League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Alameda County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of San Leandro; Council District 5

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Eden Area and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Homeless Services, Long Term Finances Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. As a member of the city council, what would you do, if anything, about improving city services for the homeless?? Give two examples of services that you feel need to be improved. Answer from Mia Ousley: (1) First, focus on rapid re-housing, whereby someone gets into housing immediately and THEN we deal with trying to solve their accompanying problems (unemployment, pregnancy, mental illness, violence victim, etc.). (2) Map our resources and centralize the bureaucracy of the varied services available not only in our City but throughout the County (food banks, shelters, job assistance, health care, etc.) so that people can access the services even if they're not in a shelter (not always possible now). Many services exist, but homeless people don't have access or can't provide required bureaucratic information. We need to map resources, needs, and assets in the region to make the accessible. (3) Provide mobile outreach clinics to provide case management and ensure the inclusion of single people who are not families. 2. What is your long-term plan to assure that your jurisdiction has enough money to meet operating needs and service demands? Answer from Mia Ousley: The traditional economic model of receiving federal or state funds no longer exists. We must partner with local businesses (e.g. with OSI Soft to produce Lit San Leandro) for creative solutions. We need to: (1) bring in more high-tech companies and their employees, thus increasing our tax base and providing more funds for the City; and (2) extend our existing Living Wage Ordinance to ALL employers within the city, not just those that contract with the city. When people have an affordable income, they increase the local business economy, they decrease the strain on our social services, and they increase our tax base. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.