Platform

Meeting our climate goals requires more than symbolic gestures. It demands a fundamental shift in how we design our communities and move through them. I understand that cutting car dependence is key to reducing emissions, improving public health, and creating more livable neighborhoods. That’s why I envision a city designed for people, not cars. To do this, we must build a dense downtown that prioritizes walking, biking, and transit.  

Land use, transportation, and affordability are deeply interconnected. I support implementing zoning reforms that allow for more multi-family and mixed-use. This not only reduces commute times and emissions but also helps make Olympia more affordable and inclusive. Importantly, I believe growth must benefit everyone. Renters, working families, and low-income residents should be able to afford to live in the city where they work, rather than be displaced by rising costs.

A key pillar of my vision is my unwavering commitment to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan, especially its emphasis on equitable climate action and avoiding disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations. Maintaining green spaces and expanding parks is a start, but it fails to address how our most vulnerable and impacted residents will be able to access these resources, or how they’ll be impacted by the threats of climate change.

I want to take a more comprehensive approach, tackling issues like density, transportation, preservation, and inequitable environmental impacts head-on. These are interconnected issues that require interconnected solutions. And only when we begin to address them together can we truly build a resilient, equitable, and sustainable Olympia.

Keeping residents safe is a key function of local government. That means our city must be capable of responding to and resolving threats to the safety and wellbeing of its citizens. But to do this most effectively, the city must also have the trust of the community. Police are a necessary part of this, but we need to rethink how we approach policing to truly ensure we can both protect our citizens, and maintain their trust.

In 2024, out of 54,923 calls to police, only 76 required the use of force. This is a pretty clear indicator that not every call to police requires a response by an officer who is equipped and prepared to use force. That’s why I envision a multi-tiered police system made up of officers specifically trained and equipped to handle different situations such as was proposed by former police chief Rich Allen.

I propose two broad categories:

Police officers and detectives trained and ready to respond to public safety threats, including through force if necessary, and investigate crimes. This category would be made up of law enforcement officers licensed by the State of Washington, and:

Community resource officers dedicated to low-threat, community problems like traffic, nuisance abatement, and mental health and substance abuse intervention. This category would be made up largely of people traditionally thought of as “helping professionals” such as social workers and paramedics.

I do not believe in abolishing the police. But our police should not resemble the military. That’s why my focus is on police who are well-trained, well-equipped, but also subject to oversight and accountability in order to meet the needs of the community in the best way possible.

Housing is a human right and one of my top priorities. We must fix the broken housing pipeline by addressing affordability, equity, and accessibility of housing. When our community doesn’t have affordable housing, it’s easier to fall into homelessness and harder to get out of it. Fixing the pipeline means creating more housing options for those who are ready, but also creating upward mobility by building affordable working-class housing. 

I support the work the Olympia City Council has done to limit annual rent increases and create a rental registry, but there is more work to be done. To meet current and future levels of demand, and to increase affordability, we must think holistically about how the city can incentivize and support an increased supply of diverse housing options. To ensure that housing is equitable and accessible, city government has a pivotal role in protecting residents from undignified conditions and disproportional cost hikes. To these ends, I’ll support zoning reform, affordable housing development, and tenant protections. At the same time, I’ll work to ensure small landlords are not squeezed through needless red tape or over-burdensome expenses.

Looking ahead, I see a significant opportunity to update our city codes to allow for an increase in our stock of more diverse housing options, from ADUs to multi-family units. For example, we can waive permit fees for ADUs dedicated to below market-rate housing to create more affordable housing throughout the city. We need an "all of the above" approach–exploring and implementing bold and creative strategies to increase our housing stock and ensure it is affordable–to ensure every person in Olympia has access to housing.

The next step is to pursue regional policies similar to Olympia's Affordable Housing Emergency Ordinance. The Thurston County Regional Housing Council, which is tasked with promoting equitable access to safe and affordable housing, currently can't enact binding policies or a regional plan. I want to see that change and will explore ways to give the RHC the policy-making authority that it currently lacks.

We also need to explore options for developing public housing throughout the region. Partnerships with nonprofit organizations like the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) are valuable and have led to the creation of thousands of housing units throughout the Puget Sound region. These partnerships should continue, but could be complimentary to a regional public developer with more local control over housing development. Furthermore, we can and should leverage relationships with other jurisdictions–such as Seattle–that are experimenting with this approach, and benefit from their lessons learned.

Finally, we must improve access to services for our unhoused neighbors. Locally, around 20% of unhoused residents struggle with mental health and addiction. About 30% are women, many of whom have left abusive relationships. We need to expand our Crisis Response Units, which provide referrals and transportation to services, and partner with nonprofits, regional partners, and the state to expand access to mental health, addiction, and domestic violence support services.

In short, I want to ensure that everybody can afford to live in Olympia, because we have an incredible city where everybody should want to live. To do that, we’ll need to roll up our sleeves to take a comprehensive approach at the many causes of affordability and homelessness.

When investing in Olympia’s infrastructure, I am guided by my vision for a city where biking, walking, and utilizing transit are so convenient and enjoyable, residents will prefer it over driving a personal vehicle. A city where meeting our climate goals is not a burden, but a level-up that will make residents happier and healthier. Where we don’t just build individual bike lanes, but interconnected networks that enable residents to safely and comfortably bike anywhere they want to go. Where we have walkable neighborhood hubs that are robust enough to meet your every-day needs, and a walkable downtown that is accessible so that all can enjoy it. Where you can dine outdoors and carry on a conversation without yelling over car noise, and stroll downtown without tripping over jagged sidewalks. 

