Nesbet, a member of the Monte Sereno City Council, used her familiarity with the community to her advantage as she and competing candidates faced a grilling list of questions from forum sponsors and area residents in an environmental debate July 10 at Los Gatos Town Council chambers. The district encompasses Los Gatos and reaches as far as San Carlos. Candidates will face off again in the March 2004 Democratic primary.

The candidates, in addition to Nesbet, include John Barton, a member of the Palo Alto school board; John Carcione, a West Bay Sanitary District board member; Chris Kelly, an attorney from Palo Alto; and Ira Ruskin, a member of the City Council of Redwood City.

"I like her small-town attitude," said Mario Martins, who owns a cafe called Paradise Island in Redwood City, about Nesbet. "She seems willing to listen, and she's not as politically orientated as Ruskin."

But Christopher Stone, a Mountain View resident and member of the Peninsula Young Democrats, said he is leaning toward voting for Kelly, who grew up in Los Gatos and worked on President Clinton's domestic policy council, because Kelly has political connections on a national level.

Debate moderator Lynne Trulio, chairwoman of the environmental studies department at San José State University, allowed each candidate one-minute responses to questions ranging from their most important environmental achievement to their stances on protecting biodiversity and the use of pesticides. Trulio filled Los Gatos Mayor Sandy Decker's usual chair in the center of the U-shaped council chambers.

Decker was on hand to make the opening speech at the debate.

"The environment is our business, and the environment is our business especially here in Los Gatos," she said, delivering her remarks from the audience.

Nesbet said the close proximity of residences to businesses in downtown Los Gatos serves as a fine example of how she would like communities in the district to function because people can walk to conveniences or take public transportation rather than drive.

"Really working to build community has got to be our focus," said Nesbet after the debate, adding that she supports emulating environments in "people-centric" older towns such as Los Gatos where the residents generally feel safe and comfortable.

During the debate, Nesbet also addressed the importance of recycling water for irrigation purposes and educating contractors and building developers about water conservation.

Barton, a Stanford lecturer on urban studies, also supported finding alternatives to getting people out of their cars to use public transportation. He advocated providing affordable housing for people close to where they work to cut down on the amount of road traffic.

"We need to hold firm on low­vehicle emission standards," he added.

Barton was also critical of certain Republicans' stance that global warming does not exist.

"[Global warming] is an issue that is very predictable and very understandable," Barton said.

Ruskin said convincing people not to use their comfortable sports utility vehicles and to instead use public transportation or drive hybrid cars isn't "realistic." Instead, he advocated mandating higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. Ruskin also proposed multiple times throughout the debate that the state create an environmental protection department and that the government create more incentives for people to use low, ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles.

Carcione said he supported items such as the gas tax increase, fighting pesticide regulations and improving the federal Clean Air Act. He also promised that if elected to office he would fight the Bush administration for the strictest regulations to pass the Kyoto Accord, which was designed to limit gas emissions that may be contributing to global warming. The Bush administration has proposed that such restrictions could harm the U.S. economy.

Kelly, who drives a hybrid car, suggested people participate in commuter programs or drive environmentally friendly vehicles. Kelly also expressed optimism that one day Bay Area Rapid Transit will extend to San Jose.

"I'd love to see [BART] ring the Bay eventually," he said.

In addition, Kelly said he supported students monitoring the environment, as they did when he worked for the Clinton administration.

Open space preservation was the top issue the candidates thought the public was most concerned about, and all candidates came to an agreement against limiting the population levels in the Bay Area.