In my third term, I will...

• Apply my knowledge and experience to lead our community forward. By working together, we can keep conversations focused on our most important issues so we can take appropriate, reasoned steps toward a bright future.
• Support fair, grassroots elections so our leadership is equipped to deal with our rapidly changing issues while maintaining our community values.
• Use my skills, experience and work ethic to serve Sebastopol, listening to all voices with an open mind.

Why I want to continue to serve Sebastopol

In the last four years, one of my most important contributions has been to provide leadership and institutional knowledge while Sebastopol underwent an unprecedented change in personnel in both the council and key city staff. In 2020, I welcomed one new council member and in 2022 three new council members. Additionally, we hired new Fire Chiefs, new Police Chiefs, and a new City Manager. Through this transition, I have been able to provide steady leadership including serving as Vice Mayor in 2018 and 2022 and Mayor in 2019 and 2023. My eight years of previous experience helped me work with my fellow council members to set a course for our future under new leadership.

During my second term as Mayor in 2023, the city secured $5 million in federal funding to address repairs including a GoSonoma grant of $2.24 million for Bodega Avenue Phase 2. Better roads and infrastructure are important to our community and I continue to advocate for continued improvement. I have worked for over seven years to study and ultimately recommend fire consolidation for improved safety and faster response times; with additional work, I hope to see a new modern fire house for our city. I voted for the fire study and listened to our fire volunteers who asked for more time to study the issue. Ultimately, I made the final recommendation to pursue the merger after all community voices were heard and all ideas explored. The possible Gold Ridge Fire District consolidation process is still pending LAFCO approval, but we hope to have it resolved soon.

As Mayor in 2019, I oversaw the Laguna Flood and worked closely with regional elected officials to help secure $1.5 million in flood relief for our city. I also saw the only city-wide evacuation during the Kincade Fire. I am proud to support the city's progress in developing our disaster preparedness plans to continue to make Sebastopol more resilient.

Other notable work on the city council includes the "Locals that Make a Difference" program, supporting community-wide zero waste policies and programs, and transitioning city hall to paperless operations including electronic council packets.

When re-elected, I will…

Practice Collaboration and Inclusion

When I approach issues, I listen to our entire community, not just the people shouting the loudest. I approach each issue without preconceptions. I also work hard, do my homework in advance, and I carefully consider all input.

Advocate for Housing

We need to create opportunities that allow our neighbors to flourish and our children to live in the community in which they grew up. My children, and perhaps someday my grandchildren, are relying on me and our leadership today to grow our local economy and find ways to build a range of housing options from market rate to affordable housing.

Stand up for the Environment and Waste Reduction

Sebastopol leads the county in its zero waste initiatives. Let's continue to lead with policies that protect our environment and leave a healthy legacy for our children. We also have aging infrastructure in our parks and recreation facilities, and must prioritize our community spaces in order to ensure safety and continued enjoyment of our common spaces.

Implement Smart Development Best Practices

I support local business, innovation and well-planned projects that serve the greater community and enhance the quality of life for all residents.

Be a Budget Hawk

We have serious budget shortfalls and the council and city staff are working diligently to address them. We are in direct talks with the County of Sonoma to help fund regional serving programs, as well as looking at ways to share resources and attract outside funding. Currently, I support both trimming our budget and raising new revenues so that the City can continue to function in an efficient and productive manner. After careful research and thorough community engagement, the upcoming merger with Gold Ridge Fire along with revenue from the recent countywide fire tax will help us make considerable progress toward achieving our budget goals. As a former city council budget sub-committee member, I will continue to call for transparency and wisely investing your tax dollars.

Address Homelessness with our Regional Partners

My heart goes out to our neighbors who experience homelessness in our community. We must continue to work toward “functional zero” homelessness in Sonoma County. Working with the elderly population has shown me that when people have stable housing and the supportive services they need, our entire community benefits. In the Park Village Community sponsored by the City of Sebastopol, residents can thrive and move on to independent living with robust care and support.

Lead by Example

Elections should not be decided by who can raise the most money. As I did four years ago, I am running a grass-roots campaign that relies on contributions in line with rules in neighboring cities and are currently being proposed to apply state-wide.

Grow our Tax Base

Numbers don’t lie. We need to grow our tax base to keep up with rising costs, the evolving nature of city services, and to invest in our community infrastructure to ensure climate and disaster preparedness. I have voted to support a new hotel in town that has been delayed by various factors including the pandemic and high interest rates. We are looking at additional new overnight accommodations that will generate hotel taxes, and I have been supportive of the Chamber of Commerce and our city efforts to support our jewel of a downtown.

Support our evolving Public Safety Departments

Public Safety is important to our community and important to me. I have a proven record of supporting our police and fire departments to ensure we have the tools needed to keep our city safe. While we are leaving one police position empty during our current budget shortfall, we are also working toward fire department consolidation with Gold Ridge Fire that will maintain our current level of service and increase our readiness with a fully staffed fire station and long overdue facility updates.