Critical Mass on Critical Issues
As we continue to speak with our District 6 neighbors in Clairemont, Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Sorrento Valley, Miramar and Rancho Peñasquitos, we're building a community of neighbors and ongoing conversations. As we work toward solutions to some of our most critical issues, I will keep an open ear about what matters to you and your neighborhood.
Our Homeless Crisis
Our city's homeless crisis is unacceptable. It won't get better by ignoring it, hoping it goes away, or maintaining a status quo that led to an outbreak of a medieval disease on the streets of our city because we couldn't be bothered to add a handful of public bathrooms.
Likewise, the city's tepid response and baby step measures in addressing homelessness will not get us closer to solving it in any meaningful way. Punting the problem back to the county is not the responsible move. I will lead on finding long-term, effective and compassionate solutions to our homeless crisis.
Our city's homeless crisis is unacceptable. It won't get better by ignoring it, hoping it goes away, or maintaining a status quo that led to an outbreak of a medieval disease on the streets of our city because we couldn't be bothered to add a handful of public bathrooms.
Likewise, the city's tepid response and baby step measures in addressing homelessness will not get us closer to solving it in any meaningful way. Punting the problem back to the county is not the responsible move. I will lead on finding long-term, effective and compassionate solutions to our homeless crisis.
Rebuilding Streets and Fixing Roads
We have some of the city's worst roads in District 6, and they're only getting worse. Councilmember Cate claims to have paved 120 miles of road in the district, but that's a pittance of our overall inventory of roads in the district. Slurry-sealing over a low-traffic street or cul-de-sac doesn't do anything to relieve the wear and tear put on San Diegans' cars by crumbling arterial routes used by thousands of vehicles every day.
I will focus our efforts on rebuilding streets like Parkdale and Gold Coast from the ground up, because filling potholes again and again and laying asphalt on the same crumbling roads and hoping for a different result isn't just wasteful, it's madness.
We have some of the city's worst roads in District 6, and they're only getting worse. Councilmember Cate claims to have paved 120 miles of road in the district, but that's a pittance of our overall inventory of roads in the district. Slurry-sealing over a low-traffic street or cul-de-sac doesn't do anything to relieve the wear and tear put on San Diegans' cars by crumbling arterial routes used by thousands of vehicles every day.
I will focus our efforts on rebuilding streets like Parkdale and Gold Coast from the ground up, because filling potholes again and again and laying asphalt on the same crumbling roads and hoping for a different result isn't just wasteful, it's madness.
Short-Term Vacation Rentals
I'm the candidate who fights for middle class homeowners. Neighborhoods are not commercial enterprise zones, and our zoning laws didn't fall out of the clear blue sky. Short-term vacation rentals, or STVRs, have become one of the prime culprits in denuding our city's housing stock, and a contributor to rising rents and astronomical home prices.
STVRs are now being exploited by large investors and private companies that purchase dozens of homes and rent them out as mini-hotels. I don't want corporations farming out homes in Clairemont, Mira Mesa or Rancho Peñasquitos two or three nights at a time, undoing the fabric and reasonable expectation of stability in our communities.
I'm the candidate who fights for middle class homeowners. Neighborhoods are not commercial enterprise zones, and our zoning laws didn't fall out of the clear blue sky. Short-term vacation rentals, or STVRs, have become one of the prime culprits in denuding our city's housing stock, and a contributor to rising rents and astronomical home prices.
STVRs are now being exploited by large investors and private companies that purchase dozens of homes and rent them out as mini-hotels. I don't want corporations farming out homes in Clairemont, Mira Mesa or Rancho Peñasquitos two or three nights at a time, undoing the fabric and reasonable expectation of stability in our communities.
Our Housing Crisis
The median price for a home in the city of San Diego remains beyond the reach of too many residents, and with tens of thousands of new residents expected to arrive over the next 20 years, housing is desperately needed at a variety of levels, locales and expectations.
I will ensure the city enacts a "no displacement" rule so we never forcibly send residents into the street again, maintain and expand the number of affordable housing units in the city, explore rent control, encourage smart density in tandem with effective transit, and turn the tables on developers to ensure we as a city dictate what we need, instead of letting developers dictate what they want.
The median price for a home in the city of San Diego remains beyond the reach of too many residents, and with tens of thousands of new residents expected to arrive over the next 20 years, housing is desperately needed at a variety of levels, locales and expectations.
