Candidate for
Council Member; City of Richmond

Preventing Violence Before it Starts I work closely with the Richmond Police Department to support community-policing efforts and to develop concrete solutions for making neighborhoods safer.

As a Richmond City Council member, I authored measures to create a gang intervention task force and ensure our city's participation in initiatives aimed at reducing guns and drugs.

• Promoted job opportunities and after-school programs for youth
• Created partnerships with community-based organizations
• Identified violence prevention strategies that work in other cities.

Arms-length administration just isn't my style. As a mentor, I work one-to-one with young people as a liaison to the Richmond Youth Commission and member of the Board of the West County YMCA.

Educating for Our Future Schools are the key to our children's future. And for that reson, the improvement of schools is the key to Richmond's future.

Focusing on that improvement, I am forging new partnerships with local universities, teacher training programs, foundations, youth organizations, and employee volunteer groups. Those partnerships will bring greater opportunities and support for our kids.

Real improvement in our schools is closely tied to increased parent involvement and effective tutoring programs. For that reason, I support programs that promote those goals.

I am a member of the West Contra Costa Education Fund and the Contra Costa College Foundation Board, which provides scholarships and resources to students and schools in our community

Creating Jobs. Supporting Businesses. Our city needs a long-term plan to create jobs, support existing businesses, and attract new ones. I will collaborate with neighbors, business leaders and elected officials to formulate plans that work, plans that put more people to work.

Any realistic job growth initiative must include training and placement services in high growth industries such as construction and biotechnology. As a Richmond elected official, I take seriously my responsibility to identify growth areas and help local workers and entrepreneurs seize the opportunities of west Contra Costa County.

Balanced Budgets As the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization, I know budgets. And as the Vice Chair of our city council's Finance Committee, I know what a balanced budget requires: living within our means, weighing competing interests, and insisting on accurate accounting.

To ensure those principles are put into practice in Richmond, I have

• Helped establish regular independent audits.
• Supported the formation of a citizen financial oversight board
• Instituted a practice of unannounced spot audits of city operations to confirm that expenditures are appropriate and well documented.

Infrastructure redevelopment "Quality of life." The phrase sounds lofty, philosophical even. But the day-in-day-out experiences that color our lives may be no more lofty than potholes or clogged sewer lines. Your quality of life is affected by our city's infrastructure.

After years of deferred maintenance, Richmond is now poised to address the major tasks of repaving streets, beautifying its parks and open spaces, and rebuilding our wastewater collection system. Alongside my assertions of fiscal responsibility, I also strongly support infrastructure improvements. Balancing budgets by neglecting maintenance is not responsible. It's just foolish.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but government and residents share the responsibility of helping it along -- at least within city limits. Consequently, I have introduced a Council measure to establish a Citizen Beautification Committee. These residents will assist the city in organizing clean-ups, reporting dumping, and stopping the spread of blight and neglect.