To realize this vision requires planning at the systems level, not a project by project basis. As a City Council member, I will promote systemic planning, and the bundling and sequencing of projects so residents can more immediately enjoy the benefits. For example, this might mean completing a point to point protected bike lane that fully connects a route instead of one priority block or intersection at a time, which provides disappearing benefits as cyclists are funneled back into car traffic. This might also involve pairing projects to repair and widen an entire corridor of sidewalk with projects to install more accessible bus stops and improved street crossings.

With regard to public transit, the only way to properly serve those who are most dependent upon it is to expand service. That will require an increase in funding at the local, state and federal level. As a City Council member, I will prioritize finding new streams of revenue to not only maintain, but to expand our public transit service. But funding is not the only issue. We’ve all seen how big transit projects get tangled up in bureaucracy, with inflated costs and delayed timelines. To avoid this, we must treat transit as essential infrastructure. We must plan it like we do energy or water, and deliver it at the speed our communities and our climate crisis demand. We need regional agreements up front so local jurisdictions aren’t pulling projects in competing directions. And we need to streamline approval and permitting, while still holding strong on climate and equity standards.

If we do all of this, we can create the Olympia we all deserve–an Olympia where everybody can safely and efficiently reach all of their daily needs, and where we can all live happier, healthier lives.

As a proud union member, I know that economic development starts with paying workers a wage that allows them to live with dignity. That’s why I’ve been endorsed by key unions in our region: WFSE 443, UFCW 367, UFCW 3000, ATU 1765, the Western States Carpenter’s Union, and TESC Faculty Union. 

Raising the minimum wage and lowering housing costs are essential to addressing our region’s affordability crisis. The barista at your favorite coffee shop, the mechanic changing your tires, and the person bagging your groceries deserve to live in the city where they work and afford everyday essentials. A higher minimum wage helps them do that. Furthermore, by raising the minimum wage, we can help folks afford the housing they already have and make it easier for those transitioning out of homelessness.

Olympia’s small businesses make our community unique, and it’s important that treasured local establishments are not run out of business by rising costs. Understandably, given the current national economic chaos and increasing costs of essential supplies, employers are concerned that a higher minimum wage might be the tipping point that leads to shuttered doors and employees out of a job. Thankfully, evidence shows this isn’t the case. Study after study—and real-world local examples from Renton, Tukwila, Burien, and Everett—show that raising wages does not lead to job loss. Rather, higher wages lead to higher employee retention, and enables those employees to spend more locally. Raising the minimum wage, particularly in a thoughtful manner, can be a win-win for employers and their staff.

The Workers’ Bill of Rights takes an intentional and measured approach. It considers small businesses who need more time to adjust, and offers a tiered phased-in approach. For these small businesses, the increase over the state minimum wage is modest: only 34 cents the first year, and 50 cents annually thereafter. This is a balanced, thoughtful step toward economic justice. 

The Workers’ Bill of Rights also leaves room for the City to decide how to apply certain measures, including how it would be implemented and enforced. I support the Workers’ Bill of Rights and, as a City Councilmember, I would be on the ground floor supporting the city in its implementation. 

We are at a pivotal moment in the trajectory of U.S. politics. Olympia has an opportunity to lead by example. We’ve seen the results of entrenched politicians clinging to positions of power rather than stewarding the next generation of leaders, and we’ve seen the populist backlash that has led to the dismantling of valuable public programs and policies. There is another way. This path forward is not one that is moderate, but is instead moderated by principles and by participation. 

I am deeply committed to my core values represented in this platform, and this campaign is an honest representation of my ideas. Standing in opposition to the subterfuge and opacity common in today’s political climate, I am transparently sharing my approach to Council work. 

While I have a strong vision for the city, I am also committed to open-minded engagement on the issues. I will continue listening to understand the needs and values of Olympians, and continue to apply my legal and policy analytical skills to ensure I have a systems-level understanding of the challenges the city faces. Rather than driving towards a broadly dissatisfying middle ground, I intend to collaborate with fellow Councilmembers to balance our community’s shared interests and needs for the greatest good.

Career politicians and those with access to legacy money have dominated politics, widening the disconnect with everyday people. I break that pattern. Coming from a rural, blue-collar Pacific Northwest family, I worked hard to build the legal and governance credentials that I bring to public service. Yet, I am still firmly part of the working class, allied with the majority of Olympians who, like me, depend on every paycheck. These are people dealing with hardship and housing insecurity, but also people trying to budget for their family’s future amidst rising costs, and people just striving to be happy and healthy. I believe a well-functioning city government can be a rising tide that lifts the boats of people across all life circumstances by easing the burdens and enhancing the wellbeing of all residents. 

Finally, my campaign represents a passing of the torch and a commitment to building the next generation of leaders. Many of us are drawn to the familiar over the new, but as the adage attributed to Albert Einstein suggests: problems cannot be solved by the same mindset that created them. We need those with the wisdom of long tenures of experience to step into the role of respected community advisers and mentors, supporting the next generation of leaders and enabling new ideas and approaches to governance. My candidacy represents this new crop of leaders who are ready to step up and guide Olympia forward.