Candidate for
Council Member; City of Emeryville

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The cost of housing in Emeryville, like most of the state, is unaffordable for the average working household. Home ownership in California is at an all-time low and families are spending on average over 50% of their earned income each month on rent.

With the loss of Redevelopment Agencies, cities like Emeryville lost an important financial tool that helped cultivate small business growth and affordable homes for families of lower and moderate incomes. Development is necessary to our community for a number of reasons. The primary reason is the revenue it generates to provide the services our community needs. Local and regional leaders consider Emeryville to be a leader, coming much closer to the goals for affordable housing development set for us by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) than most of our neighbors. I would like to see Emeryville be the regional leader, exceeding the expectation and preparing for our future by ensuring that we have an ample stock of affordable housing for our future needs.

Ensuring that new development in Emeryville is built so that a portion of newly constructed units are available at below market rate is a major priority for me. I believe that we can incentivize developers to produce mixed-income development. In my work as a housing attorney, I personally witnessed the positive impacts mixed-income housing had on job growth, economic stability and community development. There are state and federal funding tools available to developers to help make these types of projects possible through a public-private partnership. I am committed to seeing that this type of development becomes a priority for Emeryville.

Affordable homes make it easier for people who have hourly or minimum wage jobs to live closer to where they work. This can reduce the number of people in-commuting to our city each day, which currently causes traffic congestion and pollutes our air. Mixed-income residential developments integrate all segments of our community, making it a safer and more just place to live. Affordable homes that utilize environmentally-friendly materials and contain energy-efficient features promote good health and make our growth not only sustainable, but smart.

If elected to City Council, I will work use my expertise as a statewide policy director for affordable home development and seven years of work as a housing attorney to help us adopt best practices that ensure affordable homes are part of our community's future growth and development.

PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY SAFETY

Prior to my work as a legal aid attorney and public policy advocate, I worked as a disaster relief coordinator and community educator for the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. I am proud to be endorsed for Emeryville City Council by the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 55.

I deployed regularly to natural disasters, where I led teams of 50-200 people into affected communities, providing emergency assistance to displaced families. When hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit Louisiana in 2005, I volunteered to take a leave of absence from my legal studies to redeploy, leading a relief effort in Grand Isle, Louisiana for six weeks. When I wasn't on disaster assignment, I taught Basic Aid and Disaster Preparedness to local elementary school children in the Greater Los Angeles area, as well as CPR and First Aid to adults, businesses and civic groups. I served as a Disaster Action Team (DAT) responder, responding to home and multifamily structure fires with local fire departments, providing assistance to displaced families in my community.

Having worked alongside the men and women who provide our public safety, I know the importance of the services they provide and the inherent dangers they face in their daily life.

As an attorney, I partnered with local fire and police personnel in litigation to ensure that landlords kept buildings up to code, made structures safe for seniors and people living disabilities, and that buildings were safe from gang activity.

If elected to City Council, I will use my extensive experience partnering with public safety personnel to ensure we do right by them. Emeryville will continue to have first class public safety because I will invest in the people who keep our community safe.

REGIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

As the cost of living has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, the wage of the average worker has failed to keep up. Families no longer earn enough to cover the combined cost of rent, transportation, food, medical needs and child care. Families that earn less are less stably housed, have higher health costs and are at greater risk for homelessness than families who earn more.

Increasing the minimum wage will make our city a more desirable place for people to work and live, while improving stability for families whose source of income comes from these jobs. In the end, the stability this brings to Emeryville families strengthens all of us and makes our community safer.

If elected to City Council, I would work to have the city partner with the neighboring communities in Alameda County to ensure that we put a measure before the voters to increase our minimum wage to reflect the needs of working families.

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

Prior to calling Emeryville my home, I was a homeowner and resident of the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago for many years. Located in Chicago's 49th Ward, Rogers Park is among the most ethnically and economically diverse communities in the country. While I was a resident of Rogers Park, we became the first community in the nation to embrace the process of participatory budgeting for all of our local infrastructure projects.

The model has been so well-received that other parts of Chicago, New York City and even our not-too-distant neighbors in Vallejo are now exploring the process.

Participatory budgeting involves ceding decision-making authority for local infrastructure projects to the local community. Under the guidance of a Steering Committee, neighborhood associations or assemblies meet to discuss their needs and the needs of the community on the whole. Proposals are developed and presented to residents, by residents, who gather at a science fair-like event where votes are cast. All residents, regardless of voter registration status, participate in the budgetary process.

Through our process, we allocated local infrastructure funds to the repaving of streets, the creation of murals and artwork for our railroad underpasses, the addition of bike lanes to our streets and the "greening" of neighborhoods with new trees and landscaping. In 2010, I was part of a neighborhood assembly that developed a plan for the creation of a dog-friendly area at the local community park a block from my home. The plan was among those approved by local residents in that year's budgetary process.

Empowering residents to make choices that best meet their needs is how we improve community, attract families and grow sustainably. As Council Member, I would advocate for exploring and implementing participatory budgeting in Emeryville. Doing so helps generate interest in local issues, increases transparency and generates better consensus from our community for the decisions we make. If elected to serve on your Council, I work to make City Hall a place where residents could turn for leadership on this issue.

EMERY-GO-ROUND

Emery-Go-Round is a wonderful public transit alternative available through a partnership with our local business community, as part of the Emeryville Transportation Management Association. The service provided by Emery-Go-Round is a boon to local employees, consumers, residents and visitors alike.

Increasing ridership will further reduce congestion, noise and pollution. Exploring alternative routes, service schedules and funding sources to enhance the service Emery-Go-Round provides is an issue I would prioritize, if elected. Additionally, future development opportunities within the city should be evaluated for their ability to integrate with Emery-Go-Round.

Making services accessible to West Oakland BART, and identifying other options for helping residents access public transit hubs such as BART and Amtrak are important to sustainably growing our community.

DOG-FRIENDLY AREAS

As an animal lover and the owner of an 11-year old rescued shepherd-mix named King, I know what families with four-legged furry friends need... a place of their own to play!

In my former home in Illinois, my neighbors, other homeowners and I worked to put forth a proposal for the creation of a dog-friendly area in a unused portion of a community park. We developed a plan, obtained bids and secured community support. The proposal for repurposing that portion of the park was approved by voters and became a reality a year later. I want to bring that experience to the dog lovers and owners of Emeryville. With the last space in our city being proposed for development, we have to be sure that we save space for recreation!

Dog-friendly areas have positive affects on public safety. Studies have shown that they help reduce crime, bring residents closer together and foster a greater sense of friendship and community for families.

Emeryville is home to many pet lovers and dog owners. Dedicating space within the city for pet recreation is an important part of making our community more livable for many people. I am committed to bringing my experience in helping generate dog-friendly areas to Emeryville and ensuring that dogs and dog owners have their own safe space to play.