For the past three years, I have navigated the well-being of our community through a pandemic, social unrest, and economic uncertainty while striving to improve city policies that govern our services. We have had many successes that strengthened our community, yet we still face increasing challenges to our environment, for affordable housing, increasing living wage jobs, and ensuring equitable access to community resources.

Collaboration is the cornerstone of my methodology. If re-elected, I pledge to collaborate with all stakeholders to find pathways for smart growth while honoring the unique qualities and needs of our diverse community. I am committed to working for all members of our community in a respectful and authentic manner. The future of my children, your children, our grandchildren, and our youth, must be considered with every policy our government makes. That is how I have embraced my first term as your city councilor and my community advocacy for over twenty years.

If reelected I will continue to prioritize my work addressing these issues as well as the following:

Address Housing Needs
I will continue to advocate for the efficient use of land by developing our mixed-use urban villages. I support Bellingham’s Comprehensive Plan, which is dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the vitality of existing neighborhoods and the natural environment.

We must expand opportunities to provide low-income and affordable workforce housing through public and private partnerships. The time is now to truly pursue inclusionary zoning that requires a percentage of affordable housing to be provided with each new development. I requested the City to pursue this policy and a study is currently being conducted.

Over the past two years, Bellingham made new partnerships for supportive tiny homes and an inclement weather shelter. We helped fund expanded services with Base Camp and The Way Station while preserving hundreds of affordable housing units. Going forward we need to continue our work on creating safe parking for our houseless community and create more entry-level housing ownership opportunities for our workforce.

Jobs and Education
Our city should prioritize increasing opportunities for paid educational opportunities that train people for living wage jobs—one of the keys to closing the housing affordability gap. We must build the infrastructure that will support future job growth for a thriving workforce.

Affordable fiber, multimodal transportation, and housing are the foundation for our future workforce as we transition from the fossil fuel industry to green jobs. I will. collaborate with our partners to actively attract new employers to our community, support the businesses we already have, and work with our education institutions to educate our workforce to be competitive and innovative.

The city must partner with the Port and County to encourage the creation of sustainable green energy jobs—a just transition—to lessen our climate impact and make us more resilient in the future. I proposed including a just transition policy in our climate plan and will continue working with union leaders to frame how we will support a transition to ensure we maintain and create living wage jobs for our skilled workers.

Safe Community
Collaboration between the city, county government, and state is essential to increase funding for social service programs that enhance our community’s safety net. We must advocate to ensure Olympia equitably assists all communities to address a growing addiction and mental health crisis. Our police and fire services must be funded at levels required to address the needs of our population growth and service call volume.

Our first responders depend on our support to address the growing population and public health crisis due to mental health challenges and drug addiction. I will continue to support expanding our alternative response teams to address the most vulnerable in crisis that needs an immediate unarmed response due to unmet basic needs. Additionally, a safe rail system throughout our city must be a priority. Recent derailments only heighten the urgency to ensure rail safety is met. I will continue to support funding for safe train crossings and quiet zones.

Reduce Incarceration
I support alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders. Our jail should not be used as a replacement for mental health or substance abuse treatment. As we consider a new jail, I will advocate for the inclusion of support services to assist individuals upon entry and exit to address their underlying issues so they can integrate back into our community better equipped to not re-offend.

Protect Immigrant Rights
I will uphold the City’s strong position on protecting immigrants regardless of documentation status. Immigrants have had and will continue to have an important impact on the vitality of our community. Our city must continue to actively seek out partnerships from members of our community who feel they are not heard. We must listen to their voices and take the needed steps to ensure they feel heard, respected, acknowledged, and embraced as part of a shared community. As climate change, economic needs, and war increase migration, we must be prepared to assist new members of our community with services and support.

Protect Women’s Health Rights
If our Supreme Court will not uphold a woman’s right to choose her reproductive health care, we at the state and local level must ensure and protect that right. It is not only the right to choose, but a woman’s reproductive rights that include prenatal services, safe childbirth, and access to contraception that is at risk. I am committed to protecting a woman’s rights to reproductive healthcare.

Protect Our Water
I will continue to support the important efforts already in place to reduce Lake Whatcom’s vulnerability to threats from stormwater runoff, pesticides and chemical pollutants, aquatic invasive species, and climate change. I am committed to expanding these efforts to improve the health and vitality of all of the waterways that flow to the Salish Sea. I am committed to developing a long-term restoration plan for Whatcom Creek west of I-5. No waterway should be unhealthy that flows to the Salish Sea.