VOTE411 Voter Guide

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My top priority is to legislate effectively to meet the many challenges before Lynnwood.

One notable challenge is our rapid growth with the presence of light rail in the city. We need effective planning that cohesively addresses this growth, and I will push for smart planning that we can afford.

Our changing climate is causing hotter and drier summers, extreme wind events, and catastrophic flooding. We need to prepare this city for these potential calamities through investing in infrastructure resilience and in neighborhood support networks.

We are facing new public safety concerns as federal forces terrorize neighborhoods throughout western states. We need to ensure that all people feel safe and protected in Lynnwood, and that their local government exists to protect its people from the true bad actors.

I plan to use my experience with program management, systems engineering, and Washington law to find novel and sustainable solutions for these complex emerging threats.

As part of finding novel and sustainable solutions to our emerging challenges, sustainable financing is essential. Ideally these solutions could be self-supporting without drawing from the existing budget, however new revenue streams may be necessary.

For any new revenue stream (or for any spending reduction that may be necessary in a budget shortfall), we must ensure that any potential burden or reduction does not impact the most vulnerable populations in Lynnwood. I would prioritize shifting the impact onto out-of-state investors and large corporations who own and exploit property in Lynnwood. I would also seek to reform our property taxes into a land value tax, discouraging residential ownership by private equity and large for-profit entities, and drawing more revenue from real estate speculators holding empty lots in our city center.

I would like to see a shift toward fewer private-public partnerships, particularly with large for-profit corporations.

City governments do not have the resources to negotiate contracts fairly against large corporations, and these corporations will prioritize their shareholders’ interests above the city. One unfortunate result is publicly funded developments that are not built for the best interest of the public. In some cases these corporations can avoid their contract responsibilities and can absorb the cost of litigating their breach. Meanwhile, the city might wait for decades while valuable land remains vacant.

Our state constitution has measures to limit public-private partnerships, and cities spend valuable resources to squeeze these agreements into compliance. More projects, particularly housing developments, should be run by public agencies like the Housing Authority of Snohomish County. We should have housing solutions that work for Lynnwood, not corporate investors.

I will support a vibrant economy by creating a full spectrum of opportunities.

Our economy is closely related to our housing affordability problem. Generally, Lynnwood’s housing options are either apartments or detached-single family homes. With more home ownership options between these extremes (like condos, townhomes, duplexes, cottage courts, and cohousing), we can increase supply, meet demand, and lower costs, without diluting existing property value. Lower housing costs lead to more free cash to stimulate the city.

Similarly, a full spectrum of business opportunities can create more paths for entrepreneurs. I would support a weekend market around the light rail to incubate small businesses without costly storefronts. Additionally, I support flexible pop-up commercial spaces in new and existing developments as options before long-term leases. I also support zoning reform to allow for corner stores and neighborhood cafes for walkable neighborhoods and hyperlocal investment.

Lynnwood has made great strides to ensure marginalized and targeted groups feel safe. Our welcoming atmosphere is apparent through the wonderful cultural crossroads that Lynnwood has become. I will continue to support these efforts and will ensure that all persons retain equal protection under the law and due process of law, in the face of unjust federal enforcement.

Despite our emphasis toward inclusion, our city council tends to be uniformly composed of officials with the city's majority political view. Meanwhile, many minority political viewpoints receive no true representation in these offices, feeding a distrust of government among those holding minority views. For these reasons, I support a shift toward proportional ranked-choice voting for our council. There all open seats are filled in one election based on the cumulative ranking of all candidates. This would distribute open seats proportionally to the population, creating a legislative body to represent all of Lynnwood.

Affordability- Bring the cost of housing and childcare down through zoning, land use and permitting reforms. Focus on home ownership opportunities, not just rentals.

Public Safety- address our addiction and mental health crisis as well as youth violence epidemic. Recruit and retain more deputies. Invest in programs with proven outcomes.

Economic Development-small business support, workforce development, clean safe attractive places for new businesses to locate and thrive.

Public Safety will always be first and foremost. We need to make sure that the community feel safe before we can accomplish anything else.

More transparency between the governing body and the citizens. I also believe that we need to have open arms to many different types of drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs including faith-based ones to give lots of options to help with this growing issue. It needs to be a choice that people suffering from addiction can make on their own with lots of different types of opportunities. There's not a one-size-fits-all solution.

I support local priority hire language for some of the bigger infrastructure projects in Lynnwood. As well as apprentice utilization giving younger folks places to work as well. I would also like to work on the permitting process to get the small contractors working. I believe getting money in the hands of the people the economy become vibrant.

A part of priority hire language would involve making sure that people from less fortunate backgrounds have an opportunity for higher paying jobs.