Clayton City Council candidate questions: Kim Trupiano
The Concord Clayton Pioneer newspaper presented a list of questions to the candidates running for Clayton City Council in the 2022 election. To read other candidate answers, click here. For our story on all the candidates running in this race, click here.
Why do you want to serve on the Clayton City Council?
I am running for Clayton City Council because I am not happy with what I have seen transpire on the council in the last couple of years and believe I can make a difference to move the City forward toward fiscal responsibility, improving landscaping and maintenance issues throughout the City, ensuring that the citizens of Clayton are receiving the kind of accountability and transparency they deserve and engage them to be part of the process and the solution. That only comes about with strong and decisive Leadership. Leadership You Can Trust.
What personal skills and knowledge will you bring to the Council?
I have spent more than three decades working in the private sector for major Fortune 500 companies and have managed budgets larger than the City of Clayton. I will bring my expertise in executive management to the Council and will make sure that we are living within our means, maximizing the skills and duties of our City staff and providing the leadership that the staff needs and the community deserves. This may include an assessment and reorganization of staff duties, introducing a maintenance software program(s) that prioritizes tasks and provides a preventative maintenance roadmap, which will in turn drive improved economic vitality in the downtown.
What experience do you have that qualifies you to serve? Include professional and volunteer work on civic, community or charitable projects.
My corporate career includes 20 years in the newspaper industry (Gannett, NY Times, Knight Ridder, Media News Group), 10 years in the shopping center industry (The Taubman Company), and the last 4 years as a small business owner and marketing consultant. My civic engagement includes serving on the East Bay Leadership Council Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Diablo Valley Community College Advisory Board, Save Mount Diablo Development and Moonlight on the Mountain committees, Soroptimist International of Diablo Vista and Clayton Business and Community Association.
How long have you been a Clayton resident?
Since 2013, formerly in Dana Hills and currently in Chaparral Springs.
Current revenue growth is projected to be 2-3% per year while expenses as projected are anticipated to increase at 4% or ore more. This trend may worsen in the coming year due to historically high levels of inflation and general economic uncertainty that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, and other world economic factors. To reach a balanced budget in 2023 and onward, the city must either significantly cut services or increase revenue. If you think the city should balance the budget by cutting costs and services, what specifically would you cut? If you look more toward increasing revenue, how would you do this?
The first thing that needs to be done is to review the current proposed budget line item by line item and identify where there are opportunities to make adjustments including a review of staff positions, opportunities for outsourcing and updating our technology. We also need to look at ways to improve revenue by revisiting our park and facility fees, opportunities to rent out Endeavor Hall or the bottom floor City Hall and to rent available space to contractors at the Corp Yard. We also need to look at our fee schedule for the use of our downtown park and downtown in general for events.
We also need to address the lack of economic vitality in our community. This includes identifying and actively reaching out to potential tenants for vacant retail spaces and empty parcels in the City. Some locations have been vacant for years on end and we need to turn this around and to create additional tax revenue.
The governor has made the housing crisis a number one priority for the state. Cities are being mandated to provide more housing units than has been required in the past and it’s likely that even denser housing plans will be required in the future. Where do you see this going for a small city that is nearly built out? How should the city plan for meeting these mandates?
The City’s role is to identify potential locations for housing, zone those sites accordingly and then submit the housing element to the State. The City is not responsible for developing or building out the site for housing. Then it is up to developers to have a desire to build here and that is not a given in the current economic climate due to increased cost of building materials and access to a skilled labor force.
Clayton is largely a built out community with limited land/space for broad development and a large portion of Clayton’s land is restricted because of environmental considerations.
What do you see as the single biggest challenge for the city going into 2023?
Financial accountability to the citizens of this community. There is little transparency and almost no community engagement. We have a growing divide within the City and on our Council and we need someone to help heal that divide and re-engage the residents so that they feel like they are part of the process and the future of the City.
What is your vision for Clayton in the next 4 years? Long term?
That when you enter the City limits you see a well-maintained, beautifully landscaped community that is safe and welcoming to families, businesses and visitors. I want to see a community that is able to preserve it’s small town feel – something we have all come to enjoy and what brought us here in the first place.
Again, we must re-energize our citizens and bring them back into the process, because with improved communication and transparency we can achieve those goals together, but only with true Leadership at the helm.
What role will you play in realizing that vision?
I will actively participate City Council meetings, whether elected or not, attend planning commission meetings and foster an independent, nonpartisan path to resolution. If elected, I vow to work closely with all of my fellow City Councilmembers to make sound decisions that make sense for Clayton now and in the future.