And so, I casted my vote to help the people who are here in Concord today, taking a major step to address and prevent additional homelessness.
As I stated publicly when this ordinance was being discussed, I would have preferred that this ordinance go on the ballot so that the community could have time to get educated on the topic, as most Concordians are not engaged with rent control and just cause for eviction unless they are a renter or a rental property owner.
I would have preferred that there be a sunset date included in this ordinance just as has been included in AB 1482, which is statewide rent control.
And, I would have preferred that the rent cap be higher because communities very familiar with rent control like the City of Los Angeles have determined that 3% is too low and many property owners here in Concord have said that they could support a 5% cap.
If it turns out that the concerns we have heard from investors and rental property owners becomes reality and we see a trend of run down rental properties and rental stock depleted, because there is no longer the financing available to maintain properties, then it will be appropriate for this Council to revisit and adjust this ordinance to meet the new conditions, just as other cities have done. I am keeping a close eye on this and have been engaging for the past three months with District 2 voters, as I talk with them door to door, to get their thoughts on this issue to help inform me when this issue next comes up for Council discussion in Spring 2025.

Visit the candidate’s campaign site.

To read other Concord City Council candidate answers, click here.

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