I will ensure the city enacts a "no displacement" rule so we never forcibly send residents into the street again, maintain and expand the number of affordable housing units in the city, explore rent control, encourage smart density in tandem with effective transit, and turn the tables on developers to ensure we as a city dictate what we need, instead of letting developers dictate what they want.
Energy Choice and Zero Waste
I will ensure the city meets its Climate Action Plan goals on-time for cleaner air, greener parks and zero waste – and that Community Choice Energy becomes a reality, enabling San Diegans to at last have control over their energy futures. If you believe in free markets and competition, then you must agree the time for monopolies is over. Consumers must have a choice in their energy provider.
I will also lean on the mayor and my council colleagues on council to ensure implementation of the Climate Action Plan, and will push for an immediate implementation of a citywide composting program so nothing is wasted from our meals and tables, and so all food scraps are utilized and appropriately composted.
I will ensure the city meets its Climate Action Plan goals on-time for cleaner air, greener parks and zero waste – and that Community Choice Energy becomes a reality, enabling San Diegans to at last have control over their energy futures. If you believe in free markets and competition, then you must agree the time for monopolies is over. Consumers must have a choice in their energy provider.
I will also lean on the mayor and my council colleagues on council to ensure implementation of the Climate Action Plan, and will push for an immediate implementation of a citywide composting program so nothing is wasted from our meals and tables, and so all food scraps are utilized and appropriately composted.
Closing Our Fire Station Gap
This October marks 15 years since the Cedar Fire jumped across I-15 at Miramar, yet the city of San Diego remains deficient in the number of fire stations in comparison to cities of similar size, or even smaller.
The city of San Diego is the biggest city in the most fire-prone county in the state, yet as a community we are overdue on meeting our basic fire response and public safety needs, especially as our climate warms and fire season is now a 12-month matter. I will push for five more fire stations over the next 15 years. As a city, we need to be able to respond effectively on our own before asking neighboring communities or counties for help in a major conflagration – because if we're on fire, chances are the rest of the state is burning too.
This October marks 15 years since the Cedar Fire jumped across I-15 at Miramar, yet the city of San Diego remains deficient in the number of fire stations in comparison to cities of similar size, or even smaller.
The city of San Diego is the biggest city in the most fire-prone county in the state, yet as a community we are overdue on meeting our basic fire response and public safety needs, especially as our climate warms and fire season is now a 12-month matter. I will push for five more fire stations over the next 15 years. As a city, we need to be able to respond effectively on our own before asking neighboring communities or counties for help in a major conflagration – because if we're on fire, chances are the rest of the state is burning too.
Protecting Women's Health
All San Diegans deserve equal pay for equal work, yet even in California women earn less than their men counterparts for doing the same job. As recently as 2016, women working minimum wage jobs in California earned an average of 73 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. This is entirely unacceptable, and I will take steps so women are paid equally as men in the city of San Diego.
And since women are paid less than men, women's access to affordable health care with reproductive health options like Planned Parenthood becomes absolutely critical. I stand with, and fully support women's health and the ongoing mission of Planned Parenthood, and I will fight to keep women's health clinics open, safe and available for all. Women must never be made to feel frightened or terrorized in seeking health consultations with medical professionals about their bodies.
In addition, as a binational crossroads, San Diego must continue its efforts in conjunction with the state and federal governments, as well as the city of Tijuana and Baja California, to identify and end human trafficking – and fully prosecute those engaged in it.
All San Diegans deserve equal pay for equal work, yet even in California women earn less than their men counterparts for doing the same job. As recently as 2016, women working minimum wage jobs in California earned an average of 73 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. This is entirely unacceptable, and I will take steps so women are paid equally as men in the city of San Diego.
And since women are paid less than men, women's access to affordable health care with reproductive health options like Planned Parenthood becomes absolutely critical. I stand with, and fully support women's health and the ongoing mission of Planned Parenthood, and I will fight to keep women's health clinics open, safe and available for all. Women must never be made to feel frightened or terrorized in seeking health consultations with medical professionals about their bodies.
In addition, as a binational crossroads, San Diego must continue its efforts in conjunction with the state and federal governments, as well as the city of Tijuana and Baja California, to identify and end human trafficking – and fully prosecute those engaged in it.
Working San Diegans
California may be the seventh-largest economy in the world, but 15 percent of our state's residents are below the poverty line. In California, or anywhere else in the United States, this is unacceptable.
I will pursue efforts to ensure a livable wage for all San Diegans, stop the privatization of city services, ensure trade schools and community colleges can affordably educate San Diegans and deliver graduates into sustainable, high-paying jobs, and that small businesses like the dozens of craft beer outlets in Mira Mesa, Miramar, Clairemont and Kearny Mesa aren't subject to excessive red tape.
