Campaign Phone
302-729-3019
Neighborhood/area of residence
Yorklyn
Education
University of Delaware, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy, Independence School
Work Experience
Small Business
Community Involvement
Yorklyn Community Association (Co-Founder)
Additional Information
Pledges: Candidate does not accept campaign donations from real estate developers, land use attorneys, corporations, or corporate PACs. Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Rep. Frank Burns, Sen. Laura Sturgeon, Council Member Dee Durham
I’ve lived in this district my whole life. Over the years, our landscape and quality of life have been eaten away by overdevelopment. I’m tired of watching that happen while our government ignores the legitimate concerns of our communities.
The status quo isn’t working. Residents are also being slammed by out-of-control utility bills, and people on fixed incomes worry about what rising property taxes mean for their ability to stay in their homes.
I’m running because I saw that we needed better representation, and I’m willing to step up to fight for us. We can’t expect the people who created today’s challenges to fix them. We need new voices and new people in government to get real change. You deserve better than more of the same.
I will never take campaign contributions from real estate developers, land use attorneys, corporations, or corporate PACs. When I make decisions, my only obligation will be to the people I represent. I will always put the community first, whether that’s voting on massive AI data centers or local issues like the Pike Creek McDonald’s.
My strongest qualification: I’m already doing the work. I’ve stood up to special interests and have gotten results. When developers tried to push through a six-story luxury condo building across from Auburn Valley State Park near the Red Clay Creek, I founded the Yorklyn Community Association and worked with my neighbors to fight it. We stopped the project and saved nearly 30 acres of open space.
Stopping Overdevelopment: We need representatives who will be brave enough to say no when development goes too far. I will fight to save our open spaces, parks, and nature preserves because they’re what make this area so special. I will fight to protect our quality of life, so that we aren’t sitting in worse traffic because of bad planning decisions.
Data Center Moratorium: Data centers threaten our environment, health, and electric grid. We need to halt the approval of new AI data centers until local and state laws fully protect our water, air, and electric bills. We would not be alone in doing this: five Maryland counties have already enacted pauses on new data centers, and one has even adopted a permanent ban.
I will push for a stronger affordable housing ordinance. In 2008 and again in 2014, County Council created ordinances to promote affordable housing, but both largely failed. The 2014 ordinance made it too easy for developers to avoid including affordable units in new developments. Making it harder to opt out is one of the obvious fixes.
We also need new incentives to promote affordable housing in denser areas where there is access to good public transportation, jobs, and healthcare. The impact fee ordinance that council passed last year was a step forward but could go farther to incentivize density. We also need to encourage infill with accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and pocket communities.
Yes. First, residents usually learn about new developments when it’s too late. That has to change. People deserve a say in what happens where they live.
The County has a Comprehensive Plan to guide development. But we should be much more willing to protect open space, steer development away from places where it doesn’t belong, and ask whether the benefits of major developments actually outweigh their long-term costs. Bad land use choices leave taxpayers paying the price for decades.
Traffic and emergency services also can’t remain an afterthought. Too often, projects get approved before we figure out how we're going to address the increased burdens on traffic and local fire companies. That process is backwards. I’ll fight to change that.
Because I reject campaign donations from developers or their lawyers, I will fully prioritize community engagement and will listen to residents instead of special interests.
In the Hockessin and Yorklyn area, our government let developers cut down 10 acres of trees without public notice and without public meetings. That’s unacceptable.
I’ll use my experience as a community advocate to change that. I’ll make sure we reach out to the people affected by a decision instead of letting them find out when it’s too late.
Language access and targeted outreach are a major part of that. Low-income communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color deserve as much a say as anyone else in the decisions that affect them.
Campaign Phone
302-281-4087
Neighborhood/area of residence
Newark
Education
B.S. in Visual Communication focused in Photojournalism from Ohio University (2010)
Work Experience
New Castle County Executive Office (2017-2026), The News Journal (2013-2017), Casper Star-Tribune (2012-2013), Evansville Courier & Press (2010-2012)
Community Involvement
Executive Leadership of The National Press Photographers Association (2013-2021), Chippenham Woods Civic Association
Additional Information
Worked and volunteered on five separate campaigns for local Democrats since 2018.
I've always felt I needed to leave this world a better place. I couldn't work somewhere that didn't have a core mission of improving the community, protecting human rights, or holding those in power accountable.
To that end, I've spent my entire professional career in public service – first in journalism and non-profit leadership before joining the leadership of the New Castle County Government in the County Executive's Office.
When I learned our member of council was retiring, I knew I needed to step up to serve my community in the most direct way I could – to use the knowledge and experience I have in county leadership to be the best possible advocate our council district could have.
Having spent nine years in the New Castle County Executive's Office, and having spent over four years covering the New Castle County Government before working for County Executives Matt Meyer and Marcus Henry, I have a deep knowledge of how the county government operates and the challenges it faces unlike any other candidate.
My role as a communications officer in the Executive Office provided the opportunity to work across departments within the government and with external stakeholders in the community, as well as state, federal, and municipal governments to build relationships. That provided incredible insight into the varied needs of each county department and how we can work collaboratively with our partners to improve the community.
Securing the County's fiscal health is paramount, because there is a cascade of negative impacts that will be felt county-wide if we don't. Rising healthcare costs and operational expenses have strained the budget, and impacted reserves. Without stabilizing and restoring reserves, New Castle County will lose its AAA bond rating, ultimately increasing the costs of necessary and major repairs to the county's sewer system that are already projected to cost $700M over the next decade.
Further cuts to the budget will mean reduced public safety response capacity in the police, paramedics and 911 departments, and less support for local fire companies.
We must stabilize the budget without raising taxes to protect county services and operations.
We have to focus on increasing density where appropriate in our approach to development. First and foremost, that means prioritizing areas ready for re-development where the infrastructure to accommodate density already exists before we allow untouched land to be turned into housing or commercial space.
That means we also need to take a proactive and deep dive approach to zoning reform and deepen partnerships with DelDOT and DNREC to ensure that road infrastructure can accommodate appropriate density for an area and that the introduction of any impervious surfaces won't threaten local waterways with increased erosion or environmental contamination.
I also want to see greater expansion of the existing ADU policies to make it more feasible.
Yes! Throughout the campaign I've shared the need for a proactive approach to zoning reform and development requirements.
We've looked at the Comprehensive Plan as an aspirational document guiding what we want to see and where for too long. We haven't examined ways in which our existing code, or changes to the code, can be exploited.
This has contributed to the explosion of warehouses and data center proposals where we've left old zoning overlays in place as parcels took on new uses, or growth pushed residential development closer to parcels with zonings not originally evaluated for proximity to residential areas.
We can close these unintended loopholes and start guiding development to the right areas before proposals come to us.
As a communications professional, this is my wheelhouse.
It starts with proactive outreach and if that means personally knocking doors in neighborhoods to make sure residents can put a face to the name of their member of County Council, I'll do it.
I'll commit to regular newsletters to keep residents informed, regular in-person meetings throughout the district to meet residents where they are both in the morning and evenings, and outreach through local community groups to engage residents of all backgrounds.
