The Island’s CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE

Name Lena Tam

Age 48
Occupation Alameda City Councilmember

Some of my opponents in the council race continue to run a fear-based campaign on

Suncal’s role in the election and Alameda Point. For the record, I have not, now or ever,
accepted contributions from Suncal or developers. Suncal has sued the City of Alameda
for breach of contract and we need to aggressively defend against the lawsuit.

Relevant experience: I have served on the City Council for four years. Prior to my
election on the Alameda City Council in 2006, I was an elected member of the Alameda
Health Care District Board of Directors, and lead a major financial turnaround, as
president of the board. I also chaired the Alameda County Planning Commission,
creating a jobs/housing balance in our land use planning. I have also served as president
of the Alameda League of Women Voters, both at the City and County level, advocating
vigorously for open, transparent and honest government.

Why are you running for this office? I am seeking re-election to my seat on the Alameda
City Council to continue providing leadership on tough issues as we navigate Alameda
through difficult times in order to maintain our quality of life. During my first term in
office, I have listened, acted, and built partnerships to advance our shared vision for a
safe, environmentally-friendly community that is both well-planned and economically
sustainable.

I am committed to working on our community’s behalf to strengthen our partnership with

our schools, retain and recruit more businesses, maintain staffing levels for police and
fire, and continue to deliver quality community resources (such as the Mastick Senior
Center) and amenities.

Why should we vote for you? If re-elected, an important priority is working collectively
to maintain the quality of life that Alamedans have grown accustomed to in these
challenging fiscal times. Creating and preserving jobs through business retention and
recruitment will provide the tax base that pays for our schools, our public safety services,
our parks, housing opportunities and other public amenities. I have always felt that
government works best when its leaders listen, it is time for us as your representatives to
listen, work together, prioritize our goals and do this in a transparent environment.

What do you feel are the roles and responsibilities of the office you’re seeking? As an
elected councilmember, I have represented the City as a voting delegate at the League of
California Cities. I provide policy direction in prioritizing the “must haves” (critical
public services), “need to haves” (meeting regulatory requirements) and the “nice to
haves.” We have successfully balanced the city’s budget for last 4 years, and maintained
a positive fund balance of 18% to 20% of the budget to keep Alameda’s finances solvent.

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What do you think is the most pressing issue you would face if elected and what would
you do to address it? Alameda faces the need to maintain our high quality of life --safety,
good schools, small-town feel-- balanced with doing our part to meet several economic
and environmental challenges as an island city, related to sustainability in generating
revenues for our schools and public safety services, funding transit-oriented development
and providing jobs and housing at Alameda Point. We also need to find sustainable
alternatives in our reliance on imported water and clean energy sources.

What do you think needs to be done with Alameda Point – and what steps would you take
to make that happen?

It is important to learn from our prior experience as a city. The City of Alameda provides
outstanding public services, but we cannot be as competitive in the fierce market place of
land development that requires significant capital outlay and exposure to risk. These are
the lessons we learned when we operated the telecom system at a loss. We need to look
at a master planned community at Alameda point, leveraging private dollars to realize the
community’s cohesive vision.

As your Councilmember, I think it is important to control our destiny in determining the

best alternative to revitalize Alameda Point. I believe some key realistic expectations
include (1) cleaning up the toxics at Alameda Point that is acceptable to our community
and (2) conducting an Environmental Impact Report that analyzes a full range of
alternatives and its corresponding impacts on the environment and economy, particularly
on traffic. I firmly believe that these two things can be done in my last four years as your
Councilmember. This will enable the community to proceed on deciding upon the
amenities we all want and determining how we will pay for these amenities with minimal
risks to the taxpayers. Alameda Point continues to have the potential to be a great asset
to Alamedans, as a well-planned, transit-oriented community of healthy neighborhoods
with good-paying jobs, parks, senior and all housing types, open space, retail and
commercial opportunities.

What steps would you take to bolster Alameda’s economic base? We have been
successful in attracting high quality businesses at Alameda Towne Centre and the Harbor
Bay Business Park, like Perforce, Peets Coffee & Teas, and VF Outdoor. By building
partnerships and providing tax and fee incentives, along with expanding our façade grant
program, we can help create jobs and bolster our economy. We need to continue
demonstrating that we are a City that can negotiate in good faith with our business
partners and establish a business-friendly reputation.

Questions have been raised about whether the city is transparent enough in conducting its
business. Do you think this is an issue and if so, what do you see as being specific
problems and how would you seek to resolve them? I initiated the formation of
Alameda’s first Sunshine Task Force to engage the community in formulating reforms to
city government that would improve transparency, honesty and fairness in government.
Despite the efforts of the mayor and some councilmembers to disband the Sunshine Task

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Force, it has been revitalized. As the past president of the Alameda League of Women
Voters, I am committed to open, transparent and honest government, actively soliciting
and providing information to encourage citizen participation through numerous public
forums beyond the council meetings.

Pensions and retiree health benefits will be a huge financial issue for the city. How would
you address it? The City’s employee groups and unions understand the economic
projections of funding retiree benefits. We must honor agreements that we have with our
employees to adequately fund the retirement benefits, and this can be done through
restructuring our bond obligations. It is important to develop a consensus-based and
mutually agreeable solution through negotiations. It must not be a unilateral decision by
the City imposed on our employee groups. The City is working with our public safety
unions through a committee to develop potential alternatives to address pensions and
retiree health benefits for new hires.

Would you seek to preserve Measure A or amend it and if you’d amend it, under
what circumstances would you do so? Article XVI (aka “Measure A”) of the City
Charter has served as an effective density-limiting measure in Alameda since
1973 in protecting our quality of life and preserving the architectural richness of
Alameda. The City is also in the process of adopting a Density Bonus Ordinance
that will offer the flexibility to build more than duplexes in order to look at
compact development that preserve open space.

With respect to Alameda Point, I believe our community needs to focus on what
we do want since we seem to have agreement on what we do not want. As we
converge on a community vision for the redevelopment of Alameda Point, we will
have an opportunity to evaluate and present alternatives on creating jobs that are
compatible with a mix of housing types that build on Alameda’s unique small
town community spirit. We need to encourage and define neighborhoods that
reduce traffic with neighborhood shops, public parks, libraries and plenty of off-
road walking and biking paths. Public transit around neighborhood "hubs" or
"nodes" could also mitigate traffic that would be generated by new residential
units. At this time, the community needs to come together on a plan for the
former Naval base and determine whether modifications to Measure A are needed
to carry out the community’s vision of Alameda Point.

How are you financing your campaign and to whom are you reaching out for money?
Contributions to my campaign come from family, friends, supporters and organizations
that have endorsed me. I have not received contributions from developers and do not
expect to receive campaign contributions from them.