I am currently serving my first term on Bellingham City Council in the At Large position and am excited to announce my candidacy for a seat in my local Ward this time around: Ward 2.
I came to Bellingham to study Sociology and Criminology at WWU in 1999 and like so many of us, fell in love with this little city and decided to make it my permanent home. I found community through the live music scene and a fulfilling job with WECU that lasted over a decade before deciding that my skills and passions might be well suited to create and run a live music venue.
Now in its tenth year, my business is re-emerging after COVID restrictions and ready to get back into being a part of a revitalized downtown. I’ve served six years as a board member with Make.Shift, an all ages art and music space, and believe inclusive space to create and share art is an important aspect of having a healthy community.
I’ve lived in eight different Bellingham neighborhoods and in all but one as a renter. I spend my free time playing with my band and working on my fixer-upper house. My dog, Emma, also enjoys taking me on walks around the neighborhood.
Issues
Housing / Homelessness
Our city is not unique in our struggles with housing affordability and homelessness, two separate but interconnected issues. All down the West Coast, cities discouraged increasing housing supply and density, and there is one factor that correlates heavily with higher rates of homelessness: decreased housing availability. I am a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel when finding solutions. Our public policy should be influenced by evidence and research.
As a council we need to look to communities that have found success in implementing policies and mold them to suit our unique characteristics. Housing should be a right, nationwide. Until we see this societal shift we must prioritize our resources to focus on making sure our local residents have access to this most basic of needs.
Our city must act now to not only save the lives of those who are unsheltered, but also ensure that housing availability and affordability retains the lifeblood workforce, creative community, and non-profit employee members of our community. I vow to prioritize long term housing solutions that will not only retain the diversity we have in our city, but also encourage and support even greater diversity.
Criminal Justice Reform
Twice our county has voted to reject the construction of a new, larger jail. I agree that what was proposed wasn’t the solution to our needs. Now that we as a society are waking up to the racist, classist, and counterproductive state of our criminal justice system we will find ourselves with less and less of a need for incarceration.
Jail is not a solution for mental health or substance abuse needs and we must work to expand treatment, rehabilitation, and social support options locally. I vow to continue to work to make our local incarceration rates as small as possible through prevention, diversion, and bail reform while upholding a high standard of expectation for community safety and health.
A Vibrant Downtown
Our city has changed rapidly due to conscious efforts to infuse our city core with life, but we still have so much potential to fulfill. I want to see a downtown that has no empty storefronts, unique and thriving businesses, a diverse mix of residents, encourages multimodal transportation, and provides living wage jobs. Small businesses provide jobs, attract visitors and enhance our unique character and our city government should play a part in providing a support network for these businesses to thrive
Our downtown housing should encourage students, families with children, those with a variety of accessibility needs, the aging, and those at any income level to live, work, play, and volunteer downtown. Downtown needs to be ready for a future of residents who chose to use cars less. Alternative transportation needs are a thread that runs through almost every other major issue of concern including, but not limited to criminal justice, housing, and climate change.
