The Bee asked candidates in the race for the council a series of questions on issues that will shape their city's future.

1. Rocklin, which is approaching buildout, is updating its general plan. Where should the city focus growth and what kind of development do you want to see?

2. To balance the budget, Rocklin had to cut expenses and freeze vacant positions. How do you think the city should cut costs?

1. The current general plan should be followed. It has a good balance of land uses. I am opposed to large-scale rezoning of commercial, industrial or open space land to allow more housing. I am opposed to annexing more land. We are big enough.

2. While I place a high priority on law enforcement and emergency response, all city operations should be looked at for ways to save money. Rocklin is not in financial trouble. We have always had balanced budgets and our staff does an outstanding job of cost reduction.

1. The general plan created over 25 years ago, with periodic modifications, has been very effective. There is a balance between residential, commercial and industrial zoning. The development of commercial areas, including the downtown corridor, will depend on how soon the economy recovers.

2. City Council has taken a conservative approach over the last decade. We closely scrutinize the money that departments request each year. We have tried not to reduce services offered to the public. If the economy continues to worsen we will need to consider reducing services/personnel.

1. An economic plan must be in place that brings jobs and establishes Rocklin as an economic destination. A key to that end is re-creating downtown into a robust lifestyle center of commerce. I encourage any development that supports that type of economic plan.

2. Those spending freezes should stay in place until we institute an economic development plan. That will determine what future departments and programs are funded. The city's economic development lacks vision. Correcting that deficit fixes the problem rather than sedate the pain.

1. My focus would be to bring more family-oriented businesses to Rocklin and focus future growth inward rather than outward.

2. If elected I would work hard to make all budget decisions fair and across the board. Also I would maintain the highest funding for police and fire as much as possible and cut as much waste and frills as possible.

1. The general plan update is almost completed. It provides a balanced plan that mixes residential with commercial and retail to provide a mixture of tax revenue to match services. We are bringing more business near the freeways and look to downtown as a more dense community, with homes mixed with retail and commercial.

2. We worked hard these past few years to not impact residents' service quality when trimming the budget. The majority of cost is from personnel and their benefits. The next main savings will come from consolidating city services to merge assignments and over time have fewer employees.

1. Rocklin is in dire need of desirable, carefully planned development centered on redevelopment of the city's infill parcels. The general plan update must create sustainable business/professional zoned areas, transit-oriented villages, and mixed uses. This was not evident in the last general plan cycle.

2. Rocklin needs to implement a comprehensive economic plan that is fiscally conservative and reduces financial risks. A new economic plan should factor in the need to reorganize city services, reduce wasteful spending and create a cap on spending tied to necessary expenditures.

1. The general plan should keep Rocklin as is. It should concentrate on commercial real estate that needs to be filled and older centers that need to be revitalized. More residents would not be good for the city. We don't want to lose Clover Valley to development.

2. Really it isn't about cutting back, but making sure we can generate more revenue in the city by bringing in and keeping businesses. If all the businesses are leaving, that is going to affect the city's budget.