Two City Council seats are on ballots this November in Placentia, with three candidates competing for the District 2 seat and two, including the incumbent, for the District 4 seat.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Kevin Kirwin is not seeking reelection in District 2, guaranteeing a new face on the Placentia council after the election.\u00a0\u00a0Running for the seat are Santosh Sabnis, 49, a business owner and technology executive; Julie Suchard, 59, a community volunteer; and Matt Waugh, 51, a client success executive.<\/p>\n
For the District 4 seat, incumbent Chad Wanke is facing a challenge from management analyst James Burandt.<\/p>\n
We asked the candidates questions about housing, city finances, transparency, and more, which you can read in our voter guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n District 2<\/p>\n All three candidates offered variations of the same theme: grow the economy before raising taxes, cut waste before cutting services, and present the city\u2019s finances in language residents can actually understand.<\/p>\n Sabnis said<\/a> City Hall should operate \u201cthe way every household expects its own finances to work,\u201d by planning ahead, living within its means and fixing problems \u201cbefore they become more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t start with another tax or another cut. I\u2019d start with the bills,\u201d he said, noting the city \u201cjust cut $1.46 million, including employees and services,\u201d while its projected general fund reserve remains below the city\u2019s own 25% target. Transparency, he said, should also mean making city spending understandable, not just available.<\/p>\n The tech exec said he wants every major city contract to show its original cost, plus the total cost to date, as well as what changed, and whether it was competitively bid before the council votes on it.<\/p>\n \u201cCut waste before services. Grow revenue before taxes. Pay what we owe. Rebuild our savings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If elected, Sabnis said he would go \u201cline by line\u201d through major contracts and seek competitive bids where appropriate, adding that he has already identified several contracts that grew \u201csubstantially\u201d over time without the city seeking other competitive bids.<\/p>\n On housing, he said the answer isn\u2019t simply \u201cbuild more\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t build.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he said approval for significant housing projects should first address four questions: whether streets, parking and public services can handle it, what infrastructure it requires, what the developer will pay for, and whether the project creates lasting value for the city.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowth should pay for its impact,\u201d he said, adding that City Hall should also cut \u201cunnecessary permitting delays and costs\u201d that make housing more expensive.<\/p>\n Suchard said the biggest issue facing Placentia is the city\u2019s revenue picture.<\/a><\/p>\n She argues the city has become \u201chighly dependent on sales tax revenue,\u201d partly because property tax revenue is \u201crelatively static\u201d due to low property turnover, which Suchard attributes to residents\u2019 love for the city. But she warned that impending SNAP and Medicaid cuts could further suppress consumer spending.<\/p>\n \u201cAs families spend more on food, they forgo purchasing consumer goods which would otherwise generate sales tax. Lower sales tax revenues mean that our city needs to disburse funds judiciously and avoid frivolous expenditures,\u201d Suchard said.<\/p>\n She said the city needs to review its current contracts and place stricter oversight on purchases, change orders and credit card usage by city employees, as well as stricter limits on travel expenses.<\/p>\n On housing, Suchard said Placentia \u201cdoesn\u2019t have a lot of empty land\u201d and said additional housing will likely be a challenge in the future.<\/p>\n She argued all future housing projects should incorporate parking prior to council approval. Without addressing those quality of life issues, residents, customers and local businesses will be impacted, she said, citing apartment complexes on Crowther Avenue as an example, which she said lack sufficient parking and have left local businesses \u201cto compete with new residents for spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n Suchard, who has made accountability her calling card, said the city hasn\u2019t posted a Measure U report on its website since 2023 though the transparency was promised by the city when Placentia voters passed the 1% local sales tax measure in 2018.<\/p>\n Also running in District 2 is Waugh, who has lived in Placentia for more than 20 years.<\/a><\/p>\n Waugh and his wife \u2013 a local high school economics teacher for the last three decades \u2013 had both their children attend Placentia schools, he said. Experience, he said, that gives him a \u201cpersonal connection to families, students, educators, homeowners, renters, workers, and local businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n On housing, Waugh said the city should meet its legal obligations while concentrating growth along major corridors, underutilized commercial areas, and areas near transit, rather than \u201cunnecessarily increasing density in established neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to Placentia\u2019s Old Town as an example of the type of balance the city should seek around re-development, one that encourages \u201cthoughtful investment and compatible infill while preserving the character that makes the area special.\u201d<\/p>\n He also cautioned that \u201csimply zoning for more units does not necessarily produce housing that is affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n On the budget, Waugh said Placentia needs to do three things at once: control spending, grow recurring revenue and protect essential services.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe the answer is simply to cut our way to fiscal health,\u201d he said, adding he would not promise \u201cspecific cuts without first understanding the city\u2019s finances in detail.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEconomic development and diverse sources of recurring revenue have to be part of the solution,\u201d Waugh said. \u201cA stronger local economy means a stronger tax base and greater capacity to provide the services residents expect.\u201d<\/p>\n District 4<\/p>\n Burandt, 29,<\/a> said he would bring \u201ca public service mindset\u201d to the seat, drawn from his time in the Marines and his work for elected representatives in Washington, D.C. and Orange County.<\/a> He also holds a master\u2019s in public administration from Cal State Fullerton.<\/p>\n Roads and basic infrastructure should be one of the city\u2019s biggest priorities, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cRoad maintenance should be treated as a long-term responsibility, not something we continually postpone when budgets get tight,\u201d he said, promising to show residents \u201cwhich streets are scheduled for work, how projects are prioritized, how much is being spent, and where funding is coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n On housing, Burandt said he supports reducing minimum lot sizes so \u201csmaller lots can allow more starter homes to be built without necessarily changing the character of existing neighborhoods.\u201d Similar to Waugh in District 2, he said housing development should focus growth around underused commercial areas and transportation.<\/p>\n Rather than relying on cuts to fix the city budget, Burandt said he would rather have the city grow its way into a stronger financial position \u2014 through economic development that prioritizes filling vacant commercial space and growing sales-tax revenue.<\/p>\n If elected, Burandt said fiscal trust will be at the center of his leadership decisions. \u201cPlacentia has had understandable public skepticism about city finances over the years,\u201d he said, adding that confidence is rebuilt \u201cnot with promises, but with clear information, strong oversight, and visible results in the neighborhoods people live in every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Wanke is looking to add a fifth term to his time on the City Council. He previously served two years as the city\u2019s treasurer in 2008. He said in his campaign statement that he has lived in Placentia for more than 31 years, where he and his wife, Leonie, are raising four children.<\/p>\n He offers a record of council accomplishments in his campaign statement, including having proposed amendments to help balance this year\u2019s budget, approving \u201cmiles\u201d of roadway repavement,\u00a0 the hiring of 10 new police officers and construction of a new playground at Parque De Arroyo Verde.<\/p>\n \u201cThe recent improvements have helped set Placentia on the right track, but there is still more to be done,\u201d Wanke said, adding he would continue to focus on rebuilding roads and infrastructure, and maintaining \u201cbalanced budgets that benefit Placentia residents, not the bureaucracy.\u201d He did not respond to an invitation to participate in the voter guide.<\/p>\n He also said he would continue his support for police and firefighters.<\/p>\n