Council candidate calls himself voice of reason 'By Katy Sweeny -- Staff reporter. Lake County Record Bee
http://www.record-bee.com/ci_16130299?source=most_viewed
Updated: 09/20/2010 11:01:52 PM PDT
LAKEPORT -- Tom Engstrom said he thinks he would be a good addition to the Lakeport City Council because of his city government experience and because he doesn't have an "ax to grind against anybody."
"I think I could be a voice of reason on the City Council, someone who would listen to what people say," he said. Engstrom and six other candidates are running for two positions opening on the Lakeport City Council in the Nov. 2 election. Engstrom, 62, earned a bachelor's degree from University of San Francisco in public administration and graduated from the FBI National Academy on police management.
He moved to Lakeport in 1994 to become the Lakeport chief of police. He retired in 2005 after 37 years in law enforcement. Engstrom was then appointed as the executive director of Mendo-Lake Alternative Services, which is a nonprofit that administers the community service program for the courts.
He and his wife, Cindy, have seven children. Their three youngest children graduated from Clear Lake High School. Aside from serving as chief of police in Lakeport and three other small cities, Engstrom was on the school board in Newman.
Pam Hinman said she's Engstrom's neighbor and has known him since he moved to Lakeport.
"I think he would make a wonderful councilman," she said. Hinman thinks Engstrom is fair and a generally nice person, she said. As police chief, he had to make a lot of hard decisions, which Hinman thinks would help him. "He's fair to both sides," she said. "I think he's a good mediator and negotiator."
Engstrom said he's running for office because he wants to give back to the community. "Coming to Lakeport is the best thing that's happened to our family," he said. He said his No. 1 priority would be the budget.
"We all have to live within our means as a family and individually," Engstrom said. "I think the city has to do the same thing."
Engstrom said during his years working with city government, he hasn't seen the economy this bad. "The City Council has to make some really tough choices and decisions what their priorities are." He wants to see a five-year plan to fix the streets. Engstrom said he always had an open door as police chief and would do the same as a councilman.
Karan Mackey said although she's a Lakeport business owner and doesn't want to endorse anyone, she thinks Engstrom would be an excellent councilman based on his background knowledge.
"He has a good sense of city operations," Mackey said. "And he has a good sense of community." Mike Svehla said he worked with Engstrom as a Lakeport school administrator and supports his bid for City Council.
"By nature Tom is a real person," Svehla said. "He's always interested in other people and never fails to ask how you and your family are doing."
Engstrom said any decision he would make on police officer retirement benefits wouldn't affect him, as his retirement is already set at 2 percent at 50. He said with the information he has, he would have voted to honor the contract with police and he thinks they might take legal action against the city.
"I'm in favor of honoring agreements with employees because I think that's the right thing to do," he said. He said if the money isn't available, he couldn't vote to increase police officer retirement benefits. Engstrom also wants to improve city staff morale. "It doesn't have anything to do with money or benefits," he said. "It has to do with respect. I think a lot of employees right now feel like second-class citizens. They just want to be treated with courtesy and respect. There are a lot of ways we can do that."
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
