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p.o. box 2710 victorville california 92393-2710 760.951.5111 fax 760.951.5113

Q&A Session with

Ms. Angela Valles

Candidate for Victorville City Council

Questions supplied by Mr. Joseph W. Brady, CCIM, SIOR

President of

The Bradco Companies

  1. How will you act more fiscally responsible than other members of prior city councils?

Angela Valles: The most important way in which I will act more fiscally responsible is that I will not jeopardize public money by partnering with private businesses. I will absolutely not succumb to special interests.

  1. Anyone running for political office makes the same statement about being open, ethical and honest, and the newest word is “transparency”. What really separates you from others? I understand it’s a hard question, but it’s going to be a hard race.

Angela Valles: I would like to see every document that can legally be made public, to be available to the public. I will never fight to deny a public records request and I will always be honest with constituents about any city contracts, and/or financial decision I make within the confines of what I can legally disclose. That is my idea of transparency, and the only difference between the others and myself is that they talk about it and I will carry it out.

  1. Under your “Organization of Development” area, what are you attempting to say? There are times as a taxpayer, that, I believe we have too many people and government and not enough people in the private sector who understand the risks. I made some great friends at the City Hall, and at the other cities. It’s absolutely amazing when you walk into the City Hall today and many employees are on their computers, etc. Do we need all of these people?
  2. I remember sitting on an airplane, next to Mr. Jon Roberts, and I believe it was August of 2006 when he told me “we do not lay off city employees”. I looked at him and I said, “Jon, we’re going into a depression”! The issue of public safety and sensible growth we all agree with. The problem is there is too much “talk” about public safety, etc. Look at the gangs, the graffiti, etc.

Angela Valles: I too believe that common problem in government agencies is too many people. I can’t give specifics in terms of Victorville as I don’t have firsthand knowledge of their internal organization policies, and due to the fact that they have been forced to make layoffs because they didn’t scale back in advance of the economic downturn. The fact is that I currently oversee a $13 million budget for a public agency and I have no problem making tough decisions.

  1. Graffiti: When employers or companies are looking to relocate, “graffiti” is a great indication of a communities pride for itself, or of a city’s challenge in attempting to control graffiti. Although, I may not be aware of any attempts that the City of Victorville has taken to control graffiti, I think that the city and its founding “fathers” need to send a very clear, loud and strong message (you can even take the message nationally) that the City of Victorville, will not under any circumstances tolerate anyone defacing or placing graffiti on a building or signs, etc.
  2. Our firm spends over $3,000 a year replacing signage that has graffiti. We would much rather give that money back to other charitable organizations, or those attempting to better their community through public service.
  3. The fine needs to be substantial i.e. $25,000, and three years in jail. Until the city sends a message, the graffiti taggers have the upper hand and control. I find the graffiti not only disgusting, but it cheapens our city and makes it look like an urban war zone.

Angela Valles: I couldn’t agree more. OperationDesert Heat was a step in the right direction, but in my opinion, merely scratched the surface of the growing gang problem in our communities. I agree that stiffer penalties, especially for graffiti offenders, are the only things that will truly get the message across to delinquents that continue to erode our quality of life.

  1. Gangs: Although we can’t control who moves in and out of the city, in a recent gang presentation at the Victorville Rotary over a year ago, the Sheriff’s Representative in charge of gangs within Victorville stated that we have a normal “1%” incidence of gangs within the city. The last time I checked, that’s approximately 1,100 gang members. You may wish to call Michelle Spears and verify, but we do not have 1,100 chamber members in the Victorville Chamber of Commerce.. When we have more gang members than chamber members, it defeats the purpose of those trying to grow their business, relocate their business, or expand their business within the city.
  2. Although funds are low for law enforcement, to rid ourselves of the gang members, perhaps a very strong message (maybe a billboard on I-15) that would state “Gang members and graffiti members are not welcome in the City of Victorville” is required!
  3. I, like many other people within the region, do not want to be out at certain public venues, due to the amount of gang members that are present. So it’s easier for my wife and I to shop in Rancho Cucamonga, Irvine, Newport Beach and other areas, where we feel safe. Who loses the sales tax dollars and commerce? The City of Victorville.

Angela Valles: A billboard with a warning is a fine idea, but I would like to work to make sure that the threat on the billboard is something we can enforce. Be it a special ordinance increasing penalties for gang related crimes or pushing the DA for more gang injunctions, this is a matter that has to be met with swift and aggressive action.

  1. Our Roads: Our roads are absolutely deplorable. We have more swales on Bear Valley Road, Green Tree Blvd, and Hesperia Road than any other city that I’ve ever done business in. Our roads are an indication of how important the city believes it is to maintain its infrastructure. I recognize the city as having financial challenges, but hopefully the city, has set aside money during the good times (like we have to in private business) to ensure that the infrastructure does not erode during bad times. The “bad times” fund is an indication to companies wishing to locate to Victorville of how serious the city takes its infrastructure responsibilities.

