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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

September 3, 2003

Getting more jobs in Fairfield tops Farley's agenda

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She is running for one of two open seats against incumbent Jack Batson and challengers Paul Randhawa, Sally King, Kathy Parsons, Gina Merrell and Sam Roberson.

Farley, 61, states her bedrock goal "is to make Fairfield the best place it can be" with affordable housing and good wages for its residents.

For the most part, Farley contends Fairfield is well run and moving in the right direction with a new general plan in place that restricts growth in western and northeastern Fairfield, particularly near Travis Air Force Base.

Getting more jobs located in Fairfield is a top priority Farley said, noting there is a very healthy amount of land in Fairfield for commercial and industrial growth.

"That continues to be a focus," Farley said.

She contends the council has "gotten a bad rap" from the city's business community, particularly the local chamber of commerce, on the council's support for business.

Farley points out the city worked with the chamber and the Solano Economic Development Corporation to bring in businesses and has put up money to create a tourist bureau.

"We have been doing a lot in redevelopment," Farley said. "We are doing a lot to support economic development."

Improving the city's worsening highway traffic situation is also high on her list. Farley stated she has spent a lot of her time lobbying Washington and working with the Solano Transportation Authority to get Fairfield's traffic needs met.

This has gotten the rest of Solano County to recognize that the I-80/680 problem is the county's priority. It has also moved forward plans to put an auxiliary lane at the intersection.

Given the state's financial woes and the growing highway and transportation needs, Farley believes the county may have to revisit the need to get a sales tax measure to fund these needs.

Farley is a strong advocate of Measure L, the November ballot measure that proposes to take the power of changing Fairfield's boundaries from the city council and give it to the voters.

"This keeps the gridlock from getting worse," Farley said, stressing keeping Fairfield's sprawl reined in will help keep traffic down.

It is smarter for Fairfield to encourage development within the city's present boundaries rather than sprawling outside of them.

"That creates more traffic and the demand for more infrastructure," Farley said.

It will help keep residential encroachment away from Travis AFB's western and northern boundaries, protecting what she called the area's number one economic engine.

"Managed growth, orderly growth has been proven elsewhere," Farley said. "We save money in the long run."

The recent spate of violent crime has only emphasized the council's efforts to spend money to hire more police. Farley also wants to encourage more residents to get involved with neighborhood watches and the city's citizens' patrol group.

She also wants to put together a council of homeowner groups "to bring their concerns to the council on a regular basis so we can hear from the whole community, and not just when they have a problem."

Farley admits the upcoming years of budget cutting will be tough and she is very adverse to cutting city programs "because it will be more difficult to bring them back."

She supports spending some of the city's presently large reserve to help ease the pain, but admits that if the economy doesn't improve, the city will have to start seriously cutting.

"I want to look at where this will have the least impact on city services," Farley said, adding volunteer efforts will have to be increased.

Farley was born in Phoenix, Ariz., and moved to Fairfield in 1975. She is now the coordinator of recruitment and development for NorthBay Healthcare System. She is married to County Supervisor Duane Kromm and has one daughter, Dana.

She has helped found the Solano Community College Education Foundation and the Solano Community Symphony. She is involved with the Solano Land Trust, the Greenbelt Alliance and the Fairfield/Solano Irrigation District Suisun Valley Committee.

Ian Thompson can be reached at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.

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