Ryan Chin said he would weigh neighborhood and business concerns if elected to the City Council.

The Sacramento Press is interviewing City Council candidates in advance of the June 8 election.

Chin is one of four candidates competing for the District 7 seat, which represents neighborhoods including Pocket/Greenhaven and Valley Hi. His competitors are incumbent Robbie Waters, Darrell Fong and Diedre Hobart.

Chin said he has experience working on neighborhood and business issues.

“I understand business,” he said, “but I’ll always be connected and committed to the community, and making sure they’re represented.”

Chin, who works as a strategic communications director at California State University, Sacramento, has lived in the city 10 years. He has lived in the Pocket neighborhood for two years.

Chin said he gained experience handling neighborhood and business concerns during his service on the now-defunct Sacramento Policy Planning Commission. The panel is now called the Sacramento County Planning Commission.

“If you’re going to do a development anywhere in Sacramento — could be the county, could be the city — to do it right, to make sure it goes forward, to make sure that everybody is bought in and that it flourishes, you need to have the right balance between business interests, county interests, county long-term planning, community interests,” he said.

“Again, I believe I’m going to bring that best balance.”

Chin, 45, has a master’s degree in business administration from UC Davis and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from UC Berkeley.

In addition to his business education, he said he has worked for large and small businesses, including Hewlett-Packard and a small software company.

“You need somebody who understands what is it that’s going to attract a corporation,” Chin said.

He is a Neighborhood Watch leader and sits on the South Pocket Homeowners’ Association board.

Chin said job creation would be his top goal as a council member. The city needs to do a better job of diversifying its businesses, he said, noting that a large portion of jobs are in government. “With 13 percent unemployment, and the state not getting any better anytime soon, we simply have to find ways to bring in new businesses and new jobs,” he said.

“But at the same time, we’ve also got to make sure that those local small businesses ... continue to thrive. They should hopefully also be a driver of the engine of new jobs.”

Funding for youth is also on Chin’s agenda. Schools are experiencing tough budget problems, he said. The city should examine ways it can assist young people’s college preparation. Vocational training for young people is also important, he said.

Public safety is another area on which Chin said he'd focus. He said neighborhood participation is linked to “long-term solutions” for public safety. Partnerships between neighborhoods and the Sacramento Police Department are key, he said.

“There will always be more neighbors than there will be police officers, to be honest with you,” he said.

New campaign fund-raising statements were released Thursday.

Waters has nearly raised $200,000 over the course of his campaign — $199,893 to be exact.

Chin has raised $122,010, while Fong has garnered $101, 357. The city’s website does not show any contributions for Hobart.

Read about other City Council candidates below:

District 1:
Information about Angelique Ashby’s campaign can be read here.
Read about Efren Guttierrez’s campaign here.

District 3:
Shawn Eldredge’s goals are explained here.
Chris Little’s plans are outlined here.
Jeff Rainforth is profiled here.

District 5:
Read about Henry Harry’s campaign here.
Leticia Hilbert is profiled here.
A story on Terrence Johnson’s campaign can be read here.
Learn about Patrick Kennedy’s plans here.
Jay Schenirer’s goals are explored here.

District 7:
Read a story on Darrell Fong’s campaign here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.