Lodi’s mayor talks
Getting to know more about Doug Kuehne
After winning re-election to the Lodi City Council in November 2018, Councilman Doug Kuehne was recently voted to a second term as mayor. He has been on the city council since 2014 and first served as mayor in 2017.
The News-Sentinel recently caught up with Kuehne, Owner of Kings Carpet Service, for a question-and-answer session that helps our readers get to know the mayor a little better.
Here’s a lightly edited version of the interview.
Q: Why did you pursue local politics?
A: Our former city manager, Rad Bartlum, asked me the same thing when I first ran for council almost 10 years ago, and my answer never changed. I wanted to run for council because I wanted this town to be a place for my kids to start their families and raise their kids.
Q: After recently being named mayor, you said you would like to work with the Lodi Chamber of Commerce to bring higher-paying jobs to the area. How is that going so far, and what actions have you taken?
A: There is a lot of space where General Mills used to be. I think there is a lot of potential to utilize that space with more industrial jobs or plastics. Since we own our electric utility, our rating is high because we don’t have rolling blackouts or constant outages.
During the State of the City, John Vierra, owner of NJA Architects, presented a list of new developments Lodi residents can expect to see completed in the near future, including a commissary for food trucks, which will bring 200 to 300 skilled labor jobs to Lodi.
Q: Lodi has a lot of corporate retail employers in town. As shopping trends change and more people resort to online shopping, corporate retailers have started closing storefronts. Do you worry how those closures will affect a town like Lodi?
A: We have seen this happen in Lodi before with J.C.Penny, but when the Amazon Fulfillment Center opened in Tracy, it brought a lot of jobs for people in the county and it brought higher pay with it.
Q: Coming into the role of mayor following the passage of Measure L, many city services were saved from being cut, but did the measure secure the financial future for the city?
A: Well it staved off the inevitable, which is the PERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) crisis. But Measure L was passed as a stop-gap measure for Lodi to ensure safety for citizens.
Q: Lodi residents would like to see the mayor selected by a ballot vote. How do you feel about that?
A: At the point we were transitioning into districts, I thought that would be the time to explore an at-large mayor selection. However, I did not get the support when it came down to exploring it as an option and what it would cost to make it a ballot measure, but I was outvoted 4-to-1.
Lodi is considered a medium-sized city and other cities similar to our size handle the mayor post the way Lodi does. Is that good or bad? I don’t know, I am just neutral to it.
Q: As a public servant, how many hours a week do you spend attending meetings and working on projects for the city?
A: I spend a lot of time on projects. It is currently about 30 hours a week and 30 hours focusing on my business. I knew when I served in public office it was going to impact my business. When I was on the board of Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) I was spending about 35 hours a week at meetings.
After terming out of LAFCO, I was able to reduce some of my meeting hours, but they bumped up about four to five hours a week when I became mayor. I am not complaining, though I love what I do, and I also serve on the San Joaquin Council of Governments boards and commissions and both the city’s and county’s homeless committees. It is a lot of policy documents —about 600- to 700page documents for council, 700- to 800-page documents for SJCOG (San Joaquin Council of Governments), and 400- to 500page documents when I served on LAFCO — but I enjoy it.
Q: I understand you would like to work with developers to create affordable housing in Lodi. Why was that an important issue for you?
A: It concerns the whole state being able but it is important to work with developers to see what we can do to make affordable housing profitable because, at the end of the day, developers are businessmen and they have to turn a profit off the product they’re selling. But I think our governor is taking a lot of steps to help resolve this issue.
Q: You offer a sense of compassion towards the homeless population in Lodi. Having formally been homeless yourself, what unique perspective do you offer towards finding solutions towards this issue?
A: It is a complicated topic but the best way to simplify that is to say that being homeless is depressing. When you are depressed, you are dealing with a mental health issue and if you have an addiction, it is hard not to make bad decisions.
When you don’t have the proper resources and you don’t have a revenue stream, you are left with very few good decisions to make and you get stuck in a cycle of bad choices and because there is not any space to make good decisions, you get caught up in crime.
By offering complete wraparound services, we give people a stable place to live, a good diet, and help people become selfsufficient so they can get entrylevel jobs.
Lodi’s Salvation Army offers job training and the county provides a Ready to Work Program that helps people develop skills to get jobs, so they can start producing income.
By putting choices in front of someone, you are helping them build up their self-esteem and their self-worth. It is those incremental steps that intrinsically lead to people feeling better about themselves and that makes them want better options.
The key to getting out of homelessness is getting off drugs and becoming productive. Another thing that makes a big difference is having a mentor, someone to help you get on your feet by showing you how. Everyone needs that.
Q: RTD (San Joaquin Rapid Transit District) recently said it is considering doing away with intercity routes. As mayor and a member of SJCOG, how do you feel about that?
A: RTD uses Measure K funding to fund the intercity routes, which was granted to them for those routes. I think when they announced they would do away with the intercity routes, it was done prematurely, because they did not go through the public hearing process, and so now they are backtracking and conducting public hearings.
They would also need to get the RTD board approval to discontinue those routes, which would mean they no longer receive Measure K funding. I strongly believe and hope that those routes will not be eliminated.
Q: What is the hardest part of being a public servant?
A: If you ask my wife, it would be that we have to go out of town for privacy. For me staying abreast of what is happening in Sacramento is important because, as a municipality, we deal with a lot of unfunded mandates, which is when the state asks cities to implement a policy without funding in place to meet their request. City budgets are constrained and if we don’t implement a mandate, we get penalized.
Q: If there was a piece of advice you could give your younger self, what would it be?
A: Stay focused.
Q: What is your go-to breakfast spot in Lodi? A: I have three — but my breakfast spots are mainly for business meetings — Richmaid Restaurant, Avenue Grill and Denis’ Country Kitchen.
Q: What is your local favorite getaway?
A: Well I have a timeshare in Lake Tahoe that I like to go to when I want to get away. As far as a local getaway, I like to go to Idol Beer for concerts and Oak Farm Vineyards when they have concerts. It is a lot more tranquil than some of the other vineyards, and another good goto spot is Jeremy Wine Company when the farmers market starts up because they have live music.
Q: What musicians do you like to listen to when you want to unwind or relax?
A: I was listening to Eddie Arnold the other night but when it comes to unwinding, I like to listen to smooth jazz. One of my favorite bands is Kittyhawk and I also like to listen to Frank Sinatra and Ed Bennett.
Q: Do you think pickleball should become an Olympic sport?
A: I enjoy the sport myself but I would like to see racquetball become an Olympic sport before pickleball. We got pickleball a little late but it is gaining traction as far as popularity. I gotta tell you the other night I drove past the pickleball courts (at Legion Park) and it was packed. I am still learning how to be good at it but I think it is a fun sport for anyone to pick up. It’s a low impact sport you get a little cardio workout playing. It is a fun sport to play with friends.
Q: If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
A: As a Christian, I think it would be cool to go back when Jesus walked the Earth. I also enjoy the Wild West, so I think that would be fun. I am not a fan of the Dark Ages but it would be interesting to live during the Renaissance.
Q: If you could talk to one species of animal, which would it be and why?
A: Elephants, because they live a long time and accumulate wisdom. I am always trying to find wisdom in life.
Q: If you met a genie that offered you three wishes, what would you wish for?
A: The first would be wisdom, the second might sound a little gruesome but my son committed suicide five years ago so I would like to have him back and spend more time with him. The last wish would be money to donate.
Q: If you could write a book what genre would it be?
A: An autobiography.