I will also explore the possibility of a city-owned bank or financial institution, and as a councilmember will push for universal health care, especially as we now have San Diego-based leadership and political clout within the Legislature to see it through.
California may be the seventh-largest economy in the world, but 15 percent of our state's residents are below the poverty line. In California, or anywhere else in the United States, this is unacceptable.
I will pursue efforts to ensure a livable wage for all San Diegans, stop the privatization of city services, ensure trade schools and community colleges can affordably educate San Diegans and deliver graduates into sustainable, high-paying jobs, and that small businesses like the dozens of craft beer outlets in Mira Mesa, Miramar, Clairemont and Kearny Mesa aren't subject to excessive red tape.
I will also explore the possibility of a city-owned bank or financial institution, and as a councilmember will push for universal health care, especially as we now have San Diego-based leadership and political clout within the Legislature to see it through.
Open Space and Environmental Health
As a conservationist, I will ensure our parks, canyons and open space aren't subject to death by a thousand cuts, and that Los Peñasquitos, Rose, Tecolote and other canyon systems are protected, preserved and enhanced. If we build into every canyon and wildlife corridor in the district – and far too many in the city have already been impacted by overwrought development – we will put more wild animals into our yards, onto our roads and freeways, and further erode our city's outdoor spirit.
In addition, we have an inordinate amount of traffic congestion that affects neighborhoods and quality of life in D-6, so I will make combating traffic congestion a priority, and see to it that more (and more affordable) express bus and related transit services are made available to D-6 job centers like Sorrento Valley and Kearny Mesa, while pushing for a trolley route along Miramar Rd. between UTC and I-15.
I will also explore options to meaningfully collect stormwater runoff and storm-fueled litter before it enters into watersheds that ultimately enter the sea, support a styrofoam container ban, support an ordinance to allow restaurants and food businesses to compost their food waste while the city moves to do the same for residents, work to end ongoing air pollution as the result of idling cruise ships, and support efforts to "re-wild" Mission Bay provided wildlife are not harmed or killed in the process.
In addition to these bedrock values and concerns, I pledge to:
As a conservationist, I will ensure our parks, canyons and open space aren't subject to death by a thousand cuts, and that Los Peñasquitos, Rose, Tecolote and other canyon systems are protected, preserved and enhanced. If we build into every canyon and wildlife corridor in the district – and far too many in the city have already been impacted by overwrought development – we will put more wild animals into our yards, onto our roads and freeways, and further erode our city's outdoor spirit.
In addition, we have an inordinate amount of traffic congestion that affects neighborhoods and quality of life in D-6, so I will make combating traffic congestion a priority, and see to it that more (and more affordable) express bus and related transit services are made available to D-6 job centers like Sorrento Valley and Kearny Mesa, while pushing for a trolley route along Miramar Rd. between UTC and I-15.
I will also explore options to meaningfully collect stormwater runoff and storm-fueled litter before it enters into watersheds that ultimately enter the sea, support a styrofoam container ban, support an ordinance to allow restaurants and food businesses to compost their food waste while the city moves to do the same for residents, work to end ongoing air pollution as the result of idling cruise ships, and support efforts to "re-wild" Mission Bay provided wildlife are not harmed or killed in the process.
In addition to these bedrock values and concerns, I pledge to:
- Advocate for an aggressive litter pickup effort in all of our communities – especially the city of San Diego. As a basic level of civic pride, litter and trash have no place along our streets and freeways or in our parks.
- Advocate for solar panels to go on every roof in the city, and for solar panels to become a basic requirement in California building codes.
- Work with members of the Legislature to ensure we get the loophole closed in Sacramento that enables developers to put radical development schemes on the ballot as land use measures in order for developers to dodge California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) adherence.
- Advocate for smart growth – not reckless growth.
- Advocate for employers to allow employees to work from home two or three days out of the week, in order cut back on automobile use and greenhouse gas emissions.
San Diego will lead the way on all of these issues, but to get there – I need your help. I need your support. I can't do this without you.
While the maximum amount an individual can give in a San Diego City Council race is $550, please consider a contribution of $50, $100 or $250 today, and be a part of the change coming in 2018.
I ask for your help, your support, and your vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
While the maximum amount an individual can give in a San Diego City Council race is $550, please consider a contribution of $50, $100 or $250 today, and be a part of the change coming in 2018.
I ask for your help, your support, and your vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
