...

Together, we can make San Bernardino County a safer and healthier place to live, work, and thrive

Safer Neighborhoods

As a nurse for more than a decade, I’ve worked with first responders and other health care workers to keep our communities safe. I’ve also served on the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Next Gen Committee to advocate for more community policing. There can be more beauty and peace when we focus on building connections within our communities. As your State Assemblymember, I will continue supporting policies that foster healthy relationships between our communities and law enforcement. I also support efforts to ensure that our law enforcement agencies have what they need to do their jobs safely, equitably, and effectively.

Housing Working People Can Afford

Many working people are struggling in San Bernardino County to pay the rent and save up enough to buy a home. Generations of families should be able to afford to live in our communities and strengthen their roots here. The median home price is more than $800,000. The state called for the construction of 180,000 new units annually between 2015 and 2025 to close the gap. We are building fewer than half as many, only about 80,000 new units per year. We must treat the lack of affordable housing as the crisis that it is. As your Assemblymember, I’ll work in tandem with state and local leaders to expand the county’s affordable housing strategy, (in both policy and funding), to include a greater emphasis on affordable home ownership. This policy will include increasing supply. I’ll work to provide workforce housing so that those who work here can also live where they work. I’ll also work to provide housing for our seniors, who are often priced out of home ownership and other housing opportunities due to fixed incomes. Lastly, I’ll work tirelessly to address the root of poverty in our communities by increasing the number of good-paying jobs which aide in our quality of life and will create a pipeline of information so that our communities will know the resources available to them to get ahead.

Emergency Response to Homelessness

Working in a hospital for more than a decade, I see the resources that come together to save lives, get people healthy, and back on their feet. We need to treat homelessness like the emergency it is with teams that are trained to help: mental health and social workers, addiction counselors, law enforcement, and long-term wrap around services. Ensuring that we partner with organizations that will retrain those recovering to get back on their feet, and into the workforce successfully upon release and beyond, is key. Increasing the number of psychiatrists, and therapists in the jail system is imperative. Proper evaluations are needed to determine if an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis, or if it is exacerbated by drug usage. This is necessary. Developing private-public partnerships to specifically house those who are suffering from drug addiction and mental health issues is pivotal. Additionally, there is no central database of housing availability readily available. Agencies and non-profits have to call down a list of housing providers one by one, to find what units they have available. I will work with California legislators to create a real-time housing availability portal. Property managers, tenants, and case managers will all benefit from a centralized marketplace.

A More Equitable Economy

People in San Bernardino County deserve an economy that is more equitable and creates more opportunities for people to reach the middle class. As a leader in my union, I’ve fought for better wages, safer working conditions, and affordable access to quality health care for people throughout the Inland Empire.  In the State Assembly, I will work to create incubator and accelerator programs so that all of our entrepreneurs with great tech startup ideas will have the seed funding needed. This will ensure our talent stays here in San Bernardino County as opposed to taking their ideas to other counties and states due to lack of resources here at home. I will work tirelessly to support our workforce development centers that train and retrain our workforce to keep up with an ever changing world, so that no one gets left behind. Providing access and increasing awareness around trades is also very important. Achieving a 4-year degree is great, but that pathway is not for everyone. Trades provide great wages and benefits and provide opportunities of a lifetime for people to create a life they deserve. I’ll also work to develop programs that will increase access to health care for seniors and our underserved communities. I’ve seen firsthand patients having to choose between paying for a medication needed for their ultimate survival, and putting food on the table. No one should have to go through that.

Helping Small Businesses in San Bernardino County Succeed

I come from a family of entrepreneurs and small business owners who work in sales and logistics. As a teenager, I would wake up at four in the morning to help my grandfather prepare inventory for delivery. I know firsthand the challenges that start-ups and existing businesses face as they try to grow in San Bernardino County. In the Assembly, I will work to cut down on bureaucratic mandates, help fast track permit approvals, make infrastructure improvements, and bring in state resources to invest in the development of new technologies locally that make San Bernardino County a more viable and attractive place for economic growth.

Cleaner Air

I see every day the impact of the pollution in our air, on our communities. San Bernardino County has some of the highest asthma rates in the country. While the warehouse industry has brought jobs and revenues to the Inland Empire, it’s also brought increased commercial truck traffic, and poor air quality. As your Assemblymember, I’ll work to make our air cleaner by working with our communities, businesses, and state and federal programs to expedite the new technologies that can be used to reduce fossil fuel usage. Furthermore, I believe that with any responsible development, it is crucial to ensure that community benefits agreements are created with projects, to place the needs and desires of the community and labor at the forefront.