Housing at all income levels is a priority for me.

On Council, I've increased affordable rental housing by 1,000% (1000 units to 10,000 units), affordable developments to be a part of new developments, and ensured a down-payment assistance program. I want to continue this work for all Californians. 

I’m going to protect our housing market (single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and rentals) from predatory practices of institutional investors - and protect the true mom & pop landlords.

The laws haven’t caught up with the current practices. Firms like Zillow purchase “affordable” homes before a regular person can even make a bid or see it online. We have a problem when firms benefit from the foreclosure market, or when monopolies in some cities raise rents.

I will ensure that all developments create affordable housing at mixed-income levels.

Developers and cities have been playing a game of hot potato when it comes to who is responsible for creating affordable housing; cities state the developer is responsible for pricing homes, and developers state that they adhere to city requirements. In fact, it is inherently in the best interest of cities to have higher-cost homes as the increased property taxes are revenue for the city. While developers often pay in-lieu fees rather than create affordable housing as it’s quicker and cheaper to do so, people are being priced out.

I’ll prioritize policies that support our first–time home buyers, buyers that plan to make the home a primary residence, and incentivize opportunities for home-ownership for people that earn a decent income but still are unable to compete in the housing market.

This will ensure that speculative investors are unable to out-compete regular people. It will allow families to actually be able to purchase their first home and be given priority preference. We need to prioritize our residents above all else. 

I will ensure people’s transition into safe housing is permanent with services that support their ability to stand on their own two feet permanently.

Non-profits need to be held to a standard of impact, permanent impact, not just people served. The support individuals receive needs to be measured from entry of a program to 1-year post-exit of a program to see the benefits. Accountability is missing in service providers and that should be a priority. 

 

I’m committed to investing in a robust infrastructure that will not only create jobs but will reduce carbon emissions in line with the timelines projected by scientists.

We need to reduce carbon emissions and pursue net-zero emissions (carbon neutrality) by 2027 (not 2045). We need to reduce wildfires and protect against drought. Green infrastructure will allow us to do just this.

I’ll hold bad actors responsible and protect the people, animals, and land impacted.

Fires, habitat destruction and more have been taken place with soft slaps on the wrist. It is the responsibility of our policymakers to ensure that people and the environment is protected from bad actors regardless of who they are. 

I will prioritize our local response and ensure that efficient processes are in place to maximize the safety of our communities. 

I'll ensure that our water, electricity, and whole way of life are protected against environmental catastrophes by creating regional models of response. This includes grounding wires, solar on all government buildings and more, and power grids that are available to all local residents when outages take place based on this local parallel model. 

California needs environmental assessments, response mapping, and redundancy built into the local regions. 

 

I’ll prioritize funding our public education. I’ll fight to reduce class sizes and give every kid the attention they deserve. I will ensure that teachers have the resources they need to educate the future of California. For folks that have a growing family, want to improve their quality of life, or change careers; options need to be available that meet their needs. We need accelerated programs, classes available in the evenings and weekends and online that allow for people to gain new skills to grow in their field or explore other opportunities. I’m committed to making sure we are connecting businesses and schools and teaching the skills needed for tomorrow. Local students should be able to go through a program for California’s most in-demand jobs. There should be no need for outsourcing if local talent can move through training quickly and get paid to do it.