MY VALUES & PRIORITIES
I am proud to be involved with public service. I want to work for you. I believe our city council should reflect and uphold a bold vision - which is a truly innovative city that is well planned, innovative, sustainable, and supports a high quality of life for EVERYONE - not just a small few. Irvine must lead on social justice, environmental protection, Housing opportunities, economic opportunity, public safety, providing economic opportunities and support for working families, and respect for diversity and inclusion. Our leaders must reflect and uphold the values of our community and our residents deserve a representative with an eye on the future - and I believe that I am that person.
LIST OF ISSUES
Environmental Sustainability
Climate change is real and the biggest existential threat facing humanity. We must ensure that the City of Irvine is a leader in the area of environmental sustainability and stewardship. We have the opportunity to be the global leaders of being a truly Green City and I support aggressive action to make our municipal facilities models for innovation and energy efficiency. We need to protect our open spaces, and we need to take bold steps in making Irvine 100% energy independent. Implementation of the Climate Action Plan to build a greener, more sustainable future.
Traffic
Traffic is a daily reminder that our quality of life is at risk. As a working mom, I understand first hand the frustration our residents face when it comes to traffic. Growth has allowed to go unchecked, while residents have had to pay the price through traffic and over-crowded schools. School zoning and over-crowding has been a contributing factor - oftentimes, students are forced to attend schools outside of reasonable walking or biking distance, even when there is a school nearby. We need to increase public transportation routes - including iShuttle and transit to and from business hubs. We must look at ways to improve our roads and intersections, including our medians and take the necessary steps to implement city wide signal synchronization. We need to increase the number of bridges and connection points for pedestrians, especially on some of our busiest intersections.
Housing Accessibility
Over the past 15 years, the population has grown at a rate of 93%, and now renters have become the majority of our population. We need to create housing opportunities for every income level. We need to also create workforce housing programs for mid-salary professionals such as teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and social workers, who add to our community, but are priced out of the existing housing market.
Transparency & Accountability
We need to hold our elected leaders and city officials accountable for providing an open and transparent process. Currently, we, as residents, have no way to understand what progress is being made towards any given project. When elected, I will ensure our residents know what is being discussed, what is on the agenda, and provide opportunities for input. I will work towards compiling all the various data out there into a centralized digestible dashboards and scorecards so the city can display on its website digestible results of where we are on any given project. We must insure municipal culture built around integrity, social justice, equity through language access.
Economic Recovery
COVID 19 has pushed every bureaucratic and government system to the brink and exposed every crack and inefficiency. The incoming City Councilmembers will need to be bold and visionary in how we re-imagine our economy to support small business owners, responsible developers/housing proposals and our local communities. We will have to address the budget through a combination of efficiencies and cuts along with leveraging our reserves as necessary. We must ensure that we take a look at our community development and investment programs.