Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.

MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide

Name: James Peters

Current job title: Business Owner

Political party affiliation: Non-Partisan

Incumbent: No

Other political positions held: None

City where you reside: Costa Mesa

Campaign website or social media: www.petersformayor2024.com

How can the city best meet the demand and mandates for more housing, including at lower prices, while also preserving the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

Costa Mesa must promote sustainable development practices, protect green spaces and maintain the character of our city’s neighborhoods. Costa Mesa voters overwhelmingly passed Measure Y in 2016 to require most major development projects to be approved by the voters. Measure K in 2022 passed by just 22 votes, showing how divided our city’s residents are on development projects. While Measure Y has an exemption for “affordable housing proposals required by state or federal law,” we should still ensure any such proposals are compatible with the general spirit of Measure Y as intended by the voters. Therefore, any housing development in Costa Mesa needs to be compatible with existing neighborhoods.

The city should ensure any impacts of new housing upon existing residents should include offsets, such as mitigation fees to pay for new parks, wider roads and other infrastructure/service needs. Workforce housing aimed at the middle class, veterans housing and senior housing should be prioritized. Mixed-used projects to place housing in commercial areas can help meet the demand and mandates for more housing while minimizing its impact on existing neighborhoods and residents. Even if a project is exempt from voter approval, the city should still ensure these projects meet resident concerns.

California is working toward achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Where does climate change fall in your list of priorities? How, if at all, would you address this as a councilmember? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

There are many things the city can do, such as improving traffic, expanding parks and green spaces and improving electric infrastructure. Street light optimization would help reduce the amount of time people are stuck in traffic. By keeping vehicles moving instead of idling in traffic, motorists would use less gas and carbon emissions would be produced. The city should find ways to increase parks and other green spaces, as these serve to provide additional recreational areas for residents while also helping to reduce carbon dioxide.

The city government has several electric vehicles in its fleet, but the city government should seek to have its entire vehicle fleet be electric. For example, Yorba Linda approved a plan to have all vehicles owned by the city government to be electric, and Anaheim has added electric vehicles for its police department. While City Hall has charging stations where electric vehicle owners can pay to charge their cars, the city should add these charging stations to other publicly owned parking locations to enable electric vehicle owners to be able to pay to charge their cars. The city government must set an example by doing all it can before asking residents to do the same.

How should the city balance paying off debts, such as pension liabilities, and building reserves all while meeting residents’ needs? Should a solution involve finding new revenue, trimming the budget, or something else entirely? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

The city must trim the budget. In just the past three years, the city’s operating budget grew by 22% and added 66 bureaucratic positions. These are 66 civilian positions — these are not police officers or firefighters.

In June, when the mayor and City Council approved this year’s city budget, they included a 21% increase for the mayor/City Council office’s budget for salaries and benefits. Costa Mesa’s city government has the second-highest budget deficit per capita in Orange County.

The city should not engage in wasteful litigation such as the lawsuit against the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to stop construction of a school building — when the city sues the school district, taxpayer dollars end up paying for both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s legal bills and court costs. Reducing this excess spending will enable the city to pay more of its pension liabilities and other city debts while also building up reserves and meeting residents’ needs. To pay down pension liabilities and other city debts, build up reserves and meet resident needs in the long term, additional revenue can be generated by growing the economy. We should incentivize Costa Mesa’s existing businesses to expand and recruit small businesses to come to Costa Mesa.

In your opinion, what is the biggest need your city faces, and how would you address it? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

The biggest need facing Costa Mesa is public safety. Over the past three years, our city has seen murder, arson, larceny and sex offender crimes increase. We need to provide Costa Mesa Police with more resources, giving them the ability to strengthen their focus on preventing these crimes and arresting the perpetrators.

We should also strengthen community policing strategies. Community policing encourages residents to partner with police officers, builds trust between neighborhoods and police and helps residents work with police to prevent/report crime. Unfortunately, issues related to homelessness also contribute to crime. City government must develop comprehensive support programs and collaborate with local organizations to provide housing solutions. These services will help homeless individuals get back on their feet, provide the mentally ill the treatment they need and rehabilitate those with drug addictions. For those who refuse services, then city ordinances must be enforced to remove them from our streets, parks and neighborhoods, shopping centers and office complexes.

Costa Mesa has a unique problem not faced by other OC cities: we have an overconcentration of marijuana dispensaries (“”pot shops””) near our parks, schools and neighborhoods. We must reevaluate zoning laws and regulations to ensure a balanced approach that considers community concerns.

Why would you make a good leader, and how would you represent the diverse communities of your city? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

As a licensed financial planner and small business owner in Costa Mesa, I know what it takes to balance a budget, prioritize needs and plan for the future. There needs to be greater focus on balancing the city budget, determining what priorities need to be funded and planning for Costa Mesa’s future. Raising my family here, I understand the needs and concerns of both residents in our city. Like all parents, I worry about my children’s safety in Costa Mesa, and I understand the challenges of the cost of living for residents in our city. I am a consensus builder who seeks to build agreement and move people forward.

As mayor, I would listen to the concerns of all residents, businesses, organizations and stakeholders, as well as the expertise of city staff. I do this already in my business, where I need to evaluate information from financial experts and balance that with the needs and goals of my customers. I have a diverse base of customers with different requirements and priorities, and as mayor, I would have to similarly serve the people of Costa Mesa who all seek diverse services and have diverse objectives from our city government.

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