Small Business
For almost ten years, I ran a small business here in Escondido, employing 15 employees. I understand how difficult it is to start and grow a business here in our community and in the state of California. While serving on the Planning Commission, I also have seen firsthand how the City can be a keen partner or bureaucratic obstacle to new business proposals. As a member of the City Council, I would champion efforts to streamline the permitting process and reduce barriers to small businesses opening and growing. I would work collaboratively with our City’s Economic Development team to attract new businesses and jobs to our community. Finally, I would seek to advance a “getting to yes” culture on new development projects that bring new housing and commercial uses here in Escondido.
Public Safety
As a member of the City Council, I will always support the Escondido Police Department and seek increased funding to make sure our police officers and firefighters are well compensated, have the resources needed to do their job well, and are empowered to enforce the law free from the pro-criminal attitudes of Sacramento politicians. Currently, the Escondido Police Department has eleven patrol officers during the day and seven during the evening. These numbers only allow the department to respond to crime rather than proactively preventing it. We should be working towards increasing the number of patrol officers so that we have the resources to address rising crime proactively. We must do what it takes to put criminals behind bars and solve the issue of rising crime.
Homelessness
Escondido continues to see record-high numbers of homeless individuals on our streets. The homelessness crisis deteriorates the quality of life in our community and makes it more difficult to operate small businesses here. We must take action to address the underlying mental health and addiction problems causing homelessness to finally get them off the streets and onto the path to recovery. That being said, we must also acknowledge that this is a regional challenge. While Escondido currently provides hundreds of shelter beds to the homeless, our neighboring cities do not provide any. We must make sure that we are prioritizing Escondido residents, or those with ties to our community, who are receiving homelessness services in our city.