ISSUES

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS

District Two is home to hundreds of local businesses and shops. They are the backbone of our economy, providing not only needed goods and services, but also supporting our community through employing local residents, paying local taxes and making local donations to charitable, youth and civic organizations. City government should actively support local businesses – and so should we!

BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY

City Hall spends over a billion dollars a year – yet doesn't have effective performance measures to track whether the money is truly benefiting the community. It's time to reform the budget process for real transparency and accountability – so citizens know where their tax dollars are going – and what results they are getting for their money.

COMMUNITY SAFETY

Effective enforcement of our laws is vital to protecting our families and neighborhoods. We need smarter approaches to prevent and deter crime and reckless driving. There is much more we can do to promote a safe community, including improved education, better access to jobs and job training and cost-effective 24/7 alternatives for calls that don't require an armed response.

HOUSING SECURITY FOR ALL

Having a safe and affordable place to call home is the bedrock of the American Dream. Yet for thousands of Pasadena residents who spend more than half their income to keep a roof over their head, a missed paycheck or unexpected major expense looms as a constant threat. Because the City Council refused to enact even modest tenant protections, I supported Measure H (The Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment) that passed both citywide and in District 2 by 54% last November. I also have long championed home ownership opportunities for first-time buyers to bolster stability for young families and our public schools.

END "PAY TO PLAY" CORRUPTION

Ignoring community concerns, the Pasadena City Council voted down limits on campaign contributions in 2021. I will represent the people in our neighborhoods, not the wealthy or special interests. So my campaign will not accept any donations over $500 or any donations from corporations, unions or individuals who do business with the City. I will push for sensible campaign contributions limits to ensure a level playing field for all.

REMOVE AND RECLAIM THE 710 STUB

Caltrans deliberately dug a huge hole and filled it with concrete to push traffic into residential neighborhoods in a failed attempt to force South Pasadena to surrender to the bulldozers. Now that the City of Pasadena has title to the property, we can eliminate this scar on the landscape and build parks, affordable housing and community assets to reknit the southern part of our city.

Read more: "An Historic Opportunity to Reunify the Heart of Pasadena"” It’s time Pasadena returned to citizen planning to ensure a brighter future for the generations to come.

CONNECT OLD PASADENA TO PCC WITH A STREETCAR

There is Federal funding to route a street car loop on Union and Green that would connect our historic core with the Playhouse District, South Lake and a campus with 30,000 students. It would link our greatest assets (Caltech would also be in walking distance) to the regional light rail stop at Memorial Park and make navigating between them easy and non-polluting, reducing traffic.

TRANSFORM THE CENTRAL LIBRARY INTO A 24/7 LEARNING CENTER

Life-long learning doesn’t just take place in formal schools — libraries have always been a place providing access to people of all ages and incomes to access learning. Books are just one form — but classes, maker spaces, speakers, conferences and activities could enliven the classic building which needs over $100 million in seismic upgrades which shouldn’t just be spent to put back books.

CREATE AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AUTHORITY

The City, School District and PCC should partner to use all available public land for creating workforce, student and affordable housing. With State mandates to build 6000 units of affordable housing in Pasadena over the next eight years, the public sector should take the lead to ensure maximum benefits to our local residents.

STOP UGLY APARTMENTS WITH A NEW DESIGN CODE

Pasadena relies on a Design Commission to guide development of higher density apartments and condos — and the results are less than wonderful. The State now insists on “objective standards” — but Pasadena doesn’t have them for its high density development. Let’s make sure new development to provide needed housing is also compatible with our community’s high standards for design. The issue is not just how they look, but more importantly, how they function to compliment the neighborhoods around them.

END HOMELESSNESS IN PASADENA

Community Solutions, a nationwide program based on extensive research, advocates for a “by name” registry of those accessing public and non-profit services so unhoused individuals and families aren’t bounced around uncoordinated programs and agencies. Sharing data can ensure the homeless get the help — and housing — they need, quickly and humanely.

CONVERT TO CARBON-FREE ENERGY

Pasadena 100 pushed our public utility to walk the walk of its environmentally-friendly talk by eliminating coal and natural gas from electric generation by 2030. With strong Federal support for renewable energy, it’s clearly doable — yet it took a well-organized community campaign to persuade the Council to recognize the climate emergency and commit to going carbon free. Now the challenge is to ensure the utility achieves the goal.

ESTABLISH CAR-FREE ZONES

The pandemic has transformed many streets around the world into pedestrian zones that now are full of life and people. Businesses and residents love it! Let’s start with weekends and shut down Colorado between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Avenue. Or South Lake between Del Mar and California? Or the Colorado Street Bridge. Nearly everyplace it’s been tried, including here in Southern California, it is quickly so popular it goes year-round.

Read more about car-free zones

MAKE PASADENA BIKE-FRIENDLY

Countries like Holland and cities from Davis to Paris used to be unsafe and unattractive to bicyclists. Skeptics doubted that people would bike — but when protected bike lanes connect where people want to go, the shift happened more quickly than anyone imagined. Biking is cheaper and healthier for individuals and the planet. Why does Pasadena lag cities in the region like Long Beach and Santa Monica?

ENSURE FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY

Like many local governments, Pasadena faces a challenging financial future, including paying off the massive Rose Bowl bond and restoring the Central Library. We need government services that work better and cost less. Prudent investment in our city’s future and watching costs is key to overcoming the four threats of cratering revenue in the next recession, pension debt, neglected infrastructure and changing community needs.

Read more: "The Four Horsemen of the 'Fiscal' Apocalypse"

PLAN FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Pasadena is a great city today because previous generations planned ahead. But today, too often, we react to developer plans instead of holding them to standards established through our own plans and codes. The cornerstone of Pasadena’s General Plan is “community participation will be a permanent part of creating a better city.” It’s time Pasadena returned to citizen planning to ensure a brighter future for the generations to come.

RESTORE THE LOWER ARROYO

The beautiful valley running through our city is one of our greatest assets. Back in the Thirties, our default for handling periodic flooding was with engineering. We now know how to divert storm water to percolate back into the ground instead of flushing it out to sea. Removing the ugly concrete channel would create a completely different feel to the lower Arroyo, Pasadena’s pre-eminent natural recreational gem.

Read more: "The Lower Arroyo is the Place to Start to Restore Our Natural Environment"