Note: In the interest of providing voter information and fair election coverage, The Sentinel has given all five Citrus Heights City Council candidates an equal opportunity to submit 100-word written statements on a variety of local issues. Porsche Middleton’s word-for-word responses can be found below.
Porsche Middleton, 34, was appointed to the City’s Planning Commission last year after a prior run for City Council in 2016 and is now seeking another chance to win a seat on the council. She has lived in Citrus Heights for four years and has earned endorsements from the California Apartment Association, Firefighters Local 522 and the Sacramento Association of Realtors. (Click to read full candidate profile)
One of the City’s three-year strategic planning goals is to enhance and expand public safety. What specifically would you advocate doing to accomplish this goal?
“I am appreciative of the hard work, effort, and bravery that is consistently displayed by the men and women of our law enforcement departments. I would continue to support and further develop our Community Oriented Policing (COP) program and encourage the development of closer relationship between our local departments and the communities they serve through PAL, service organizations, and domestic service providers.
“I believe that when residents experience frequent positive interactions with their department in non-emergency situations, they are more likely to have a positive experience should an emergency occur.”
Homelessness continues to be ranked among the top issues faced by businesses and residents in Citrus Heights. What additional actions do you believe should be taken to address this, and what role do you see private organizations playing?
“Homelessness is a challenge for Citrus Heights. I will continue the efforts of working with the County to increase services which includes additional funding for mental health issues. Citrus Heights must be an active partner with the County on investing in homeless services.
“Thus far, we have successfully established a Navigator program that works with the CHPD and local community organizations such as HART. We should also look into more state and federal funding for block grants that could be used for housing assistance, mental health services and drug treatment.”
In August, the City Council voted 4-1 to pursue a $500,000 mandatory inspection program for thousands of rental homes/apartments in Citrus Heights. Do you believe the council made the right decision?
“The decision of the council to implement mandatory rental inspection, while good intentioned, will have unintended consequences, such as higher rents, reduction of available rental housing and shorter-term leases that will allow property owners to circumvent actually having property inspections.
“There is also the issue that the annual fee will be passed on to renters, many of which are seniors or living on fixed incomes further jeopardizing their ability to afford a home especially since rents in the region are increasing.”
In four years, Citrus Heights will finally begin receiving its share of property taxes (estimated over $5 million/yr), due to a 25-year “revenue neutrality” agreement with the county as a condition of incorporation coming to a close. How do you think that money would be best allocated, and why?
“It is wonderful that the city will begin to receive our property taxes, however the amount of $5 million of additional revenue per year will need to be spent wisely since our reserves at that time according to the city budget will be approximately $500,000. We should maintain the model that has served us well and save part of the property tax, use a portion for infrastructure improvements and possibly use a small portion to help fund programming that supports our community.”
Proposition 6 seeks to repeal SB 1, which increased gas taxes and vehicle licensing fees to help cover transportation-related projects. How will you vote on Prop 6 and what option(s) for road maintenance in Citrus Heights will you advocate for if SB 1 funding goes away?
“I will vote no on the repealing of SB 1. This is an opportunity for Citrus Heights to catch up on years of unfunded maintenance needs that have plagued residents for years. Without this funding the city will be forced to continue repairs on our aging infrastructure in the same manner, repairing the worst areas and waiting until we receive our property taxes in a few years to begin repairs on what is left.”
Proposition 10 seeks to allow local governments to enact rent control on any type of rental housing. If Prop 10 passes, would you be in favor of implementing rent control in Citrus Heights?
“Before any decision is made to implement rent control in Citrus Heights, there needs to be a critical review and evaluation that allows for open community engagement and input. I believe that continuing to develop infill areas, establishing a fee structure for commercial and residential building in conjunction with having a percentage of affordable units will yield greater inclusion of affordable housing and economic growth in our community but I am open to a community wide discussion on the stabilization of rent for those who are most venerable in our community low income families, seniors, veterans and the disabled.”
Nearby cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Davis have voted to discontinue their redlight camera programs in recent years. If elected to the council, would you vote to renew the City’s contract with Redflex and continue redlight cameras in Citrus Heights? Why or why not?
“There is a spirit of the law and there is the letter of the law. We don’t want people running red lights, but red-light cameras have been proven to be ineffective and only serve to send our tax dollars outside of the city as most of the fine goes to a private company. It is important to reduce our traffic collisions and fatalities, and this can be accomplished with continued DUI enforcement, targeted traffic enforcement and motorist, pedestrian and distracted driving education.”
Schools in Citrus Heights have long been criticized as under-performing. Although the San Juan Unified School Board is ultimately tasked with governing local schools, what role (if any) do you believe the City Council can play in improving education in Citrus Heights?
“Providing a quality education for our youth has been on going concern for over 10 years. To facilitate open communication and allow educational issues to be adequately addressed, I would work to form a School City Liaison Committee. This committee would be comprised of District and City staff working together to benefit the community on educational matters impacting students in Citrus Heights.
“The committee meetings would include input from parents and allow them to address their concerns. The City Council and Board of Education members would receive reports about these issues to provide direction on possible solutions.”
Citrus Heights has striven to be a business-friendly city ever since its incorporation in 1997. What more do you believe could be done to attract new businesses and help existing businesses thrive in Citrus Heights?
“As a city we need to attract developers to Citrus Heights. This starts by encouraging strategic business redevelopment activity by offering financial incentives, performance-based incentives or rebate a portion of taxes and fees to development projects that meet public purpose goals or performance thresholds set by the city. This allows for the acceleration of redevelopment activity necessary for continued growth.”
Want to see where the other four candidates stand on local issues? Click here
