Candidate for
City Council; City of Long Beach; District 2

Neighborhood Empowerment Long Beach has the benefit of having many active neighborhood groups and community organizations. Members of these groups selflessly dedicate their limited free time and resources to improving their communities. To be most effective, neighborhoods need to be nurtured and supported by the city. Sometimes this support can take the form of grants and in-kind services; at other times, this support can take the form of assistance navigating city policies and procedures. Improvements in our neighborhoods are more substantial, sustainable, and significant when community members feel they have participated, whether physically involved in their implementation or through a truly public process. I will bring to City Council a history of effective community empowerment and a vision to foster neighborhood involvement in the affairs that impact us all.

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Downtown Growth Our downtown is experiencing tremendous growth as new residential and retail developments bring new residents, shoppers, workers and visitors. We need to augment this growth with improvements to our infrastructure and an expansion of our public open space and amenities. In so doing, we can ensure that our downtown remains appealing long after these new developments are in place. We need to be attentive to the context in which these developments happen, to ask ourselves questions like "What will this development look like in five, ten, or twenty years? How is future development going to relate to what we are creating now?" I will bring to City Council my expertise in urban planning and design to help address these questions for today and into the future.

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Arts and Culture We, as a city, need to recognize the social as well as economic opportunities that the arts create. Long Beach finds some of its distinctive character in its diversity of arts and culture, whether it is the Museum of Latin American Art, the Long Beach Symphony, or Koo's Art Center and our local music scene. But as times get tight, there is a tendency to reduce or eliminate funding from our arts, both in terms of city resources and our schools' reducing arts and music classes. As a city, we need to recognize the social as well as economic opportunities that arts create, whether the creative industries such as graphic design, publishing, recording, architecture, or directly through arts-based tourism and commerce. To truly be considered the "International City," Long Beach must have a first-class arts and culture community. As a member of the Arts Council and as someone involved in the East Village Arts District, I see the ability that arts have to create social and economic value in our city.

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Open Space In Long Beach, particularly in the Second District, there is severe shortage of public open space. This needs to be addressed immediately. In a "built-out" city such as Long Beach, opportunities for park development are limited. The city must be creative, since there are a limited number of vacant parcels available. Recently I have presented to the city proposals for two park sites near the District: Armory Park, located at Seventh Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard, and Orange Avenue Nursery, at 9th Street and Orange Avenue. I continue to work with the city to implement these two projects, both of which would be located in communities lacking access to park space. Whether reclaiming beach area where Shoreline and Ocean meet, realigning the I-710 freeway's off-ramps into the downtown, or creating a park decked over the freeway near the proposed Sports Park site where the I-405 freeway goes below natural grade, when we think creatively we can find countless opportunities to create large parks where they are most needed. We can also make better use of existing parks; see, for instance, the work I have done on a proposal to improve Daryle Black Park. I will bring to City Council the political will and ability to implement innovative solutions to our most pressing problems in regard to open space.

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Economic Strength A sustainable economy requires diversity and innovation. We need diversity in business sizes, models, fields and maturity to allow our city's economy to adapt to changes in the regional, national, and global economy. We need to create a business environment that supports innovation: Long Beach should be seen as testing ground for the economy of the future. I will bring to City Council an innovative and questioning mindset that will accentuate our economic strengths and work towards realizing these possibilities.

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Environmental Health Many of Long Beach's larger business engines--the port, the airport, our freeways and our industrial complexes--are some of our largest polluters. While we need to be sensitive to our economy, we must also be mindful of our economy's environmental impact. As a city, we must develop technologies and business models that reduce industrial pollution, while taking into consideration our proximity to neighboring cities. I will bring to City Council an appreciation for the economic and environmental contributions of our industries, innovative models for rethinking adjacency and buffer zones, and a keen understanding of the need for a healthy environment.

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Equality Long Beach is home to one of the most diverse populations in the nation. Whatever your race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, there are basic concerns and issues upon which we can all agree. Our city should be a safe and healthy place for us to live, work and relax. We should be able to walk our streets without being targeted for being different. We should be able to apply for work on an even playing field and be entitled to the same benefits and wages for ourselves and our partners regardless of the chromosomes they carry. I will bring to City Council a respect for difference and a commitment to equality for all.

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Historic Preservation Long Beach has taken great steps recently to make historic preservation an important element in our city's planning process. The preservation office has expanded its staff and is embarking on a strategy to make permanent historic preservation's role in our city's growth. We are identifying our historic resources and developing a process to review significant structures in development areas. We still have far to go. We must streamline the review process for applicants while making review and enforcement consistent and equal, regardless of the structure's location in Long Beach and its historic context. As a member of the Cultural Heritage Commission, a board member of Long Beach Heritage, and the former chair of the award-winning Craftsman Village Historic District Association, I have a broad understanding of the issues we face in preservation, and an ability to meet those challenges head on.

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The Public Realm No matter where or how we live, work or play, we all have regular social interaction within the public rights-of-way, including our streets, sidewalks and parkways. The condition of these amenities drastically impacts our quality of life. Hazards such as potholes, crumbling curbs and uprooted sidewalks, as well as issues like speeding cars, loud stereos, and bikers on sidewalks, fall within the city's responsibility. A healthy city has a public right of way that contributes to a high quality of life. This should be our priority. Moving automobile traffic through the public realm should be a secondary concern. I will bring to City Council my expertise in the design elements and strategies that can make our rights-of-way not only safer but also more beautiful.