Neighborhood Safety
The City’s first priority is making sure our neighborhoods are safe. Sadly, Crime has increased throughout our city instead of decreasing. Our Police department continues to remain understaffed for years while we hear on daily basis of cars being broken into, packages being stolen in broad daylight, and both domestic and sexual assaults are on the rise. Our families deserve better from City Hall and it starts from the actions of your City Council Member.
As your Council Member, I will ensure that we make increasing our Police Force a priority. We will not only increase the number of new recruits, but we will attract experienced officers. We will make San Jose the go to city for law enforcement.
Housing
Today in San Jose, the housing crisis has only gotten worse in the last four years instead of better. This sad reality has made it difficult to live San Jose and It’s been very heart breaking seeing many of our friends and neighbors get evicted and displaced from their homes. Rents have skyrocket to the point where a family of 4 making $94,000 per year is considered a low-income family. As someone that has experienced not having a place to call home and having to sleep in my car or on a friend’s couch, I know the struggle to find a permanent home when you are down on your luck.
This is why I am proud to have kept my promise to our neighbors that live in our district and rent and our unhoused neighbors that I would continue to always advocate for them. I have fought to strengthen tenant protection ordinances with the City of San Jose. I have opposed any weakening of Ellis Act Ordinance, which requires developers to set aside 20%-50% of new units as affordable units when they tear down rent stabilized apartments. While we build high density housing next to our transportation system to help reduce traffic congestion, I’ve made sure we don’t leave out the needs of our low-income families. My life experience as a renter, home owner, housing provider, and being unhoused gives me the ability to empathize with many and really allows to tackle our housing crisis like no one can.
On Council, my top policy objectives will be:
Continue to protect the Rights of Renters.
Enact Commercial Linkage fees to large developments to help fund Affordable Housing.
Partner with local School Districts to help build Affordable Housing on district land.
Increase funds for Homeless Prevention Programs.
Explore innovative ways to house our homeless neighbors and protect them from the elements.
Incentivize the Community, Small Businesses, and Small Developers to build ADU’s and MDU’s.
Responsible Economic Development
The City of San Jose has such a great history; from being part of the Valley of Hearts Delight to being the Capital of Silicon Valley. This is the land of opportunity. I am truly blessed to have been raised through this transition. From my family working in the local canneries to seeing our family join the Tech workforce. As we look to the future of San Jose and plan its future growth, we have to make sure we don’t continue to marginalize a segment of our population for the sake of progress. We must address our Jobs / Housing Imbalance transparently and make sure our neighborhoods and small businesses are part of the process and being heard. We must shift our focus to building more towers in Down Town San Jose meant to attract businesses instead of Luxury Apartments if we are serious about tackling our Jobs / Housing Imbalance.
Our children need safe spaces to play, learn, and study. Today, many parents are having to work longer hours in order to afford the raising costs of housing. We must continue to invest in our local libraries and in our community centers so our children have where to go to after school. We also have to work on making sure our parks and trails are being well maintained and free of trash and blight so our children feel safe to explore the outdoors.
We must also partner up with Tech companies and Trades to make sure that all residents are getting the necessary skills needed to obtain the high paying jobs of today and tomorrow through our local community colleges, trade schools, and University. We must also partner with our local School Districts and Non-Profits to provide internships so our students are able to integrate their classroom knowledge and work on their professional skills in a professional, safe environment. This is also a great way to help fill the City’s high number of vacancies and improve city services. I’m a firm believer that by being able to provide these educational resources to our community, we will be able to see a big increase in social mobility and improve people’s quality of life.