Note: Candidates were invited to submit a statement of up to 500 words. The statements have not been fact-checked or edited for spelling, punctuation or grammar.

It’s hard to believe almost four years ago I was elected to the Brentwood City Council. Since then Brentwood has become the safe, stable, strong, vibrant, and playful beacon of East County.

When I ran in 2006, I committed to you to work for financial responsibility, keeping neighborhoods safe, an improved downtown, traffic solution, local jobs and a strong local economy and protecting our agricultural heritage.

I’m happy to report the following has been accomplished:

The budget is balanced with 30% reserves. The police force is fully staffed and funded with no prospects of layoffs like other cities. The crime rate is down. We are building a new civic center which includes: a new city hall, new community center, new parking garage, larger city park, a library that’s 300% larger, new senior center, and downtown streetscapes all while saving $18 million, which is 36% of projected costs. The city offices are open every business day with no expectations of layoffs or furlough days like other cities. Our garbage rates are the lowest in East County, even with building a new, fully-funded transfer station. Our roads are consistently named some of the best in Northern California. The Bypass connections to Highway 4 and Vasco Road were opened. We’ve preserved, protected and promoted our agricultural heritage, including the Farmers Market downtown on Saturday mornings. Plus, Brentwood was named “Playful City” once again due to our outstanding parks and recreation …and the list goes on.

We did this in spite of severe economic challenges and the pain of declining home prices that we’ve all endured. But there’s still much to be done.

Now is the time to build on our successes and strategize how to take advantage of the coming economic recovery. Yes – it will recover! We need to bring employment centers to Brentwood and work to stabilize our home values.

We are currently developing our strategy to identify, contact, and encourage new business to come to Brentwood. We are also visiting existing businesses to keep them in town. We have hired a new Economic Development Manager. In addition, the city has several grants and programs to assist businesses in maintaining and improving their competitive position.

We have a wonderfully diverse and very employable population who would love to drive five minutes to work rather than the hour or more they currently commute.

We also must find a solution to American Avenue traffic, complete the Bypass and ensure Brentwood is part of the BART system.

We have all of the ingredients to make this happen; a beautiful city, great schools, goods roads and most importantly, you.

My wife Donna and I are proud to call Brentwood our home and it’s where I’ve had my business since before we moved here. I’m committed to Brentwood’s success and I look forward to serving you for another four years.

For more information, please visit www.ChrisBecnel.com or contact me at chris@chrisbecnel.com or 516-7940. Please remember to vote for Chris Becnel for Brentwood City Council.