Louise Engel
On Livability
The Tattler presents the 2016 election candidates questionnaire. Candidates for elected office will answer questions broken down into topical sections that effect Emeryville residents. Responses will be released section by section rotating through all the responding candidates representing the City Council and School Board hopefuls.
The order of presentation was chosen randomly. Regular Tattler stories will be interspersed in the 2016 election questionnaire. Readers wishing to peruse all the answers by an individual may use the search bar function by entering ”Election 2016 Candidates Questionnaire” with the name of the candidate and all of that candidate’s sections will be presented. Alternatively just typing in the name of the candidate will also work.
There are six candidates running for three seats and all answered our questionnaire save candidate for City Council Brynnda Collins.
Today, candidate for City Council Louise Engel answers questions on livability (please check the previously posted section 1 answers for this candidate's bio):
Section 4 Livability
Readers Note: Louise Engel did not answer any questions on the livability section. She did produce the following text as a response to all three questions:
The
City staff present to the Council regular progress reports that look
at City data that tracks business conditions in the broad sense, for
example, through business openings and closures in Emeryville. Our
economy, though, does not exist in a vacuum. Our businesses serve
local and regional markets. Regional and national economic trends and
conditions influence Emeryville’s businesses and economy. City
staff join with our neighboring cities to share information to
understand East Bay conditions.
A
report that looks at regional indicators is one means to understand
the economic health of our community. Recently the East Bay Economic
Development Alliance released an economic study that includes
Emeryville: “East Bay Outlook, 2016-2017.” The report concludes
that East Bay cities will continue to experience positive
circumstances in 2016. Workers within the high tech and similar
categories choose to live here, attracted to Emeryville’s central
location and more affordable housing (compared to other parts of the
Bay area). This creates short term pressures on small business
conditions, housing and quality of life. In the long term, this type
of worker category has the potential to provide positive economic
outcomes for Emeryville. That labor asset can be leveraged to attract
businesses to our city and to foster further growth at firms already
located here.
The
following are excerpts from the report on pages 5 - 8:
Small
Business:
“The
East Bay is particularly friendly to small businesses and has a
higher concentration of small firms compared with San Francisco and
San Jose. Small businesses account for 45.5% of employment in the
area, compared with 43.0% in San Francisco and 35.1% in San Jose.
These small businesses have been a huge asset to the region during
the recovery and current expansion. The distribution of employment in
the East Bay indicates that the region is well equipped to support
small businesses. It has successfully grown large businesses as well,
although it is home to fewer large businesses compared with its
neighbors.”
Labor
Market:
“The
East Bay labor market moved forward at a strong pace in 2015 [2.8%],
matching statewide job growth rates and surpassing average national
job growth rates. The region also boasted lower unemployment rates in
2015 [4.3%], compared to the state and nation.”
Business
Sales:
“As
local incomes rise, the East Bay economy also benefits from
incrementally higher spending. Taxable sales growth in the East Bay
outpaced the South Bay and San Francisco, as well as California.
Taxable sales growth in the East Bay also came in faster than
nationwide retail sales.”
East
Bay Residents as Commuters:
“Outbound
commuting among East Bay residents remains most common in
high-skilled industries — which means that these workers are likely
bringing home relatively higher wages. Many of these workers migrated
to the East Bay in search of more affordable housing and improved
quality of life while maintaining jobs in San Francisco or San Jose.
They now represent a local asset that can be leveraged to attract
businesses to the East Bay and to foster further growth at existing
firms….
forecasts
that payroll employment will continue to grow at roughly 2.0% during
2016.”
Housing
pressures short term:
“….the
East Bay benefits from these commuters over the short run through
increased demand for housing and more spending in the local
economy…..Over the longer term, these outbound commuters represent
a significant local asset that can be leveraged for a variety of
economic development efforts”
[for
example] ….
that can be
leveraged to attract businesses to the East Bay and to foster further
growth at existing firms.”
Tattler: Other cities have implemented bans on ‘formula’ retail; that being national chains, franchises, fast food etc. Emeryville already has a plethora of these kinds of businesses. Do you see constituting a ban as something Emeryville should do moving forward?
Louise Engel: Did not answer the question.
Tattler: New construction is commonly too expensive for local retail to afford because of the high rents developers must charge to recoup their construction costs. This is often cited as the reason Emeryville can’t seem to deliver the kind of locally serving retail Emeryville residents want. The Tattler has proposed new development write off retail rents associated with their residential projects by forcing developers to put in writing their assurances to bring locally serving/non-formula retail. Would you force this assurance guarantee from developers for new residential development?
Louise Engel: Did not answer the question.
Tattler: Emeryville has gotten worse over time in several key areas, specifically with regards to the things residents tell us they want to see in their town. We have been told by a generation of City Council members by their voting records that we must accept that Emeryville must get worse over time. The Tattler has made a declaration that we should not permit new development to make our town worse insofar as can be measured. So for instance in affordability, park acreage per resident, locally serving retail, ratio of home ownership to rentals; these hallmarks of livability (and more) are measurable and the effect new development has on our existing metrics can be measured. We could have a blanket insistence that all new development not make the town get measurably worse in key areas or even an insistence that new development make our town get measurably better. Would you support this?
Louise Engel: Did not answer the question.
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