I love Emeryville and I chose to run for office to nurture those aspects of Emeryville that resonate most with me: Her transportation system and access to bike lane mobility, apartment/condo style residences, child and elder-friendly parks, and its nightlife. Sadly, some of those attributes have waned over the years. I also envision an Emeryville that does more to support affordable housing while creating opportunities for non-affordable housing residents to work and live in Emeryville. I envision an Emeryville that plays it bigger by inviting more resources to support small businesses and becomes a platform for the innovation sector to see Emeryville as a place to launch dreams. I’d like to see Emeryville become a true experiment in progressiveness while not playing to the extremes of our political discourse and ideologies. For Emeryville to be a place for everyone.
I grew up in a group home in Brooklyn, and it wasn’t my tech savvy that helped me rise above poverty and urban disenfranchisement. It was the people who decided to share what little they had to help a precocious kid invent a future for themselves. So without family or community, any town, including Emeryville, becomes a desolate existence, but we can’t expect people to live and stay here if the city’s leadership doesn’t reflect its history and future. My background speaks to the future as a fundraiser, a funder, a third-time entrepreneur, and as a creative. By deciding to forego the tech entrepreneurial path to teach low opportunity youth how to code, I’ll bring an altruism to the city council that is grounded in pragmatic approaches that involve meeting with everyone, in spite of differences.
Simply, everything I learned in my life I learned from growing up in those group homes. You can’t control who you live with, so the best thing is to live with everyone the best you can and that includes my potential colleagues in city council.
Safety in Emeryville is part of my platform, but not in the draconic, anti-Black, anti-poor, anti-unhoused ways that have become popular as of late in Bay Area political discourse. Covid has made things difficult for people to connect and build community with one another, and in that chasm that was created, criminal elements have filled and exploited.
The city council has done their best to address these issues and our police force has done a wonderful job of being vigilant in the face of uptick crime rates but more can be done, including illuminating the darkest areas of Emeryville or adding subsidized security cameras outside of businesses.
The other issues that are a part of my platform include supporting existing affordable housing efforts and bringing in capital through grants, subsidies, and private/public partnerships to support our homegrown businesses. I can and will discuss these in-person with interested parties.
I did notice that Emeryville’s participation on the city committees was absent in the implementation briefs, and if that is so, that is a problem. We need to have a bigger voice on these initiatives -so increasing our representation in the PBA2050 is important to me - if we don’t already.
What I also noticed is that closing the digital divide wasn’t listed as a priority in the planning, so that is something I will be looking out for: broadband access, guaranteeing Emeryville public school students have access to computers, and providing mobile phone connectivity to all low-opportunity residents.
I just want to ensure that in advancing this plan, common detrimental outcomes like displacement and gentrification aren’t generated as a result of PBA2050.
I do, but singles eventually become families. I was one of them. I want new families to see themselves staying in Emeryville. We can do that by making Emeryville family friendly and attractive for families, while keeping an active day and nightlife that attracts singles.
When I ask residents who the mayor is, they don’t know. That needs to change. It’s not the mayor’s fault, but the culture of Emeryville city hall should be examined to see if it is as transparent as it should and can be. Do we post to social media? Do we support an independent local news circulation? Do we host and promote events that engage the public? Those are some of the ways we can foster closer ties between the public and its servants. Outside of that, I don’t know if the administrative reporting of Emeryville city council is transparent enough. I just know I’ll be.
Parks in Emeryville seem fine to those I have spoken to. If they can be better, I would invite those ideas.
The General Plan does a lot to address Emeryville’s beautification and bike access (which is great), but a lot has happened since 2009 and though it was amended in 2019, it was still pre-Covid. It needs to be updated and I would like to see elements of the plan that go beyond beautification. Also, there is no mention of land acknowledgement.
No. I don’t see the pressing need for one - budget wise. If anything, Emeryville shuttle routes should include Oakland’s Golden Gate Branch and there should be programs available to support our public high school students' access to the Barnes and Nobles store at Bay Street.
Not sure. I honestly don’t fully understand the question. Who is “us”? Can you rephrase it?
Also a question I am not sure of without access to that information and the opposing arguments for and against. Thank you for this question, I will inquire with the city council.
I will announce my slate of endorsements on September 30th - October 1st. It will be glorious.
My focus will be on transparent and clean fundraising devoid of public and private interests that don’t align with my values or the public’s perception of my campaign.
How much will I raise? Enough to get the job done.
When I was nineteen years old and back in New York from living in India, I registered with the Green Party and worked with the Working Families Party to count ballots and stuff envelopes. I am a registered Democrat and would organize debate watch parties as fundraisers for the Obama/Biden 2009 campaign. Getting involved in politics after a lifetime in private and non–profit sectors is new for me and I don’t promise to have all the right answers, but I will do my best to do things the right way, while having fun doing them.