Public safety is paramount:
The core responsibility of any municipality is the protection of its citizens. Heather is a strong advocate for public safety and supporter of local law enforcement. She fought for increases in staffing and resources for both Police and Fire Services during her tenure on the Atascadero City Council.
Heather has served on Councils that ensure every dime spent in the City of Atascadero is used wisely. She supported Measure D-20 as the result of an honest examination about the true needs of our community. Due to the voters passing D-20, the City was able to add five new police officer positions and one dispatcher position and invest in infrastructure to ensure our officers can perform to the best of their ability to protect our citizens.
In 2019 our Council made Comprehensive Safety and Risk Mitigation a top priority, resulting in a state-of-the-art communication and evacuation program in the case of disaster, such as fires and earthquakes. Atascadero quickly became a model for San Luis Obispo that will be used throughout the County.
As Mayor, Heather engaged in a collaborative process that resulted in the Defend Atascadero campaign to educate residents on steps they can take to protect their homes and our community. The ability of our citizens to take important safety measures reduces the number of fire incidents and the severity of those that do occur, saving lives and property.
A strong local economy:
Businesses large and small provide residents with jobs, shopping, and recreational opportunities. Economic development is more than improving business for business’ sake or having a few more shops; it grows our local economy, which is one way we pay for the things we value as a community.
Heather is committed to creating a diverse local economy, one where the number of jobs – especially head of household jobs – is on par with our housing supply. People tend to shop, eat, and use services in close proximity to where they work. As we attract more jobs to Atascadero, our retail and restaurant sector will be more successful, which encourages even more businesses to locate here. More jobs mean less people on the freeway. More jobs mean a better quality of life for our residents.
During Heather’s time on Council, she actively worked with the Economic Vitality Corporation of SLO County and the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce, advocating the business potential in Atascadero. These relationships with business and community leaders county-wide have contributed to the investment we are seeing in our community today.
As Mayor, Heather implemented solutions that helped businesses: removing obstacles, providing guidance on relevant regulations, and developing incentives for businesses that now call Atascadero home. She has facilitated strategies like co-working and business start-up locations to provide opportunities for our residents to work where they live.
As Atascadero looks to the future, increased Broadband access is key to not only economic development, but improving the day-to-day lives of every resident. Mayor Moreno led the charge in creating a partnership with the City of Paso Robles to create a strategic plan and pursue Broadband funding for our North County region.
Fiscal responsibility:
The City is entrusted with taxpayer dollars to use wisely. Heather is very aware that the City’s money is your money, and as a CPA she will continue to ensure responsible spending, a balanced budget, and solid rainy-day reserves. It is because of such policies that the City was able to weather the financial challenges of COVID-19 without significant cuts to important services, such as public safety. Heather continues to advocate for strong reserves so that Atascadero continues to thrive even in the midst of economic uncertainty.
Heather also knows that a strong financial position requires that we attract and serve local businesses. Atascadero has streamlined its procedures, making it easier for businesses to get things done. She will work to make sure Atascadero continually innovates its approach to serve the needs of our business community and make it easier to attract new businesses here.
Citizen engagement and transparency:
The public process is sometimes messy. When a diverse community voices their sometimes-conflicting concerns and meets limitations placed by multiple levels of government, discussions could end in disagreement. Open dialogue about issues affecting our City provides for the best solution. Discussion leads to collaboration and “buy-in” with all sides involved.
Heather believes that an engaged citizenry leads to better government, which is why she proposed the City’s Talk on the Block (TOB) initiative in partnership with the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce. These gatherings provided a casual, comfortable environment for citizens to meet City Council Members and City staff in their own neighborhoods, to talk about City operations, ask questions, and provide feedback. Residents expressed appreciation at having this type of access to their government, and it enabled the City to resolve neighborhood issues more quickly.
Public input and engagement were especially important after voters passed Measure D-20, the 1% sales tax measure. The City held approximately 20 public meetings over six months, ranging from low-key gatherings to receive input from residents on where investment was most needed in our community, to Council meetings as we worked out the details, and Finance Committee meetings to oversee the budget process. We also tasked the Citizen Sales Tax Oversight Committee with review of D-20 funds in addition to the F-14 funds (for roads), providing additional, ongoing public review.
During the pandemic, the City took all appropriate measures to ensure maximum access was available for citizens to safely participate in public meetings. Today, Council meetings are again held in City Hall with continued access to the public via multiple online/virtual channels.
A balanced approach to homelessness:
Homelessness is multifaceted. The un-housed in our community are not homogeneous so to make positive strides requires a balanced approach. Treating people with compassion must be the core of how we operate, and Heather is grateful to live in the kind of community that provides help and assistance to those in need. Our community strongly supports the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO), offering shelters, shower services and meals to those in need, and Transitional Food & Shelter which operates the Medically Fragile Homeless program. As Mayor, Heather used her leadership to successfully advocate for grant funding for both organizations to help continue their important work with those most in need.
At the same time, we must recognize and fight against criminal activity and Heather strongly supports law enforcement efforts so that the true criminals in our transient population are dealt with appropriately. These individuals prey on the weak and innocent in our community, including other un-housed individuals who are the most victimized by their criminal activity. People need to feel safe in Atascadero and if we ignore proactive enforcement, we are missing part of the equation.
When our downtown area experienced an increase in criminal activity in 2019, Heather advocated for the Chief of Police and the Atascadero Police department to focus efforts on resolving issues related to transient activity in our downtown corridor. Out of these efforts, cameras were installed to better monitor and respond to criminal conduct, keeping all our residents safe.
We must also cooperate with and rely on each other to address these issues; we can’t do it alone. In recent years, the City partnered with the County’s Community Action Team, embedding mental health and crisis workers with law enforcement to provide help to some of the most vulnerable and fragile individuals in the homeless community.
As a result of collaboration with the community during the 2021 strategic planning process, the City is now forming the Outreach for Underrepresented Residents (OUR) Team to partner a police officer, a mental health worker and a community outreach representative to help get people the services they need, get off the streets and into housing.
Protecting local control:
State and Federal regulations often don’t make sense for Atascadero and place an undue burden on residents. From advocating for the Atascadero water basin as a geologically separate sub-basin to developing our own Local Area Management Plan for onsite wastewater treatment systems, Heather is committed to working to retain the local control that is critical to preserving the uniqueness of Atascadero.