Issues that are important to Elisa

San Antonio has been my home for 20 years; and I have always been very involved in the community and have witnessed the growth of our beautiful city. As a resident of District 9 and owner of a successful small business, I have heard a number of consistent concerns in the district - people are concerned with traffic, streets and drainage issues; levels of police, fire and EMS protection; and everyone wants to see San Antonio's economy remain strong, especially in the current national economic situation.

I will focus on these issues as my priorities:

• Improving and investing in our public infrastructure
• Enhancing public safety
• Creating higher paying jobs and growing San Antonio's economy

My overall philosophy of government is:

• I believe in limited government and free market competition
• I believe in fiscal conservatism
• I believe in protecting public interests
• I believe in having a proactive instead of a reactive attitude

My guiding principles will be:

• To always have the best interests of San Antonio in mind
• To act with honor and integrity
• To be fair
• To do the right thing

Issues and Solutions

Traffic Congestion

• Accelerate traffic signal synchronization
• Develop better planning for expected growth
• Use multi-modal transportation options to relieve congestion
• Promote High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on major highways
• Work with other governmental agencies to increase free road capacity

Streets and Drainage

• Increase street maintenance funding to protect our existing investment
• Classify projects as short-term and long-term
• Find funding for short-term projects and develop funding strategy for long-term projects without overburdening the tax payer
• Redirect more city budget funds to updating our infrastructure

Police, Fire, and EMS

• Fund and recruit more Fire and Police cadet classes to increase the number of responders
• Ensure new Police Substations and Fire Stations are built to keep up with increasing demand
• Increase funding for Citizen on Patrol program

Economic Development

• Support low taxes and fees for businesses
• Retaining existing local businesses and helping them grow
• Maximize our return on the military's investment of 12,000 new jobs at Fort Sam Houston
• Better strategic economic development planning with more focus
• More collaboration between different agencies and organizations in economic development efforts to maximize limited resources
• Expand international economic development efforts
• Working with business community to develop more effective work force development plans

Other Issues

Toll Road

In order to solve our transportation problems, San Antonio needs additional funding to increase road capacity. I oppose tolling existing roadways and believe we must stop diverting the highway fund for other uses. Using tolls to finance new highway construction should only be considered as a last resort and only under three conditions: 1) voter approval, 2) built and operated by a public agency and 3) tolling ends after the highway is paid for.

Energy

I believe San Antonio's energy policy should focus on long term affordability for residential and commercial ratepayers. To achieve this goal, we must maintain a diversified energy portfolio that includes strong conservation efforts and a commitment to renewable energy. Base load generators like coal and nuclear must also continue to be components of our strategy to provide an inexpensive, continuous and stable energy supply.

Water

As San Antonio continues to grow, we will need more water. Currently 73% of our water supply comes from Edwards Aquifer (13% from ASR underground storage), 2% from Canyon Lake, 2% from Carrizo Aquifer, 1% from Trinity Aquifer, and 22% is recycled water used by CPS and other customers. Although San Antonio continues taking significant steps in water conservation, we must reduce our dependence on the Edwards Aquifer by identifying and developing alternate water resources.

Independent City Auditor

San Antonio should have an independent auditor with well defined responsibilities and authority. I believe that in order to maximize the benefits of having an auditor, the position should be paid and filled by a qualified professional. As required by the City Charter, the auditor must be independent from city staff. Audit procedures should be documented and approved by the city council.