Dave Trotter for Moraga Town Council
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Candidate Statement
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you are here: Home > Camino Pablo PTA Questionnaire last update: Monday, October 30, 2006

DAVE TROTTER
Response to Camino Pablo PTA Qustionnaire
Question 1

Moraga Schools and our children are a cornerstone of Moraga.  A cooperative and proactive relationship between both our school district and the Moraga Town Council would strengthen both institutions and benefit our community.
As a Moraga Town Councilmember, would you support regularly scheduled meetings between decision-making bodies of the school district and the town council?
Yes or No, Please explain your response

My answer is, “Yes.”  If elected, I have pledged to “work to improve relations between the Town Council and the Moraga School Board.”  That is part of the platform on which I am running for election, and appears in my official candidate statement in the ballot materials.  I wholeheartedly agree there should be a cooperative and proactive relationship between both institutions and that this will benefit the community as a whole. 

Because more open communication between the Moraga School District and the Town Council would be beneficial to all residents in the community, as a Town Councilmember I would like to establish a reliable means of exchanging ideas and discussing issues of concern between the District and the Town – starting with the issues relating to improvements to and better management of recreational facilities here in Town.  To that end, I would favor meeting as often as necessary to maintain good working relations between the Town Council and the School Board.  Frequency and scheduling of these meetings would depend on the number and complexity of issues of mutual concern.

Question 2

Our community enjoys many opportunities to participate in organized sporting activities. In the past, the Moraga Town Council policy has been to not allow these activities to take place in the communities’ parks (i.e. The Commons and Rancho Laguna Parks). This policy has left the schools to take up the responsibility of supporting our communities’ passion for organized sports.
As a candidate for Moraga Town Councilmember, what is your
position on this issue?

I have been an advocate for improving the Town’s recreational facilities for more than 10 years, and served on the Town’s ad hoc gymnasium committee in 2002-2003.  This will be a major focus if I am elected to the Council. 

The owner of the Palos Colorados project has offered $14 million for replacement recreational facilities to compensate for loss of the golf course.  These funds should go toward construction of a community gym, multi-generation activity center and improvements to playfields, where the Town should be striving to build a partnership relationship with the School District.  We need to use the Specific Plan process to plan for and build a new community center and gymnasium in the heart of Moraga.  If for any reason this cannot be done as part of the Specific Plan process, I would strongly support construction of a new, full-sized gymnasium at JM, subject to an appropriate joint use agreement between the Town and the Moraga School District.  There are good models for such joint use cooperation (for example, the Wagner Ranch gymnasium project) that we should be trying to emulate here in Moraga.

It is my belief that by and large, the appropriate place for these facilities is not The Commons or Rancho Laguna Park.  The Commons has some facilities that can be used for organized and/or informal sporting activities (e.g., skate park, basketball court and beach volleyball courts).  Beyond the bandshell and bocce ball courts is an undeveloped, sloped area.  The feasibility of putting a new field in that area can and should be studied.  From what I hear, folks in Town generally like the way Rancho Laguna is currently laid out as a dog run and a place for younger families and picnics, etc.  Putting playfields on the lawn at Rancho Laguna would alter the park’s character and interfere with that mission. 
  
Question 3

Is there any additional school- or child-related information which you would like to share with our PTA?

My wife Debby and I moved to Moraga 18 years ago for its excellent public schools, its semi-rural feeling, its spectacular open space, and its exceptional quality of life.  I am running for a seat on the Town Council to preserve and enhance these mainstream values and to make a difference in addressing the important issues facing the Town of Moraga today.

Debby and I have four children, all of whom have attended the Moraga public schools.  Andy and Emma are graduates of Campolindo High School and attend college in the Bay Area.  Jack and Patrick are a junior and freshman, respectively, at Campolindo. 

We have been and are strong supporters of and financial contributors to MEF, and each of the local parents’ clubs where our children have attended school.  Debby was the president of MEF in 2003-2004.  I have coached several LMYA and CYO basketball and soccer teams over the years (1994-2005), and understand all too well the need for better recreational facilities and regular dialogue with the Moraga School Board on these issues of common concern. 

I am the only candidate for election to the Town Council who has been endorsed by all five members of the Moraga School Board. 

VOTE DAVE TROTTER ON NOVEMBER 7
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Candidate Statement
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Copyright Dave Trotter, Moraga CA