The Issues
How I plan to help our city
"I'm running to revitalize our neighborhoods, attract good paying jobs, increase safety through community policing, and bring innovation into our civic life and local economy. I am running because I am confident that together we can reinvent Stockton."
Safe Streets, Secure Neighborhoods
- Continue building better police-community relations by expanding community engagement, further developing a community policing model, and diversify our police and fire departments
- Further develop a Community Policing model that is based on building trust, identifying specific needs of neighborhoods, and using data to identify where to step in before crime happens
- Increase the Capacity of the Office of Violence Prevention to partner with the community to provide job opportunities and other supports to those most at-risk for violence
- Retain our current Police Officers and Firefighters by ensuring they receive competitive benefits that we can afford and the training and support to be successful ambassadors of our city
- Partner with the Parks and Recreation, the Police Department, Non-Profits and the City to create a Summer Lights Program for youth and families, modeled after Los Angeles’ successful program that saw a reduction in violence over the past 8 years
- Partner with County to fully implement the Marshall Plan Recommendations to increase the capacity and effectiveness of our criminal justice system
Neighborhood Revitalization
- Expand the model of Reinvent South Stockton to the 4 other Hot Spot Areas identified in 2012 to begin to revitalize these areas that have not reached their potential due to high crime rates, few job opportunities, and failing schools
- Make neighborhoods with the highest unemployment rates into “Job Creation Zones”
- Target these neighborhoods with tax credits, fee abatement, repayable loans, and workforce investments
- Work with federal, state, county and city agencies and departments to ensure new opportunities for the hardest hit neighborhoods of Stockton
- Implement the South Stockton Promise Zone Strategy and rigorously monitor results
- Advocate for neighborhood master plan development as part of our General Plan
- Build public-private partnerships and philanthropic support through the creation of a Philanthropic Liason to strengthen the capacity of local non-profits to focus on undeserved neighborhoods, engage the community, secure grant funding and implement housing development, wellness programs, and youth-focused educational opportunities
- Develop a Cradle-to-College continuum of supports for children focused on parent education, student growth, learning, and achievement starting at birth and expanding at each level of child development
Education
- Identify, recruit and enroll low-income 4 year-old children eligible for but not currently enrolled in pre-Kindergarten
- Work with Stockton businesses, the building trades, and current apprenticeship programs to create job-training pathways for Stockton high school graduates to help them gain practical skills
- Work in conjunction with our school districts to create pathways to success for all students, with a particular focus of correcting disparities between groups
- Bring back City programs such as the Youth Leadership Academy and the Youth and Education Action Team to provide positive outlets and learning opportunities for youth
- Expand City youth job opportunities
- Create matched savings accounts and/or college savings accounts for every child or our most vulnerable children by partnering with banks and other financial institutions to make an initial deposit into each account, then provide incentives for parents to contribute to the account over time
- Currently the City of San Francisco contributes an initial $50 for each kindergartner
- Create a Task Force to recruit companies and individuals to participate in this matching program
- Champion a city-wide initiative to fund universal preschool for all 4 year-olds to close the achievement gap
Economic Development through Innovation
- Establish an Innovation Fund to create new investment in small businesses on the cusp of starting or expanding in Stockton, funded from investors that believe in Stockton’s potential for growth
- Focus on creating a cluster of innovation around our strong, local assets: UOP, the Port, and Mercy to focus economic growth around transportation, health care, and education
- Work with the county, the business community, and the philanthropic sector to expand workforce development and training opportunities
- Support the creation of a small business network that brings entrepreneurs together to offer business training, workshops, and better collaboration between businesses on the local level
A Housing First Model Focused on Ending Homelessness
- Create a staff position focused on homelessness to serve the community and coordinate County and Public Safety Efforts
- Use Proposition 63 funds as bond collateral to create a Homeless Housing Trust Fund to develop a real housing first model in Stockton
- San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles County are already moving on the Housing First model to get residents off the street and into supportive, permanent housing
- Change city zoning laws to allow for the creation of tiny houses and micro apartments
- San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle have passed ordinance changes allowing for smaller square feet housing options
Engaging Our Community
- Provide residents more information online and through social media to allow increased access, more transparency in decision making, and build trust
- Develop a participatory budget process citywide, where community members define spending priorities through an application, discussion, and a voting model
- Start a Community Roundtable that provides community organizations and non-profits a platform to discuss their goals, needs, and vision for Stockton regularly that culminates each year with the State of the City
- Turn vacant lots into community gardens that provide opportunities for urban farming and establish public spaces where community members interact and build community
- Hold quarterly city-wide Town Halls and regular mayoral office hours to update residents on the progress of the city
- Bring back our best and brightest through the creation of a fellowship that will allow students and recent graduates who have left Stockton for college to come back and contribute to their community
- Create a Millennial Taskforce tasked with identifying ways and implementing solutions to help the city address the brain drain