The most important issue is housing. Eau Claire is a highly desirable place to live: local young people are staying, graduating university students are staying, elders are staying and new residents are arriving from all over. This has caused a shortage of housing and prices to go up. I am excited about the new Century Code recommendations on housing infill, zoning for ADUs, tiny homes, and restrictions on short-term rentals, as important ways to address housing supply. Importantly, these initiatives, and some creative partnerships are also addressing housing for the homeless. We must serve our lowest income populations with housing; this affects us all as a community. I aspire to join the Housing Opportunities Commission to use my skills to advance these initiatives.

‌The second most important issue facing Eau Claire is the affordability and accessibility of healthcare, now made even more urgent with the recent announcements of closures of some large healthcare providers and hospitals in our area. I hear many concerns among citizens about long delays in being able to make appointments to see their providers, and now this will only increase. I’m also very concerned about the drastic reduction in mental health services this will cause in our area. We must gather with our remaining health care providers and brainstorm on how to incentivize the expansion of mental health services in Eau Claire. Also, I will be advocating for the expansion of Badger Care to address the affordability problem.

The third most important issue facing Eau Claire is our local economy. In this time of growth, we need to intentionally build a robust, resilient, and sustainable economy. We must balance the needs of small, medium and larger employers, because having a healthy blend of types of employers will yield long-term resiliency. I will work to keep this balance as we map out our strategic vision. Our local public transportation plans will also have an impact on our business climate and the ability of residents to move around and patronize all of our businesses. Finally, I will be interested in working on the rail plans connecting our area with the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, as I see tremendous economic potential for us as we make Eau Claire more easily accessible to surrounding communities.

My top priority is addressing State constraints in our abilities to provide city services despite our growth. Eau Claire’s revenue share from the state sales tax receipts has fallen 47% in the last 25 years, and this continues to cause a long list of top priorities such as public safety and needed green space management to go unfunded. We should also fund more of the long-term Capital Improvement Projects. My 2nd budget priority relates to our constraint on spending from the “Room Tax” paid by visitors toward City Operations (limited to only 30% of the current room tax). More of this money should be allowed to be spent to maintain and develop city services. I will work to organize and pressure the State hard to increase our Sales Tax revenue share and remove the Room Tax constraint.