Issues:

If elected, my priorities as your representative in City Hall will be the following:

Open, Accountable, and Responsive Govenment

Re-engaging our community in the decision-making processes of our City is my top priority. I firmly believe that we get better decisions when we include more voices. Our government is broken if it is not accountable and open to every resident of Los Angeles. As your Councilman, I pledge to be responsive, honest, accessible, and transparent to you.

Honesty and Humility:

I will be straightforward about where I stand on issues before City Council so that you can hold me accountable. You may not agree with me on every issue, but you will know where I stand.

I will advocate forcefully for my community. At the same time, despite my strong convictions, I will never be afraid to admit that I am wrong if I am convinced of the errors in my ways by those that I serve.

Access to City Government:

I will listen to the perspectives of everyone, regardless of political connections or personal wealth, and I will fight for the rights of everyone to have their voices heard in City Council, even those voices with which I disagree.

Bottom-Up Leadership:

I will support the capacity of Neighborhood Councils and other community associations to affect City policy.

For the initial meetings with developers, I will invite representatives of the Neighborhood Councils and other community associations in the affected communities to be a part of the meeting.

Responsiveness:

I will press City Services to respond effectively and efficiently to constituent concerns and will stress shared responsibility between residents and businesses to keep our neighborhoods beautiful.

I will set my legislative agenda based on the needs and concerns of the community as communicated by my constituents.

Real Solutions To Everyday Problems

Our City has an unfortunate history of making short-sighted decisions that benefit the financial interests of the few, overlooking the everyday needs of our community. Empty talk about "smart growth" and sustainability from City Hall mean little if they are not matched by decisions, which stand up to the powerful financial interests that threaten our future. I will place the community and its concerns first in finding real solutions to our community's problems.

Traffic and Parking:

I will oppose the senseless and unsustainable City policy of allowing new development to overburden our already overburdened city infrastructure, absent any compelling public need to do so. The City's current policy increases the problems associated with traffic, parking, and pollution and hurts local businesses. I will work to end this destructive policy.

Planning and Land Use:

I will respect the community's input regarding planning decisions. I will oppose zoning variances unless they serve an essential public need and only if the variances are granted after a thorough and transparent hearing by the public.

Billboards:

I will oppose the current proliferation of commercial billboards that blight our communities and distract motorists contributing to our traffic and public safety problems.

Neighborhood Beautification:

I will press for greater enforcement of City codes regarding property upkeep to beautify our community.

Through my Council field office, I will support local associations and Neighborhood Councils in organizing neighborhood clean-ups and tree planting events.

Rent Control and Affordable Housing:

I will preserve rent control, affordable housing, senior housing, and workforce housing in Los Angeles and seek real solutions to our housing crisis, which do not amount to mere give-aways of public funds to rich developers, such as through the Density Bonus Ordinance.

Public Transit:

I will invest in public transportation and be a leader in changing our lifestyle choices to protect our environment for our children and our children's children. I am an avid metro rider and will continue to ride the metro to City Hall on a regular basis, rather than being a "do as I say, not as I do" politician.

Community Economic Development:

I will support increased funding for social services targeted at low-income communities to improve the capacity, productivity, and compassion of our City.

Parks for our Youth:

Our children need safe places to play. I will prioritize locating vacant lots in our community to establish parks so our children no longer have to get their recreation on the streets.

Effective Strategies to Prevent Violence and Crime

Violence rips apart our communities and brings out our worse instincts. Gang violence is connected to domestic violence, which is connected to poor education and poverty. We must understand these connections to prevent violence and crime in our communities. We will never be able to arrest our way out of our violence and crime problems; thus, we need truly comprehensive strategies, which combine targeted crime suppression by law enforcement with community prevention and intervention programs.

Addressing the Root Causes of Crime:

I will support funding of gang intervention programs to redirect youth to make better choices for their future.

I will support coordinated efforts between LAUSD, the County, the City, and social services to provide violence prevention education to our youth.

Crime Victim Services:

I will advocate for an expansion of and access to services for survivors of crime, such as counseling, victim compensation funds, and health care services.

I will stress the need to take domestic and sexual violence seriously and to respect the legal rights of survivors of interpersonal violence.

Support for Community Policing:

I will support the development of Neighborhood Watch programs and community policing programs to build communities that look out for one another and work with law enforcement to address criminal activity.