Issues

Homelessness

We need to always remember that our homeless residents deserve to be treated with dignity, just as all Fresnans do. But with dignity comes responsibility.

We must hold our homeless residents to the same standards of conduct that all of us must abide by. We cannot allow homeless people to trespass or befoul other people’s property, and we cannot allow our homeless residents to commit crimes or endanger public safety. That’s why I support the no-camping ordinance and the no-panhandling sign ordinance. But they are only part of the solution.

In order for the City to confidently enforce the no-camping ordinance, we need to provide more transitional housing for the homeless. The City should partner with other government agencies and non-profits to build and operate more transitional housing and housing for domestic violence victims, with easy access to services that can help transition the homeless from the streets to being productive members of our community.

Finally, we need to make housing more affordable in Fresno, so fewer people are forced into homelessness. That requires cutting the red tape and bureaucratic delays at City Hall that make building new housing and rehabbing old housing more expensive. It also means saying “yes” to new housing – whether it’s in-fill development, apartments, condos, or new housing developments.

Public Safety

Fresno is experiencing an epidemic of increased crime and theft. Like so many of my fellow District 2 residents, my family too has been the victim of theft from our home.

That is partly due to Prop 47 and other changes Sacramento imposed on us that make it easy for criminals to commit non-violent crimes and end up back on the streets in just a short time. We can’t change the state’s laws, but we can take action in our own community.

We need to increase police resources dedicated to investigating property theft. While Fresno P.D. has done a good job responding to gang violence, we can and should do more to tackle the human trafficking and drug sales that fund gang activity. We also must improve residents’ ability to safely report crimes and provide evidence to police via mobile phones and other modern technology, so that the police can put together bigger cases against criminal gangs and lock them up for longer.

Streets and sidewalks

Like much of Fresno, the streets and sidewalks of District 2 are often in need of maintenance and repair, and traffic is stuck daily at bottlenecks on west Herndon and west Shaw.

 I support objective measures for choosing which streets and sidewalks get repaired, because politicians shouldn't put politics over fiscally responsible maintenance.  I will fight to make sure that District 2 receives its fair share of street repair funds based on the needs of our community.  I will also make sure we get the new traffic lanes and intersection improvements that we need to fix the bottlenecks on Herndon and Shaw.  We can do this by prioritizing our existing transportation funding to improve and maintain the streets and sidewalks we have, instead of spending our transportation money on other purposes.

 We should build Veteran’s Boulevard to improve traffic to the west side of 99, if we can find fiscally responsible ways to fund the project, and I will work with our state and federal legislators to get the additional money we need to compliment Measure C in order to fully fund Veteran’s Boulevard.

Seniors

We owe our seniors gratitude for their lifetime of service to our community. But too many seniors are left without family nearby and risk isolation from our community. That’s why I am committed to building a senior center that can provide a place for seniors to meet, enjoy a meal, take classes, and stay connected to our community.