Angela Valles:I’m afraid that you’ve stated a truth on your point regarding our roads unfortunately the City of Victorville has a hard time accepting that fact. One of the reasons the city is facing such immense financial challenges, in my opinion, is the fact that they did not set aside money in the good times for infrastructure. Instead, the city overextended itself during an economic boom by jumping into costly public/private endeavors that didn’t pan out. At this point I don’t see much hope for our roads until we are able to build back up healthy reserves. If I’m elected my priority will be to save every dollar we can for this purpose, but my first priority will be towards making sure that money is used to keep cops on our streets. Once I know our residents are safe, I will shift my focus to making sure our streets are taken care of, as they are the first impression that new residents and businesses get when they come to our community.

  1. Southern CaliforniaLogisticsAirport: The Airport is the greatest asset that the entire HighDesert region shares (and I even include Barstow) as far as a job generator. I’m very proud of what Stirling Airports International LLC has done and created at the base. We should all be very proud. The challenge is, there are very few people within the city limits of Victorville, much less the other cities that have driven out to Southern California Logistics Airport to see what they’ve done.
  2. I’ve suggested that Mrs. Anita Tuckerman of Stirling, that Stirling may wish to do an open house, open up the 1,000,000 square foot “lead certified” building(and it is the largest lead certified spec industrial building in the world) for our residents to see. I think we should all be very proud of this asset, but you can’t sell something that “you cannot see”. Who is to say that there is not a resident in Victorville who works for a company down below that wouldn’t suggest to their employer that they take a look at that building?

Angela Valles:I agree that not only SCLA, but all of the economic opportunities need to be on display for prospective businesses to see. The more exposure there is of these amazing buildings, the more residents will be proud of them, the more they will brag, and the more businesses will want to relocate here.

  1. Community Healing: The council needs to bring the community together. If anyone in the community or a community leader disagrees with the city on an issue, they’re basically put on “the black list”. Although, council members may be nice and polite to you, you pay an inordinate price for being honest, candid and trying to do the best you can to improve your community. Now is the time for “healing” and to work together.
  1. Joint Regional Efforts: We need to create a private/public partnership, very similar to the High Desert Regional Economic Development Authority to again, re-promote the region in conjunction with San BernardinoCounty. After we formed the High Desert Regional Economic Development Authority and the majority of private partners and public partners were working together, it became very clear that the public partners felt that they knew more about economic development than those that risk money, risk time, risk energy and risk their reputations to promote an area. Regional Issues to be immediately addressed are crime, gangs, economic development, etc.
  1. Examples of the Failure to Collaborate on Regional Issues:Our firm represented a client who bought 25.5± acres at the southeast corner of Eucalyptus and Mariposa in the city of Hesperia, where the eventual Eucalyptus/I-15 interchange is proposed to be, on the west side of the city of Victorville. Nearly 2 years ago, I met with councilman, Mike Rothchild, who shared with me that the city of Victorville would work with the city of Hesperia in a collective manner on environmental studies, etc so that at the appropriate time, a collaborative effort to develop that interchange would take place. Not only did that not happen, myself and my client were caught right in “the middle” of a “political game”, which cost my client his property in foreclosure. Now, some would not think that this is important, but the client lost nearly $4,000,000 in cash. We need to stop playing regional games and help “heal” the valley and work towards collective solutions to problems that may not be able to be solved by the federal government, the state government or even the city of Victorville city government.

Angela Valles:I think your last three points are all related, and while I am in complete agreement that community healing is something that needs to happen, I’m afraid that is something that can’t be done by a single council member. I will fight for what I believe needs to be a new culture among leaders in Victorville and hope that others see the benefits of serving the community and join me. It is not my intention to create further contention among the governing body, as that often delays positive results, but I also will not stand idly by, while my city continues down its current negative path.

If you’ve read my website or any of my campaign materials then you know that I believe a better Victorville equals a better VictorValley and I believe that at the heart of this phrase is the belief that we truly need more joint regional efforts among the entities in the VictorValley. I view us as a team, but is seems the environment is largely “every-man-for-himself.” Competition is always healthy, but cooperation is what I believe will breed the best results for everyone. I already know most of the council members from our neighboring communities and have already expressed my desire to work closely with them to benefit of the region. I will always act in the best interest of my constituents. But you can believe that I will always keep in mind what will generate the best results for our region as a whole, because that’s the only way I believe we will achieve a level playing field with the metropolises in the Inland Empire. We have to be viewed as a single region with common goals so that businesses can see the true benefits of the market value we have here.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your letters and the opportunity to open a dialogue with you about the needs of Victorville as well as the VictorValley. Please call or email me anytime with further questions.

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