Santa Monica is facing an eviction crisis. We need to do everything we can, as a community, to bring down the cost of rent, protect rent-controlled housing, and stop gentrification and displacement. If elected, I will work to implement rent subsidies, emergency rental assistance programs, and vacancy taxes.

Moving forward, we need to prioritize land use policies that promote smart and sustainable growth. We need to leverage innovative and cutting-edge construction techniques to ensure that our city will promote environmental justice. Furthermore, we need to preserve meaningful public participation in the land use decision-making process.

First and foremost, we need to ensure that Santa Monica is prepared to address climate change in the years ahead. We need to build a vibrant, resilient city that protects the health and safety of its residents.

We need to adopt new laws to protect our city’s urban forest, preserve coastal access, and ensure that our parks and public spaces are available to all Santa Monicans. We also need to invest in public infrastructure to secure our city’s long-term water supply, and within the next two decades, we need to work with state and federal partners to replace the freeway with a grand boulevard.

No one disagrees that Santa Monica and all cities in the Los Angeles area need to do more to address our region-wide homelessness crisis. We need to implement meaningful, evidence-based interventions to help our city’s residents who are experiencing homelessness.

We also need to make a stronger investment in social services and other programs that address mental health needs, food insecurity, and other community needs. Our city should coordinate with partner agencies to ensure that crisis teams and other public health officers can address these issues effectively.

We need to support city programs that protect and preserve key landmarks and other historic resources. It is essential that we ensure the city’s Planning Department and Landmarks Commission have the resources necessary to identify key historic resources and implement appropriate protections to maintain those resources for future generations.

We need to ensure that our city’s government does not limit the right of the public to engage in free speech. We need to ensure that members of the public have a meaningful opportunity to engage with public officials — it is crucial for the public to have a voice. Accordingly, our city should not limit opportunities for the public to comment on important issues.

As our community continues to recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic, we need to ensure that our city’s local businesses are empowered to emerge from the pandemic stronger than they were before. Programs like emergency rental assistance for small businesses and local tax subsidies can be important tools in the years ahead. However, we also need to ensure that our city’s land use laws are implemented effectively to minimize the threat of commercial gentrification and displacement.

We need to update and enhance our city’s aging infrastructure to ensure that our community is prepared to address potential natural disasters, including climate change-related weather events.

Likewise, we need to ensure that our public safety officials are deployed in a manner that promotes community justice and public welfare.