My Vision

my vision for A sunnier, safer santa monica

Our city needs to be safe and clean to feel safe and clean. With a reduction in city staff and current vacancies in the Santa Monica Police Department, we need to turn this around by ensuring that adequate funding is available from the general fund, tax measures and/or other state and federal sources.

1.) Recruitment of more officers so that we have a full

department of 221 sworn officers.

2.) Broad community support for our police in order to increase

morale which will ultimately assist with recruiting.

3.) Cutting edge technologies like cameras and drones which will

help the police in situations when it's crowded and/or hard to

see.

Our regional neighbors face many of the same issues. I want to further explore trying new and proven approaches to public safety that have been successful in other communities, while adhering to our values as Santa Monicans. One preventative measure is to put out messaging that it is NOT okay to come to Santa Monica to commit crimes.

The instability and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, emergency orders, and other factors have contributed to an increase in our unhoused population. We need to be open to new and innovative, yet proven ideas to reduce homelessness for the well-being of all community members.

A compassionate, collaborative, and consistent 360-degree approach with short, medium, and long-term solutions is how to ensure the unhoused will get housed, supported, and back in the workforce when possible. This approach could include increasing the number of mental health and substance abuse street teams, as well as their hours on duty (24 hours per day for as long as needed). Getting to know and garnering the trust of the unhoused is the first step to getting them housed.

While Santa Monica currently has a well-run infrastructure to address homelessness, there is always more to be done. I will work to increase the capacity at sites like Samo Shell by advocating for funding to turn this 'temporary' facility into a permanent structure that serves as transitional and supportive housing with mental health and substance abuse services.

We are part of a large county with communities that could offer more assistance in providing solutions to do their fair share. It's imperative that we continue to coordinate efforts with our regional neighbors, the State of California and the federal government. As a council member I will work with these partners towards a regional solution.

To fully recover from the Covid years, we need to get to safe and clean so we can rejuvenate our strong local economy. Here are just a few ways we can do that:
- Revive the 3rd Street Promenade and other commercial corridors so that they can sustain a more diverse mix of neighborhood serving retail and services businesses.
- Welcome our tourists back while diversifying our local economy so that we have several strong industries to rely on for fiscal protection from external forces like pandemics, natural disasters, and unforeseen events.

To maintain the right mix of neighborhood-serving retail that can be accessed by most Santa Monicans without the use of a car, we can:
- Take a more proactive approach with the state mandate for new housing to “curate” the types of businesses added to these projects and neighborhoods. We need the right mix to better serve our residents in a more sustainable way.
- Support inclusivity and equity with more Women-owned, POC-owned, and LGBTQ+ -owned businesses. Providing all members of the community with an equal chance at success ultimately creates more opportunities for everyone.

To spur economic development, we need to first address our reputation as being a “difficult place to start a business.” As a tech center, cultural innovator, and creative powerhouse for the rest of the country, we value small businesses and entrepreneurial spirit.
- Make sure our values are not at odds with our internal practices and procedures by adopting a 'getting to yes' culture to simplify and accelerate the process for opening a business.
- Assist struggling retail with the external challenges like rising rents and costs of doing business. We can review possible tax incentives to foster an environment that allows small business owners to focus on long term success and not just month-to-month survival.