The issue is, some Commissioners can’t get beyond the crocodile tears of some abusers that claim they’d be driven out of business with Draconian rules that prohibit: auto repairs, non-resident employees, gaudy business signage, large trucks, and the like from crushing the life out of a neighborhood.

An example given is a “home business” that has four trucks used for delivering home appliances. These trucks are parked on the street of an otherwise quiet neighborhood. Employees or contractors come each morning in their cars and take off for the day in the delivery trucks. The trucks and paper work return in the evening. The business owner claims insurance won’t let employees take the trucks home at night, and the proposed rules prohibiting non-resident employees coming to the house would ruin the business.

This sounds like nothing more than a cheapskate who is willing to dump on his neighbors for the sake of one’s so-called absolute right to “free enterprise.”

But this isn’t a case of local government limiting “free enterprise.” Not even close. It’s more a matter of cutting corners and making your neighbors pay for your greed and business sloth. Not even Chevron gets away with that kind of blowback in a neighborhood, let alone someone too cheap to rent a dispatch yard, or pay the extra premuim to cover the insurance.

This example of abuse and many others around Concord and Central County neighborhoods is way past the implied use of residential zoning that neighbors and municipalities tacitly accept.

Don’t tell him, but I agree with Brumley. Concord’s Planning Commissioners and Council should get off the dime and get this Home Business code on the books.

My wife Maria and I have lived in Concord for 29 years. We’ve raised our three children in Concord. I’ve demonstrated my leadership as an elected official by serving for four-terms as Director of the Mt. Diablo Hospital Board. As director for 16 years on the hospital board, I kept my pledge to save millions of dollars through prudent fiscal management while delivering exceptional services, and keeping our Mt, Diablo Hospital vibrant and our Emergency Room open. I was chairman of the board for the John Muir Health System, which is a billion dollar Private Corporation with 6,000 employees. I was chairman of the John Muir/ Mt. Diablo Community Health Fund board that gave $1,000,000 in grants annually to unmet health c are needs in our community. I was the Teacher of the Year in the San Ramon School District. I am currently the Director of Student Support Services in the Antioch School District. As the director of a large school district’s Student Support Services and former high school administrator, I worked hand-to-hand with law enforcement. I firmly believe in prevention, intervention, and enforcement. I have traveled with the Concord police in the monument corridor. My oldest son worked for the Concord Police Department. Consistent enforcement of city codes and keeping our neighborhoods safe and attractive is essential for our quality of life in Concord. Last year my daughter’s boyfriend was viciously attacked in Concord. And although violent crimes have only risen marginally, we must reverse this trend. When you analyze the FBI statistics, it becomes clear that the more sworn officers a city has, the less violent crimes occur in a city. I will support the hiring of more police officers.

I will continue the efforts to keep Concord a safe and appealing place for all sorts of businesses and employers. We need to continue to encourage businesses in town that provides our residents with plenty of places to shop, and the high-paying corporate employer that will support our standard of living. Concord should continue to develop a vibrant and thriving downtown. (A downtown that rivals those of our neighboring communities.) Combining restaurants, retail shops, and cultural interests that will make downtown Concord a destination with a broad spectrum of appeal. We need to continue to maintain our city’s strongest per-capita sales tax base in the county. I support the expansion of events such as the farmer’s market, summer concerts, and other downtown events that make our city a fun and unique place to live. I also support the redevelopment and the revitalization of the Monument Corridor. This should become a cultural highlight of our city.

I also serve on the city’s Design Review Board. I understand the issues in Concord; in the last city council election I walked door-to-door receiving 10,000 votes. I am able to make the tough decisions. As the last city council’s election runner-up by a razor-thin margin, I have the most legitimate claim on the vacant seat created by the untimely and tragic death of Michael Chavez. My views on the Concord Naval Weapons Station development mirror Michael Chavez. Like Michael Chavez, I would like to stop the over-development of this area. I will preserve plenty of open-space and our natural resources. Permanently protecting our hillsides from over-development. I will only support a reuse plan that enhances our overall community with a combination of developing additional parks, recreation, baseball, soccer fields, trails and plenty of open space, and an intelligent use of the land around the North Concord BART station that will not have an adverse impact on the surrounding neighbors. We need open-space buffer zones to insulate our older established neighborhoods. I also do not want to have the quality and the character of our neighborhoods destroyed by added traffic, increased crime, crowded schools, and strains on other city services. Reducing traffic, supporting the transportation infrastructure and public transportation is a high priority for me. With the Naval Weapons Station development this provides us with many challenges but through this development plan we need to find the finance mechanisms to fund long-needed traffic improvements in our city. The city council should establish a dynamic plan to alleviating both our current and potential traffic problems. We need to manage traffic in a sensible way to keep our people moving in our main streets, but not speeding through our neighborhoods. Concord has been, and is a great place to raise our children; however it won’t remain that way if traffic congestion prevents us from getting in, around, and out of town. I will continue to encourage community involvement through the reuse process. And I believe that any development plan on the Naval Weapons Station should be placed before the voter’s approval.

Sincerely,

Ron Leone
925-680-1776