Thursday's Internet Edition, August 24, 2006.

CAMPAIGN 2006: Part one of two
Galt City Council candidates:
a closer look

By Rachael Roberts

Herald Editor - Editor’s note: For the duration of the campaign season, the order in which candidates are presented for each feature will be randomly drawn by The Galt Herald staff. We feel it is fair and balanced to create a random order for each feature as opposed to running strictly in ballot order. In order to provide each candidate with ample space for a thorough profile, the profiles will be split into two weeks for each race.

 Now that the Campaign 2006 filing period has closed, it is time to take a closer look at each of the candidates in each of the races.

 This week The Galt Herald will take a look at three of the six candidates for the three open city council seats. Next week, we will cover the remaining three city council candidates. Beginning Sept. 6, we will profile the first half of the nine Galt High School Board candidates, followed by the remaining candidates in the Sept. 13 edition of The Galt Herald.

Tom Malson

Incumbent Tom Malson is 55 years old. He has lived in Galt for 26 years and is married to Grace who works for the Galt transit system, SCT/Link in Galt. They have one daughter who is working on her master’s degree while employed by the city of Fairfield.

Malson is a senior facilities manager at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova. He received an A.A. degree from Sacramento City College and his Bachelor in Science from Cal Poly. He has also completed project management courses at U.C. Davis

Malson is a certified plant engineer, a certified Six-Sigma Green Belt, a graduate of the Great Valley Leadership Institute, and an advanced leadership graduate of the California League of Cities Mayors and Council Members Academy. He also received a certificate in the Practice of Local Government Planning from the International City and County Management Association.

Malson submits a lengthy list of memberships in local and area organizations and committees including, but not limited to, being a lifetime member of the Galt Area Historical Society, the Sunrise Rotary Club, Habitat for Humanity, Strawberry Festival Committee, Relay for Life, and the Galt Boys and Girls Club.

As a council member, Malson has participated in a variety of capacities including, but not limited to, being a member of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the Rails to Trails Committee, Greenprint Policy Committee, the Sister City Committee, the skate park ad hoc committee, and the C Street Overpass focus group.

Prior to being elected to council, Malson served for 16 years on the Galt Planning Commission, for nine years on the Sacramento Environmental Commission and as a member of the Sacramento History and Science Commission.

Malson also served his country as a United States Marine who was honorably discharged.
Malson’s three top priorities as a council member are, first, continued improvement of the city's infrastructure, particularly related to the wastewater treatment plant and meeting regulatory changes in the city’s wastewater permit.   “In order to attract business and generate sales tax revenue, we must have services in place.”

Second, Malson would like to see the city’s new general plan completed.  “Until our general plan is completed, we cannot expand city services, update our city’s planning documents,” said Malson.

Economic development is the third top priority for Malson.  “The most up-to-date information I could find ranks Galt 414 out of 477 cities in California in retail sales tax revenue,” said Malson. “If we are ever to close the gap we have in police services, we must raise our sales tax level by attracting retail/commercial business to our city.”

Malson said his dream for the city is to have a safe, friendly community with good schools, and safe neighborhoods and parks, and to be economically viable so people can live and work in Galt if they want to.

Randy Shelton

Randy D. Shelton is 58 years-old. He has lived in Galt for 16 years. He and his wife have four children who have attended Galt schools.

Shelton is a retired California Deputy State Fire Marshall with a total of 40 years in fire service. He graduated from Imperial College with a degree in fire science/law enforcement.
He is a ‘proud’ member and chair of the Galt Public Safety Advisory Committee (which he was instrumental in getting established), a member of the Galt Area Chamber of Commerce, a Life Member of the Galt Area Historical Society, the Knights of Columbus, and a parent volunteer at Greer Middle School.

Shelton and his family have volunteered in the community for the parks and recreation department, city cleanup days, the Strawberry Festival, the historical society annual Old Car Show, and the McFarland Ranch cleanup project.

As an eight-year member of the Galt District Fire Board, Shelton took part in the construction of two fire stations and the institution of a sound budget for the district.
Shelton’s top priorities for the city include the budget, the police department, and the city’s general plan.

“I want to maintain a workable budget that will continue to keep our city financially sound,” said Shelton

In terms of the police department, choosing a new chief is a top Shelton priority.
“I want to keep public safety a top priority,” said Shelton.

Creating a new sphere of influence for the city’s general plan update also tops Shelton’s list of things to accomplish.

“I want to complete the general plan with an acceptable sphere of influence that will provide a buffer, tax base, and an economic development program that we can be proud of and that will allow our city to grow at a controlled rate,” said Shelton.

Shelton’s dream for the city is to prepare Galt for its future.

“it is vital that we plan together to make our city a community that is safe, provides housing, schools, parks and entertainment,” said Shelton. “We need to be working to provide a tax base that will allow us to provide services of all types to the citizens and doing this while preserving our past and planning our future.”

 
Donald Haines

Donald Haines has lived in Galt for five and a half years. He and his wife, Maria, have been married for 20 years and have three children, two still in Galt schools and one at Delta College.

Haines is currently a criminal investigator for the state of California. He has an A.A. degree in business from Delta College and was honorably discharged from the United States Navy after four years of service. He is a member of the Galt Parks and Recreation Commission, a member of the I Love Galt Committee and current chair of the Neighborhood Block Parties Committee. He also served on the Marengo Ranch School Site Council for two years.

As a council member Haines said he would focus on public safety by filling in the gap of badly needed police officers and increase the number of volunteers and hours for the CAPS program. He would also like to increase the number of Neighborhood Watch program members.

Growth management is also a priority for Haines.  “I would manage residential growth to avoid the further overcrowding of our schools, the addition of more traffic in the city, and to prevent passing on additional costs to the citizens of Galt,” said Haines.

A better economic base for the city makes the priority list for Haines as well.
I would work toward increasing our economic base by pursuing businesses that do not compete with our current businesses, but that would capture the sales tax dollars normally spent outside the city,” said Haines.

Haines’ dream for the city is simple.

“I would like to see Galt grow into a safe, well managed, tightly knit community,” said Haines.

This is an online publication of
The Galt Herald
P.O. Box 307
604 No. Lincoln Way
Galt, CA 95632
(209)745-1551

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Last updated on 25-November-2006