Six Running for Three Seats

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Six showing interest in council race

3 seats up for election in GT

Stephen Wall, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 07/19/2008 08:53:55 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE - Five months from now, the City Council could have a trio of new faces.
Three council seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 4 election.

The nomination period for the general election began Monday and ends Aug. 8, unless an elected incumbent doesn't file candidacy papers. In that case, the deadline is extended to Aug. 13.

Six potential candidates have taken out papers, including Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia and Councilman Jim Miller.

Planning Commission Chairman Doug Wilson, restaurant owner Walt Stanckiewitz, firefighter Robert Mendez and businessman Dontay Nunn also have pulled papers.

As of Thursday, Councilman Dan Buchanan had not taken out papers for the race.
No one has qualified for the ballot so far, according to the City Clerk's Office.

Garcia, who has served on the council since 1996, said she wants to continue moving the city of about 13,000 residents in the right direction.

"We're a wonderful little town," said Garcia, a 45-year-old single mother who owns a consulting, marketing and public relations business. "We have a great quality. We have many exciting things on the horizon. We want to continue building on what we've accomplished in our first 30 years as a city."

Construction of a new high school in town is one of Garcia's priorities.

The project has been beset by funding challenges and difficulties in relocating tenants off the proposed 67-acre site on Main Street, between Taylor Street and Michigan Avenue.
The Colton Joint Unified School District, which is building the high school, hopes to open the campus by September 2011.

"It's our job as a city to figure out a way to keep pushing the school board to get this high school built," said the 58-year-old Stanckiewitz, who owns La Pasta Italia, an Italian deli, restaurant and pasta factory in town.

Miller, a 60-year-old real property manager for San Bernardino County, also said the high school is important.

Another key issue for several candidates is the development of a new shopping center on the south side of Barton Road between Michigan and Mountain View avenues.

The project was originally slated to include a Lowe's but was scaled back because of neighborhood opposition to the home improvement warehouse.

The only confirmed tenant at the center is a new Stater Bros. market.

"I've very supportive of the Town Center, but it's got to be planned correctly and it has to be congruent with the neighborhood," said Wilson, a 54-year-old construction consultant who has served on the Planning Commission for 16 years.

Wilson said he also wants to ensure that traffic circulation issues are addressed before a proposed 120-acre commercial and residential project off the 215 Freeway is built.

He also would like to see a larger library in the city.

Wilson was an unsuccessful applicant to fill a council vacancy created in 2006 when Mayor Maryetta Ferre relinquished her council seat when she became the city's first directly elected mayor.

Buchanan, an attorney for a title insurance company, was chosen by the council to fill the vacant position in January 2007. He previously served on the council from 1994 to 2002. He could not be reached for comment.

Miller, who was elected to the council in 2004, wants more youth programs in the city.
"My main thing is to make sure that the city maintains balanced budgets and that we grow at a pace that is not too fast, so that our infrastructure can keep up," Miller said.

Garcia said she supports quality development that "gives us a secure financial stream and quality land use that doesn't impact our good neighborhoods."

Her other priorities include protecting open space and creating a wilderness park on Blue Mountain.

Stanckiewitz and his wife, Monique, bought a home in Grand Terrace after the couple lost their Running Springs home in the Slide Fire in October. They have owned La Pasta Italia on Barton Road almost 20 years.

He said he can bring a new perspective to the council as a small businessman.
"I want to get the Town Center done," he said. "All we've got is Miguel's (Mexican Restaurant) and a lot of dirt."

Mendez and Nunn could not be reached for comment