Council Candidate Herb Katz Raises $10,000

By Jorge Casuso

Kicking off what could become one of the most expensive City Council campaigns in recent memory, Herb Katz raised $10,000 at his first fundraiser Tuesday.

Katz, who served two terms on the City Council from 1984 to 1992, is counting of the support of the city's business community to win one of the four open seats on the seven-member council.

The money from the fundraiser held at the Shutters on the Beach Hotel came from 40 contributions of $250 each, the maximum allowed under city campaign finance laws.

"It was a nice mix of people," said Katz, an architect who chairs the Bayside District Board. "I'm very pleased."

Katz said it is important to have an opposing voice on an increasingly single-minded council.

"Any council that has as much of a majority as this one is unhealthy," Katz said after the fundraiser. "It breeds corruption in dialogue. It sets it up so there's absolute power and they show it by the way they have discussions.

"They are now taking over all the commissions so they agree with them," Katz said. "This is unhealthy. That's not how to conduct government."

Katz said the council also is chilling the planning staff's decisions by looking over their shoulder.

"The Planning Department is scared to hell of making decisions," said Katz, who served on the City's planning commission. "They're worried about this council member and that council member and what they think. They are piling up the laws. They want to stop construction."

Katz also blasted the living wage proposal being studied by the council. The proposal calls for businesses in the Coastal Zone with more than 50 employees to pay workers at least $10.69 an hour.

"It's not a living wage," Katz said. "It's a payback to a selected group - the labor unions."

Katz said the proposed law discriminates against businesses inside the zone and against those with more than 50 employees.

Katz also called on the council to spend more money on education.