Tiburon Fiscal Management: A Commitment to Accountability and Efficiency

Fiscal responsibility is an area where my experience can make the most impact. I treat every public dollar with utmost care, valuing it even more than my own money, because it represents the trust the public has placed in the town to manage their funds responsibly.

Previously, as Co-chair of the new town hall and police station projects, we successfully completed these facilities at about one-third of the cost typically seen for municipal buildings in other cities. Too often, people are careless with public funds, thinking it’s just “other people's money.” I take the opposite approach, treating it with even greater importance.

When I was first elected in 1992, the state of California cut local municipal budgets to address its own deficit issues. This resulted in Tiburon losing a third of its entire budget, a situation that was both terrifying and challenging.

However, this crisis turned out to be one of the best training experiences for managing public finances. We had to fundamentally rethink how to operate our government.With most of Tiburon's expenses being fixed, such as personnel salaries and road maintenance, we were forced to innovate and do more with less.

We adopted several creative strategies, including delaying the filling of certain positions, consolidating boards, and postponing capital improvements.

We carefully analyzed the timing of property tax revenue increases to offset the deficit. By managing these challenges effectively, we emerged from the crisis smarter and more efficient, strengthening our commitment to prudent fiscal management.

As a council member, I will very carefully review and scrutinize proposed expenditures, looking at each line item with a fresh perspective. In particular, looking at the large expenditures on external consultants that has occurred over the last few years.