Experience Count

By Alexandre "Alex" Monteiro

As a City Council member, I will apply my experience and bring new energy to the challenges we must face together -- to improving our quality of life, keeping our local schools among the best in the state, preserving the unique character of our local neighborhoods, enhancing our parks, and increase opportunities for new business development that will create new jobs for our residents.

• Fiscal Responsibility
• Public Safety
• Improved Education
• Development
• Youth Support
• Public Transportation
• Environmental Services
• Communication
• Commitment to Community

Hawthorne has a long legacy of social awareness and I think it is vital to involve our business and professional community in our children's education. While decisions that directly affect Hawthorne schools are made by the 3 different School Boards, as a city councilmember, I will work hard to create community mentors and more after school programs that will complement our public schools, make our youth more motivated and productive students and create a visual and exciting pipeline to enter higher education and professional life.

With hard work, you and I can make Hawthorne the best possible place to raise children. I believe that we can keep Hawthorne competitive in the 21st Century by creating jobs and job makers. Development: Downtown Square; the Old Mall; Old Police Station, and RFK Noted Sociologist Herbert Spencer wrote, "Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity -- it is a part of nature." I believe that progress should be planned to meet our needs. With my fellow Council Members, I share a sincere desire to balance individual property rights with the development goals of the community as a whole, seeking a balance between retail, office and residential projects. Second, we must focus on redevelopment to bring new businesses to the city and provide more local jobs. We should build on what works and focus on more business development that generates revenue to help fund the revitalization of the Hawthorne business community. Youth Support: I have always supported youth organizations such as The Hawthorne Youth Commission, One Stop Youth Summer Program, The Teen Center, Boys and Girls Club, LEOs Club, Youth Scholarship Programs, AYSO, and YMCA to name just a few, and this will never change. Public Transportation: It is my goal to make Hawthorne take a holistic approach to fixing arguably the most prominent issue affecting our daily lives. We are in need of an updated transportation system that is comprehensive and created by experts in coordination with planning, housing, environment and local business.

Practical and doable programs such as flex-bike programs and expansions of bike lanes must be implemented. We must make buses more accessible by growing the MTA and the DASH program to take riders short distances more easily. Environmental Services: I am committed toward moving our community to a healthy, green environment while balancing our economic responsibilities. Our Hawthorne has begun this process by surveying the possibility of solar energy in public facilities. We need to conserve water, be more sensitive to our environment, and continue to work toward a "green" Hawthorne. I envision a city that is safe for our children, where schools are the centers of our neighborhoods, and where local businesses thrive. This means we need to ensure that we maintain our existing streets and sidewalks while we plan for balanced growth between our business corridors and residential zones. This means that we need to encourage all of our neighborhoods to get involved, help to clean up, green up, and beautify.

I will seek to improve our city streets by involving our community, big and small, in its maintenance and growth.

♦Implement a Council "Clean-Up Core" that will involve school children and civic groups. ♦Create more consistency among graffiti clean-up projects throughout the City. ♦Work to get more mentors in middle and high schools and match kids with apprenticeship programs to give them job training and keep them off the streets. ♦Continue coordinating with local neighborhood groups to do clean ups and plant trees. ♦Work with the City' s business team and Chamber of Commerce to cultivate and recruit new business for empty store fronts throughout the City. ♦Work with businesses to encourage and start business improvement on Inglewood and Prairie Avenues. Communication:

• I will listen to the community and take action where appropriate to ensure the community benefits from my action. Our city government must be accountable, forthcoming and present itself with honesty to the residents it serves. Commitment to Community: It is vital that Hawthorne keep its unique village atmosphere while remaining affordable to families of all income levels.
• Now, more than ever, is a critical time to change the "business as usual" mindset of the Council and vote for a candidate willing to stand up for the interests of the residents of Hawthorne , not of interest groups or developers.
• Increasing Fiscal Reserves/ Eliminating Needless and Wasteful Expenditures
• Represent Residents first,.
• Increase understanding that City Hall exists on behalf of the Residents