Torliatt’s candidacy

Editor: “What have you done for the taxpayers of Petaluma lately” is the question voters will pose to Petaluma Mayor Pam Torliatt now that she has announced her plans to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sonoma County Supervisor Mike Kerns.

During these tough economic times, every candidate seeking this office will run on their record of creating jobs, something Petaluma Mayor Torliatt really can’t do — or at least not so far. Under the mayor’s leadership, jobless numbers and the city’s budget deficit have hit all-time highs, resulting in draconian cuts to public service and city staff. While the mayor can’t be held accountable for all the city’s economic woes, the small business community and the city’s public employee unions have openly questioned whether the mayor truly understands the impact the city’s anti-business reputation and the lack of economic planning is having on keeping and attracting new employers that finance local public safety, parks and other public services cherished by the community. One only has to point to other cities weathering the national recession to see that some of Petaluma’s problems are self-inflicted.

Illustrating this point is the mayor’s mission to derail the Target and Lowe’s retail projects at a time when most major retailers have shelved expansion plans all together. Working with her allies on the City Council, Ms. Torliatt has taken the extraordinary step of firing an entire Planning Commission, one that may have been predisposed to support the projects. According to two studies commissioned by the city, the projects combined would have created more than 1,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of temporary construction jobs, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy and city coffers.

With the June 2010 election a ways off, there is still time for Mayor Torliatt to establish herself as a thoughtful and consensus-oriented leader who facilitated new job opportunities and restored economic stability to city services. If not, voters may judge the mayor on the time she spent saving feral cats and not protecting jobs. The mayor should be reminded that people vote, cats don’t.

Fred Levin, Santa Rosa