Personal information:
Name: Melinda Young
Age: 50
Family: Two children.
Career/current job: Art gallery owner, owner of childcare business.
Education: Nursing degree.
Length of residence in Lake County and your particular city: Lived in Clearlake 11-plus years.
Web site or email address where community members can contact you:
Questions:
1. Please outline your experience serving the local community. Include all community or volunteer service.
I have attended many city council meetings, educating myself on what are our local issues. I was on the Vision Task Force and part of Operation DMV, which gained us a third DMV employee and an upgraded computer system for our Clearlake DMV.
I hosted a regular TV8 program titled “Join In with Melinda Young,” which highlighted political issues in Clearlake and I also interviewed and promoted local businesses.
I was on committees to implement continuous curb, sidewalk and gutter on Lakeshore Drive; a board member for Calvary Chapel for six years as treasurer; and headed up Salt & Light Ministry, representing national and local political issues to local churches.
I opened The Art House Gallery as a small business owner to offer cultural events, art classes and music instruction for our community (this included free summer art classes for low income children in our community).
I’ve served as Boy Scout advancement coordinator, been a foster parent for eight years, am a chamber of commerce member and sat in on various committees over the years that have focused on community issues.
2. Why did you decide to run for public office?
I decided to run for city council because I am dissatisfied with the lack of progress in the city of Clearlake. I do not believe that we can afford to travel down the same road expecting different results, we must change our thinking and our plan of action for this city. I am interested in seeing our city realize some of the potential that we have and I would dedicate myself to bringing a safe, clean, viable and beautiful community for us all. (That is a promise.)
3. What are the important qualities you would bring to public service?
The important qualities that I would bring to public service are my ability to work as a team player for the overall good of the city, honesty, integrity, keeping my word, working hard, respect for the citizens, open door policy, inventiveness, thinking for myself, staying focused, able to look at the entire need, ability to learn, eager to serve and help this community be a respected part of Lake County.
4. What are the primary functions of a city council member? What are the important skill sets a council member should possess?
I believe the primary functions of a city council member are to make the final decision on any and all matters that concern the city, having initiative to solve problems that affect people’s lives, listening with an open mind, educating yourself about any issues concerning the city, able to work as a team with fellow council members, city staff, volunteers, outside agencies and very important, the public. I think the most important skills a council member should possess would be humility, common sense and a sincere desire to serve the people and act in their best interest.
5. What is your city’s single greatest challenge? How would you address it?
I know we have many issues facing our city, however, in my opinion the lake is the single greatest challenge as it is our drinking water and what attracts those from outside areas to our region.
The Clear Lake Advisory Committee is a group formed to analyze this problem from all angles. They come up with recommendations that need to be acted upon. Unfortunately, our only representative from Clearlake on this committee has only been able to attend a couple of meetings. I have contacted the council member who appointed this person and asked for a new appointee who will attend regularly and asked that this representative give updates at council meetings for the council and public.
Measure E’s tax allocations for the algae issue are only 9 percent and that is for harvesting the algae, which is expensive and not very effective. Most of the proposed tax money will go for public launch gate control to stop mussels from contaminating our lake. This does not even address private docks. Therefore it needs to be redrafted to put the tax money where it will actually benefit the problem. We need to deal with the nutrient load simultaneously with the water issue. The county is the lead responsible agency for the lake, however, we need to work with them and tackle our area as well.
6. If you are elected, what will your top issue be? What other issues are of particular interest to you?
If elected, as I said previously, the lake is a priority to me and I will be an advocate for us to partner with the other legislative bodies and agencies around the lake to work on this.
My top issue for Clearlake is concerning our local economy and supporting our businesses. I believe the best way to do this is to implement continuous curb, sidewalk and gutter down Lakeshore Drive. This will enable us to access our downtown safely, it will remove blight and bring our downtown a look of prosperity that we can then build on and move out from there into other areas of our city. This has been talked about for a long time. I believe this must be the first step in rehabilitating our reputation, our look and boost our local economy. This is also an important measure so we can access our downtown safely.
7. Is there a matter that you’ve seen the council handle that you believe should have been approached differently? If so, how would you have handled it?
I cannot even think of one matter on which I have agreed with the council’s actions. For example, the use of redevelopment, lack of enforcing code violations, animal control, lack of a residential street paving plan, not prioritizing our lake issues, lack of investment in our downtown, safety issues, not hiring locally, proper cultivation of young children’s activities, lack of educating themselves with the FACTS and not being “hand fed” by the city manager, lack of personal initiative to truthfully see what needs to be corrected in our city and seek to do it, using their elected position for their own agendas, lack of professionalism and how they treat some of the public during council meetings. Even with attempts made at bringing some “relief” to certain issues, it appears to be a “stab in the dark” focusing on a portion of the need and not addressing the entire need so it really never gets solved. I am running for city council so that I can be a part of necessary changes.
8. What ways, if any, would you encourage public and media interaction with you and the city council should you be elected? How would you approach public interaction, especially on controversial issues?
I would have available time each week to meet with citizens, advocate town hall meetings, be available by phone and email to listen and encourage open dialogue with the public. I have come to the conclusion that with proper public education of city issues this can help eliminate some of the confusion and animosity that the citizens often feel towards city officers and new policies. I am all in favor of transparency in our local government. Having media interaction is an important element to ensure this.
9. When you think of your city in 20 years, what do you hope it will look like? When considering that future vision of your city, what would you want your legacy to be in improving your community?
In looking to the future of how I hope our city would look like in 20 years it would be a beautiful, clean, safe and well-kept city. I would like my legacy to be that I was a person who cared about the citizens, the city as a whole and worked tirelessly to bring to fruition a beautiful, safe, clean, well-kept city we could all enjoy and be proud of.
Financial information: See Form 470 below.
Clearlake City Council Candidates - Melinda Young - Form 470
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