Issues & Priorities

Serving Our Neighborhoods

I believe that the primary function of city government is to create quality neighborhoods for families. In order to create quality neighborhoods, the city must maintain a high level of city service. That means ensuring that our streets are clean and properly maintained, libraries and community centers are open and fully staffed, parks are kept in good condition and are accessible to the public, and quality of life issues, such as graffiti and blight, are responded to efficiently. In order to achieve this, the city must work hard to create a sense of community in the neighborhoods. This can be done in any number of ways. Thankfully, we have some great neighborhood associations and groups throughout the community.

I look forward to doing as a Councilmember what I have done as a private citizen. Over the years, I have spent countless hours in the community. Some of my experience in working with the community includes:

• Board member for 2 years on the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association (STFNA)

• Spearheaded the formation of a neighborhood association in my neighborhood, the Hayes Neighborhood Association

• Regular attendance at Edenvale/Great Oaks Neighborhood SNI meetings and helped to organize their 2007 National Night Out event

• Regular attendance at Silver Leaf Neighborhood Association (SLNA) meetings and helped in volunteering and providing feedback for the formation of the Silver Leaf Coalition (SNI)

• Regular volunteer at the Southside Senior Center

• Presented details on the Coyote Valley Draft Environmental Impact Report to SLNA, STFNA, Friends of Santa Teresa Park and others

• Participated in numerous neighborhood clean-ups and recycling events

• 30-year Edenvale resident and homeowner

Public Safety

Without safety in our neighborhoods, then all of our other quality of life priorities are deemed irrelevant. With over a decade of experience as a lawyer in the criminal justice system, I look forward to bringing my expertise in the arena for the benefit of the community. I look forward to working with the police and fire departments in creating optimal efficiency in response times to our neighborhoods. I am proud to have the endorsement of the San Jose Police Officers Association and San Jose Firefighters. Safety begins in our neighborhoods and I hope to build on the relationship we have with each other and the police to keep our children safe and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

Some of my priorities in keeping our community safe include:

• Optimize response times for police and fire calls to service

• Ensure that the new police substation is built on time and within budget

• Work to increase our police force with an emphasis on community policing and neighborhood traffic enforcement to reduce speeding

• Increase anti-gang prevention funding to offer youth education and activities to avoid the lure of gangs and anti-social behavior

• Create helpful workshops and forums for community members to learn more about emergency preparedness as well as code enforcement issues

• Add additional fire department positions to reduce the need for excessive overtime costs

Supporting our Schools

Although the schools do not fall under the authority of the city, there is a lot that the city can do to help support the mission of our neighborhood schools. I am a proud 1989 graduate of Oak Grove High School and went to Hayes Elementary and Herman Intermediate. I have over 14 years experience as an educator and have spent hundreds of hours as a guest speaker to students throughout San Jose. With my expertise and passion for helping youth, I look forward to helping our schools help our students. It is with that vision that I am proud to have the endorsement of the Oak Grove Educators Association and the East Side Teachers Association.

Some of my priorities in supporting our schools include:

• Supporting and expanding city after school programs and homework centers

• Developing creative policies for joint use of school facilities to expand the city's pool of playfields while contributing much needed funds to schools

• Seeking private sector and foundation money to provide funds for specialized programs in arts and music

• Working with non-profit service providers to supply the expertise and services for arts and music programs

• Help to improve athletic programs in our schools to promote nutrition and fitness to address increasing juvenile obesity

• Helping parent groups seek out grants for their schools

Managing the Deficit and Supporting Business

Like much of the nation, San Jose is in the midst of an economic downturn that risks a deterioration of basic city services and could damage our quality of life. I believe it is essential that we maintain a basic level of service while attacking the deficit head-on. In addition, we need to aggressively pursue additional revenue through attracting businesses to San Jose and helping our small businesses succeed. An increase in taxes or fees to the residents should be avoided. There are some creative strategies we can employ to maintain our level of service without taxing the community. For example, one proposal that may work is a transfer of construction and conveyance fees from capital expenses to targeted operations and maintenance. With appropriate sunset provisions, this strategy could help pay for maintenance and staffing costs without creating a penny in additional taxes or fees.

We also have to carefully evaluate our current staffing levels and disbursement of resources to determine where we can effectively make cuts without sacrificing the quality of life in our neighborhoods. In regards to revenue generation, there are a variety of ways the city can facilitate job growth and retail tax revenue. If I elected, I would work aggressively to:

• Use city funds intelligently to offer incentives for companies to move to Edenvale Technology Park in order to create driving industry jobs. These jobs would include nanotech, solar, clean tech and bioscience jobs that offer to create the next wave of Silicon Valley prosperity.

• Seek opportunities to connect our youth to major employers in our region, such as Kaiser and Hitachi, in order to encourage internship opportunities thereby creating jobs for San Joseans.

• Upon election, I will hold a Small Business Forum, inviting every small business owner in the District to discuss how the city can improve in helping small businesses to flourish. Currently, our District does not have a business association or business district. I hope to change that with the help of our local business owners.

• I will encourage our residents to buy local and support our neighborhood, family owned businesses. This will include community nights out at different local restaurants every month.

• I will work with the owners of the new retail which will be on the Hitachi site to incorporate creative retail with a pedestrian friendly environment.

Protecting our Environment

We live in one of the most beautiful regions in the world with an incredible climate. The legacy we can leave to future generations is to maintain the beauty around us while growing in an environmentally sound manner to house the next generation of residents. As a San Jose Planning Commissioner and Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association board member, I have rallied against hillside development and the development of housing in Coyote Valley. I am also refusing contributions from registered lobbyists and developers to maintain my independence. It is because of my stand on development and refusal to take their contributions that I have the endorsement of the Sierra Club and California League of Conservation Voters.

Some of my priorities to protect the environment and grow intelligently include:

• Preventing development of our hillsides and open spaces.

• Creating gateways into the County parks that surround our neighborhoods.

• Encouraging programs to expand the use of solar power in our neighborhoods. I look forward to bringing a program, which spreads solar power throughout neighborhoods in a cost effective manner, currently in operation in downtown to South San Jose.

• Approving increased high-density development along transportation corridors, such as is happening in North San Jose, as an intelligent way to grow both environmentally and economically as it less of a strain on city services.

• I will oppose the development of housing in Coyote Valley for two reasons. First, environmentally, it is a huge endeavor that should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary. Second, economically it is not efficient to pay for infrastructure costs to facilitate further sprawl.

Ethical, Transparent and Responsive

It is of paramount importance for a public official to conduct their work openly and honestly. As an attorney for over a decade, I am proud of the reputation I have earned in conducting my business honestly and ethically. As a symbol of maintaining a high degree of ethics and commitment to the community, I am refusing money from registered lobbyists and developers. I will bring that same honest and sense of ethics to City Hall. Additionally, I will work to ensure that my staff and I are responsive to our constituents.

To ensure that the community knows that I will work for them as a Councilmember, I will insist on an office that is ethical and transparent. Included in my plans will be:

• A pledge to the community of always being honest and ethical in all that I do in conducting the business of the city.

• Working with the Information Technology department of the city to make the city website more user friendly to allow for easy access to information legally entitled to be reviewed by the public.

• I look forward to hiring a staff that places public service as their top priority in their desire to work for the city.

• I will hold monthly roundtable meetings open to the public and with neighborhood association and community leaders at the table to discuss issues, priorities and the vision of the District.

• I will also hold a monthly youth roundtable with high school students from all three District schools to empower our youth and listen to the concerns and suggestions they have to improve our neighborhoods.