City of Del Rey OaksCandidate for City Council

I’m an 18 year resident of Del Rey Oaks and my husband and I have truly enjoyed raising our two kids in this beautiful city. My kids are now teens and for the past few years, I’ve had more time to become involved in city decisions. 

I’m an extremely hard worker and will dedicate myself to causes I believe in and our beloved City of Del Rey Oaks is one of those causes. As someone who is dedicated to the environment, I began advocating for sustainable energy through Monterey Bay Community Power (now Central Coast Community Energy). Wanting to see progressive change in the city, I was a big supporter of Mayor Alison Kerr’s campaign and election in 2018. 

Mayor Kerr, in her effort to bring opportunities for involvement in the city, began the Mayor’s Advisory for Sustainability. I was involved from the very beginning and then took the lead in turning that committee into “Sustainable Del Rey Oaks” and became Co-Chair at the beginning of 2019. 

At the same time, I became aware of the Airport’s desire to build a road through Del Rey Oaks. Understanding how this could drastically change my community, I saw the need for intervention and created and managed the NO ROAD DRO campaign. This effort mobilized hundreds of concerned citizens and victory was achieved when the Monterey Airport, this spring, removed the road from their short-term plans. It still remains on their long-term plans, and so I’m very interested in continuing to create opportunities for transparency and communication between the Monterey Airport and the local jurisdictions. 

This year, I’m also continuing with my passion for helping both the environment and students, by helping lead the Education Committee for Communities for Sustainable Monterey County, which is working on curating climate change resources for K-12 teachers.

I’m also interested in a sign ordinance that does not limit free-speech, creates less confusion for residents, and has clear enforcement, so I’ve been appointed to the Del Rey Oaks Sign Ordinance Committee.

I always put my energy and passion into making the world a better place, and I think local government is the place to best make that happen. I look forward to serving and working hard to represent the residents of Del Rey Oaks.

I am a life-long Democrat and believe that first and foremost we need to care for all people and for the environment. Honesty and communication are very important to me. I want to be a leader who communicates well, which also means that I will be doing a good job of listening. Truly understanding an issue only comes about after opening yourself to other possibilities other than your own. Once an issue is understood, then we can have an informed discussion and have transparent decisions being made.

As a mom and an educator, I want to be a good role model and I will always stand with my values- embracing diversity within our community, always striving for racial and social equality, using data and science in decision making, always being transparent with information and decisions, and doing all we can to prevent climate change. 

Even though I’m a registered Democrat, I believe that we can all agree on what’s important in a community. We want to be safe, valued, and our voices heard. We want beautiful open spaces, clean waterways, and places where our kids and families can enjoy. 

Locally, I believe our water system should be publicly owned and that we should pursue Pure Water Monterey for our additional water source since that is the most economical and environmentally beneficial option. It’s also currently in place and can be ready to deliver additional water to our peninsula in just over a year and a half. Although we are a small city, our regional board appointments make a big difference, so I believe it’s important for our leaders to not only think about what’s best for our city, but what is best for the peninsula.