You’ve heard the old quote from Albert Einstein – “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” That just about sums up our elections these days.
We keep sending typical politicians to Sacramento – and expecting a different result. Sadly, we just get more of the same. That’s why I am announcing my candidacy for State Assembly – because we need change, not more of the same. People say – “that’s insane to challenge an incumbent!” I get it. But what’s really insane is to not challenge the status quo that isn’t delivering for our communities.
And that’s what I plan to do – go to Sacramento to deliver. I’m not going to Sacramento to “go along to get along.” I’m going to get things done – on the issues that matter most.
The status quo isn't delivering for our communities.
We need real change.
Stopping the politicians who are taking away local democracy
Sacramento isn’t working for regular people – it’s time to shake things up.
It works for the big donors, special interests and career politicians – but it doesn’t work for the average Californian. As a mayor of a local city, I see this first hand – we get slogans from politicians, we get press releases from Sacramento, we even get blamed for problems they started – but we don’t get results.
The defenders of the status-quo in Sacramento need a wakeup call – and its going to take a people-powered grassroots movement to show them that they can’t get away with business as usual anymore. People are demanding more than promises. We are demanding solutions.
Addressing the insanity of street homelessness
When it comes to solving our state’s homelessness crisis, we know the answers – politicians just aren’t delivering.
We need both long-term and short-term solutions. Short-term we need to look at navigation centers and proven mental health treatment programs that include full drug treatment and help keep participants clean and off the streets.
Long-term we need to focus on building housing people can afford where it makes sense. We’ll continue to see people back on the streets without supportive services for those who experience chronic homelessness. By helping our neighbors into shelter and providing them with job training and placement, mental health support, and other services, we can help them take their lives back. Secondly, build more affordable housing. It’s that simple. In the State Assembly I’ll work with local communities to build more, and more affordable housing. And I’ll make sure it’s next to existing transit so we don’t increase traffic.
Keeping our communities safe
Ensuring public safety is one of the core responsibilities of our elected leaders. And in many circumstances, we work to keep our communities safe and be compassionate at the same time.
For example, if someone who is living on our street is suffering from substance abuse or mental health issues, and is a danger to themselves or others, we should – with a court order, adequate protections and a review process – mandate that they enter treatment for 90 days. That is certainly more humane than simply releasing them back onto the street, where many people die as a result.
Our public safety policies should be data-driven – and researchers have found that many times people resort to letting their loved ones go through the criminal justice system in order to obtain the psychiatric and substance abuse care that they need. We need to get straight to the point – and get people the care they need to start to turn their lives around – which would in turn free up precious resources so the police can continue focusing on going after career criminals, who, in many circumstances, are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime.
Getting smart about
government spending
While many of us are blessed to live in very prosperous communities, we can’t let that continue to be an excuse for Sacramento politicians to continue to spend our tax dollars frivolously and inefficiently on everything from high speed rail to homeless prevention initiatives that, at best, do nothing to address the root causes of the problem.
We are tired of constantly dumping more and more tax dollars into solutions that seem to yield very little – if any – results. It’s time for Sacramento politicians tighten their belts and get smart about spending.