The
Issues
Policy
What matters to us
As an educator, my job depends on preparing and providing results. Our Councilmembers must realize that their jobs depend on those same results.
When it’s time to negotiate contracts, to set a budget that affects our community, to rezone properties in our neighborhoods, and to introduce policy, District 2 needs a leader that can mend their trust.
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Healthcare + COVID Relief
Wellness doesn’t just mean annual check ups. It’s important to fund specific programs related to mental health causes and important medication such as insulin.
For an overall healthier District 2 our goals are to:
- Ensure equitable vaccination distribution and increased vaccine centers in D2
- Fund transgender-specific suicide prevention/intervention programs
- Fund needle exchange programs and other harm-reduction services
- Establish and fund a city-run free LGBTQ+ clinic
- Establish a cost-share program for insulin in the City
We will invest in our own neighborhood by:
- Increasing solar-powered, downward-directing street lighting throughout district
- Providing Incentives for green building through Tax Credits and the CPS Budget
- Increasing bike lanes and infrastructure that encourages multi-modal transportation
- Establishing tree-planting program in neighborhoods
- Establishing a community food garden in District 2, increasing access to quality produce
- Improving drainage throughout the district to lessen flooding and reduce road damage
- Closing down the Spruce Coal Power Plant (CPS Restructure)
- Amending the Climate Action Plan to commit to carbon neutrality by 2030
- Establishing community agriculture zoning designation
Infrastructure
+ Environment
Our side of town has been taken advantage of by developers and by those looking to exploit our communities, land, and environment for profits. Due to this rapid gentrification of the neighborhood, so many of our neighbors are being priced out of their family homes at the hands of greedy developers, and that is unacceptable.
Housing
This February, we experienced one of the most disastrous environmental crises this state has ever seen. People were begging for shelter, warmth, food, and water - and the city was not prepared to provide any of it. We need to recognize housing as a human right.
My goals for housing include:
- City-owned hotels as temporary shelter
- Establishing a more accurate AMI for affordable and middle-income housing
- LGBT-Specific housing for homeless teens and adults
- Mental health & drug counseling services in all city-funded housing facilities
- Establishing a formal zoning process that redistributes power from developers to residents
- Establishing rent forgiveness for tenants extending from the start of the pandemic through recovery, providing cash and/or tax incentives to landlords
- Rejecting the continued use of public facilities corporations (PFC’s) to achieve affordable housing goals
- Establishing a community-led process for the appointment of Zoning and HDRC Commissioners
- Development of small housing communities for short-term relief
To do this we must:
- Establish a City department that specializes in crime prevention and re-entry programs to make policy and budgeting recommendations to move these initiatives away from SAPD
- Increase street lighting throughout the District to eliminate crime hubs
- End participation in the 1033 Program, effectively demilitarizing the police
- Establish a civilian oversight board to ensure public input
- Expand the Cite & Release ordinance mandating C&R for all petty, non-violent crimes
- Introduce a city-wide Ban the Box ordinance
- Develop and support community policing practices such as the SARA model, which places community members at the center of problem solving and finding long-term solutions to root causes of issues
- Abolish cash bail and implement alternatives to fines and fees in the municipal court system
- Eliminating the influence of the private sector in our prison system by ending contracts with private for-profit entities
- Immediately work to repeal Chapters 143 and 174 from the City’s contract with SAPOA
- Implement stronger demands in the city’s negotiation with SAPOA and advocate for consideration of past police officer transgressions in determining punitive actions against an accused police officer, removing overinflated overtime pay that incentives officers, and removing the influence of SAPOA in the disciplinary decisions against a police officer
- Decriminalize marijuana by implementing a no arrest policy under ALL circumstances
Community Safety
There is no way around the inherent biases police officers show in their disregard for Black lives. We must hold SAPD and the Police Chief accountable, provide more opportunity for civilian oversight, and work toward a more fair and just justice system for all.
accountability
Political finger pointing accomplishes nothing for residents. District 2 has been dealt an unfair hand and this has caused a distrust between constituents and our representatives. For too long, District 2 has been fed hope, but now is the time for action.
I want to mend D2's relationship with the City by:
- Eliminating the influence of the private development in City Council District 2’s office by refusing to accept money from developers and their associates, before and after election
- Implementing an Advisory Board consisting of constituents, community leaders, and community organizations that advises the council office on policy, budget priority, and community engagement to make the power structures of the office more horizontal
- Filling all Board and Commission seats in the first 3 months and prioritizing community leaders
- Implementing a 14 Day “Circle Back” Policy where we follow up on any matters brought up by constituents within 14 days of first contact.
- Maintaining a constituent services management tracker
- Establishing meetings with all neighborhood leaders and associations, regardless of registration status
We will lift up our community by:
- Creating a resolution supporting an increased minimum wage
- Expanding our Non-Discrimination Ordinance
- Passing a resolution and eventual ordinance recognizing various unions within the city of San Antonio, giving them legitimate bargaining powers within the city
- Establishing a Council Aide union
- Establishing a category for LGBTQ-owned and Black and Indigenous-owned businesses in the contract procurement process to redistribute wealth to marginalized communities
- Finding creative solutions to mitigate the effects of predatory payday loan companies in the city
Economic Justice
San Antonio is a historically economically segregated city, especially on the East Side. With so many new businesses in the district, it is important that they employ those in the neighborhood and pay them a livable wage. As a historically Black neighborhood, we will expand on non-discrimination efforts and give our marginalized communities a voice in the procurement process.
Immigration
San Antonio is a Sanctuary City and our undocumented constituents should not have to be looking over their shoulder for ICE agents every day of their lives. ICE and private for profit incarceration entities have no business in our city.
We must:
- Expand the Municipal ID Card Program
- Terminate all contracts with ICE
- Advocate for the abolition of ICE
- Pass legally binding sanctuary protections that our city commits to
- Expand the Cite & Release ordinance mandating C&R for all petty, non-violent crimes
- Oppose migrant Detention Centers
- Eliminate the influence of the private sector in our prison system by ending contracts with private for-profit entities
I believe we should:
- Expand Pre-K 4 SA to include a true Eastside center and a true Westside center, with increased bus routes
- Increase funding for after school programs and recreational programs/sports
- Introduce a charter school moratorium, preventing the development of new charter schools
- Require all charter schools in San Antonio to allow unionization of faculty and staff
- Establish publicly-owned municipal broadband
- Implement and standardize ACE Scores for public schools in San Antonio
Education
We must invest in our children. Our community is home to some of the most brilliant, creative minds, and we must cultivate them. We must invest in more after school programs that facilitate our kids’ output of energy and creativity. We must also protect our teachers. Educators prepare our youth for the future and deserve the right to safety and resources. Together, we can make this a reality.
Finally:
- If a candidate tells you they have all of the answers, they are not being truthful. I am a high school math teacher, not a subject-matter expert on any of these categories.
- I rely on the knowledge, expertise, and advice of others. This list will inevitably expand as I meet with community stakeholders, activists, frontline workers, and constituents.
- I will commit to supporting progressive policies that prioritize the working class and that benefit the everyday citizen.
Contribute
We can’t do this without your support! Any amount is appreciated, if you have the means to help. Your donation will help us reach more District 2 residents while paying our campaign canvassers a true living wage.
