ON THE ISSUES

Economic Independence & Creating REAL Opportunities

DC is growing rapidly with lots of shiny new buildings, more companies, and good-paying jobs. But many of our residents feel that they may never be a part of that growth or land one of those jobs. Our city should look at every new development project as an opportunity to get local residents into meaningful work by using the time it takes for a project to break ground, or a new business to open its doors, to recruit within the community and prepare them for jobs created by the projects.

We must welcome anyone who is ready to change their lives into training and job development programs rather than putting up hurdles that keep people out of the economic mainstream. For example, we should provide stipends to low-income job-seekers while they are in training, so they can still pay their bills and take care of their children. 

Securing Public Safety 

Crime is the result of a system that provides little hope for those in need and makes it difficult for our officers to serve and protect. It’s time to redouble our investments in community policing, violence interrupters, and crime prevention initiatives. We should also support the Red Flag law to put the breaks on gun violence, increase funds for the gun buyback program and involve the faith community in that effort. And we must rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, through innovative programs that build stronger police-resident relations.

However, we will never succeed at reducing violence until we address its root causes—ensuring that people are able to meet their basic needs, improving mental health services, addressing systemic discrimination that holds people down, and assure everyone has the economic opportunities to get ahead, not just survive.

A Responsible and Responsive City Government that Puts Residents First

City government is supposed to work for us, not the other way around. As a Council member, I will help identify and break down the bureaucratic burdens that make it harder for us, as residents, to get things done. I will push government agencies to reevaluate their systems from the customer’s perspective to improve processes and make it easier and faster to navigate city services. That should include giving city government employees the support, tools, and incentives to provide great customer service. I will do what I have always done for the residents of my ANC—give you my number and pledge to help you navigate the city bureaucracy and get the results you want and deserve.

Education 

Running the Latin American Youth Center’s YouthBuild program was some of the most meaningful work of my life, and gave me first-hand experience in how to create alternative education-to-career pathways for our at-risk youth. Our current school system offers only one choice: college-or-bust. That’s not right. We must give students vocational and career-focused pathways that match their interests and skills and lead to real-world work opportunities. Let’s bring back career and technical education, revamp the Community College system as a post-secondary springboard to a career, and forge partnerships with employers to identify and guide students to in-demand good-paying jobs.

We should work with students starting in middle school to develop transition plans from school to adulthood, and provide mentors, more apprenticeships, and internships for high school students. Finally, let’s create new middle school options to reduce overcrowding and meet the growing demand as we have done for elementary and high schools.