All of us deserve a safe, affordable place to call home. Our city is experiencing the largest population growth in its history. Ward 3 has grown by 37% between 2010-2020, while the city grew by 9%. Alongside this rapid growth, has come a large housing shortage. Whether renting or buying, the need for safe and reliable housing has simply not kept up with demand. On top of the housing shortage, approximately 46% of renter households are cost-burdened compared to 18% of homeowner households.

I believe in quality, affordable and accessible housing that enriches the character and community of St. Paul while meeting one of our residents’ most critical basic needs. I am committed to supporting more mixed-family residential construction projects in our Ward and across the city, with a higher percentage of affordable housing, to reduce the housing shortage and cost burden on renters. As a former renter in our Ward and current homeowner, I am also committed to supporting tenant protections for renters and improving access to homeownership for first-time home buyers so more residents can feel stable calling St. Paul home for the long-term.

Our City Councilors are our first touch point for government - they should be available, responsive to our needs, and have an intimate understanding of the needs of our neighborhood. In my time on the Macalester-Groveland Community Council, I had the privilege to meet many of our community members from diverse backgrounds and listen to their perspectives. Our Ward population includes representation from multiple types of families, renters, students, BIPOC residents, immigrants, retirees, and seniors.

As a community member with a family that does not look like many of the families in our Ward, I understand the importance of having a seat at the table when decisions are being made and to feel represented and heard by leadership. As a former renter, I recall not feeling like my views carried as much weight as that of homeowners, yet I was just as committed and rooted in my community. Surrounded by three colleges, our neighborhood includes a large population of student residents. As an educator and mentor, I understand the importance of ensuring that our students feel included, and have quality affordable housing options, so that they can pursue their education, and ideally start their careers in our community.

As a constituent in this district, I believe in public leadership that is engaged and responsive to its community. I am committed to connecting with all our residents, neighborhood districts, and organizations so that our community feels involved and heard in the work the City Council is doing. If elected to the city council, I plan to do this by hosting a variety of in-person and virtual events throughout our community so that our diverse population has accessible opportunities to attend. I also plan to share community updates periodically through different avenues to reach all our residents.

All of our kids deserve the same opportunity to build their dreams. As a working parent, I understand the childcare cost burden placed on families as you try to prioritize providing what is best for your child’s education. While the first few years of a child’s life are critical to ensuring they have a bright future ahead, it is during this time that parents are often left on their own to figure it all out.

However, it’s important that everyone in our community is supported and has equitable opportunities to get off to a solid start. The City has a role to play in making that a reality by supporting our littlest learners and their families in removing barriers when it comes to accessing and affording quality early childhood care and education options. I am committed to supporting quality early childhood learning options that prepare our kids to enter kindergarten ready to succeed and prosper. The success of our children has a major impact on the future of our city and public school district.

St. Paul needs to invest in making sure that it is built to serve our needs now and into the future, and that it does so in a way that is built to last. As a structural engineer, I understand firsthand the importance of prioritizing the maintenance, repair, and replacement of our city’s aging infrastructure. Such critical investments are a matter of public safety, as well as a matter of public responsibility when it comes to centering environmentally sustainable and equitable solutions to serve current and future residents across our city. I am committed to working with our city staff, local leaders, community organizations, and constituents to advocate for proper investments in our city’s essential infrastructure needs.

One of my favorite things about our community is walking to the grocery store and being able to chat with neighbors along the way who are out and about. I envision a Ward and a City where there are less cars driving on the roads and more residents walking, biking, or utilizing one of our newer bus lines to get from point A to B - whether it’s to a new local restaurant or shop, to school, work, taking their family to the park, or just running a quick errand. I am committed to improving the quality, accessibility, and types of transportation available, so that people can get around the city efficiently and safely.

In our city, I envision a mix of innovative new construction, renovated historic structures, vibrant parks, and green space, that unite our built environment with the people living in our community. In our Ward, the largest and most sought-after development site in the country, the Highland Bridge development, is underway. As a structural engineer, I am used to translating for a variety of audiences, which puts me in a unique position to educate and excite the public about this site, future developments, and the positive impact they will have on our city. With my background in the building construction industry, I am committed to working with community, stakeholders, and developers, as we move toward the successful completion of this remarkable project.

Local businesses are the backbone of our community. When I was in high school, my mom owned a consulting business in Highland for several years and her company was a member of the Highland Business Association. I learned firsthand the importance of our local business network and businesses supporting each other so that they can provide for our community. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from gathering at the restaurants and shops in this neighborhood with friends and family.

I am committed to supporting local businesses by providing and maintaining various spaces for their use. I am a proponent of supporting zoning for mixed-use buildings at neighborhood nodes and at regions that are zoned as commercial areas and intersections so that businesses are accessible by multiple modes of transit. This will create more jobs during the construction phase for the trades, as well as jobs for residents to work at the businesses and thus boost our local economy while adding to the character of our neighborhoods.

In addition, I support maintaining buildings that are marked as historic, whether registered locally or nationally, as well as the adaptive reuse of existing structures when it is efficient from an economic and construction standpoint.

The climate crisis is worsening, and we have less than 10 years to stop it. It requires collaboration across sectors, from housing and transportation, to education and sustainable jobs; climate justice is racial and economic justice. We must reject politics as usual and build a people-centered, multi-racial democracy. Together, we can build a livable future for all.

As a civil engineer, the existential threat of climate change is at the forefront of my professional work every day. I understand the intricacies of our built environment and the urgent need to transition to greener infrastructure. The city plays a major role in meeting the benchmarks for reducing our global temperature. For instance, rent stabilization allows people to live closer to where they work, reducing their carbon footprint in their commutes. Organized trash collection reduces the number of miles traveled by garbage trucks and thus the CO2 put in the air. My climate vision for St. Paul is to build on the Climate Action & Resilience Plan (CARP) from 2019 and set up for the next one in a more expansive, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable way. My expertise as a civil engineer uniquely suits me to help take on these challenges, and I will do so by evaluating their impacts through both an environmental and an equity lens.

All of us deserve to feel safe in our communities. Public safety requires an approach that responds to the current moment while setting a trajectory for crime reduction moving forward, so that all residents feel safe and protected - no exceptions. We need to be proactive in preventing crime by making sure people have their basic needs met and investing in public spaces to foster stable, well-connected communities. This work should be done in tandem with supporting our teams of mental health professionals, case managers, police officers, and community-based organizations with the resources they need to identify, address, and respond to the root causes of crime and neighborhood safety concerns. Additionally, neighborhoods can be better served when members of the community can join these public safety teams as a career path. I support investments in programs and outreach efforts to increase the diversity of historically under-represented community members in our public safety system to ensure officers are locally connected to the communities they serve.