My Commitment To You
With your vote I will:
Encourage small business to come to our city and fight to make sure it can grow and thrive here
Advocate for bike and walk improvements to busy streets
Hold quarterly public community meetings to improve the quality of communication
Bring urgency to the Council’s consideration of important climate and environmental priorities
Support attainable housing because it is the right thing to do
Ensure appropriate oversight is applied to development that impacts our beaches
Support local small businesses
Solana Beach’s largest revenue sources are property taxes and sales taxes. Local economic generators such as vacation tourism, and office and retail business, support a significant portion of the City’s commercial base. Unfortunately, City Council has made it unattractive for small businesses to come to Solana Beach, for example by placing near impossible requirements on restaurants that want to open here. Equally frustrating, Council has made it difficult for growing businesses to stay in the city. Meanwhile, some storefronts have been empty for almost a decade, empty parking lots are a visual blight, and the city has not yet made the expanded outdoor seating permits permanent. We must change these policies that stifle business and make Solana Beach a welcoming place for new small businesses and restaurants.
Improve bike/walk options
My daughter and I walk or bike to school almost every day, so we know that better streets and sidewalks are needed in our city. The city has long term plans to improve the entire Lomas Santa Fe corridor, but funding for this major infrastructure project has not been obtained. That doesn’t mean we can’t improve the situation in the short term - improvements throughout the city can be made without significant expense, including:
Adjust pedestrian walk light timing and repainting crosswalks to make them more highly visible
Lower speed limits during school hours and install flashing speed warnings
Increase bike lane widths and adding buffers to raise vehicle awareness of bike lanes
Add a crosswalk on Highway 101 between Cardiff State Beach and Harbaugh trails
Magnify your voices and strive for transparency
Our City Council needs to directly engage with the community, request feedback through alternative forums, and actively seek input. I won’t shy away from discussing issues, no matter how difficult or complex. On the contrary, it’s often the complex topics that deserve the most public engagement. I will:
Improve communication of the City Council meeting agendas to make it easier for residents to understand the topics up for discussion.
Make it easier for residents to submit comments on meeting agenda items.
Publicize meeting and workshop topics more broadly in both print and online media.
Ensure that all communications from the city are provided in both English and Spanish.
Rebuild Solana Beach’s position as THE environmental leader
In recent years, City Council has lost its appetite for taking bold action to fight climate change. As City Councilor, I would advocate for the following:
Broaden the scope of the city’s Climate Action Commission so that it can identify and work on climate threats, rather than contend with a bureaucratic process that determines discussion topics.
Recruit residents and businesses to the 100% renewable energy program at the Clean Energy Alliance.
Enforce the city’s 2019 plastics restrictions (they have languished during the pandemic) and consider additional restrictions on single-use plastics that are still allowed in the city.
Champion reasonable housing policies
One of the worst kept secrets in our city is that there’s a housing crisis. By providing attainable housing opportunities we can ensure that our city provides a home for families and seniors, while building a vibrant and diverse local community of homeowners and renters. Otherwise we will be hollowed out as a city of short-term rentals and second (or third) vacation homes. The city’s housing goals support the following:
Provide a range of housing strategies to accommodate Solana Beach’s share across all income levels.
Preserve and enhance the existing community and neighborhood quality and character.
Reduce or eliminate constraints to the development, improvement, preservation, and maintenance of housing.
These goals need to be backed up with action, and this is where the City Council has thoroughly under-performed. We don’t need to sacrifice our community’s character in the name of providing attainable housing for our friends and neighbors. The city’s existing ordinances - concerning things like height, setbacks, and views - are certainly adequate to protect our community.
Save our beaches — they are the soul of our community
Our city’s beaches are a unique and irreplaceable asset that enriches all of our lives. Unfortunately with climate change and sea level rise, we are at risk of losing our beaches in the next 20-50 years. Without our wonderful, precious coastal resources, property values will decrease and the tourist industry will collapse. The current City Council does not have a track record to demonstrate that they value the public’s beaches, as they continue to permit construction and expansion of private seawalls. These beach-destroying structures occupy public lands and exist only for the protection of private property, as they provide no public safety benefit.
We also must complete development of the City’s Local Coastal Program. The city has been dragging its feet for almost a decade on this, and as a result the city continues to cede control to the California Coastal Commission.