Candidate for
City Council Member; City of Carpinteria

Over the years I have watched our city mature and grow. I know there are things internally that we can always do to make city government more responsive to the needs of its citizens, but those are modest adjustments to the way the City does business. What I see as the major issues facing Carpinteria is the continued pressure to provide more and more housing and the increased traffic more housing will bring.

We cannot build our way out of the housing crisis. It's my opinion that Carpinteria has already shouldered enough of our fair share of housing. While I'm supportive of creative solutions to offer housing opportunities downtown, I will strongly oppose any new housing developments within our city limits that cause urban sprawl and increased traffic.

I understand addressing the regional jobs and housing issue as our greatest hope to maintaining our quality of life. As more and more people commute to work to Santa Barbara and Goleta, Carpinterians suffer from the pollution commuters make on the way to jobs in Santa Barbara and Goleta.

We disproportionately feel the effects of the poor decisions that are made in surrounding communities. I think Goleta needs to do more to house their workers and I think UCSB needs to do more to provide affordable housing for their teachers and students. We need to hold those responsible for the decisions that are eroding our quality of life.