Priorities
Housing • Transportation • Community • Parks • Safety
Housing Choices
More options. More affordable.
Housing in Kirkland is so expensive because there aren’t enough homes to rent or buy that meet people’s needs and budgets. The extreme shortage means many people compete for each home, driving prices higher and creating supercommuters that exacerbate our traffic congestion problems.
Our community relies on our teachers, childcare workers, and service workers, but they are routinely outbid by wealthier folks and have to move further and further away. Many older adults find themselves stuck in houses that are too big, too hard to care for, and challenging to move around in, but they can’t find an affordable alternative that better meets their needs without moving far away. Established homeowners find the costs of everyday goods and services along with property taxes going up and up as the rising cost of housing is ultimately paid by all of us.
As a councilmember, I will work to make it easier and less expensive to build new homes of all shapes and sizes so that young people can find a small starter home or place they can afford to rent near their job or in the community where they grew up. I will support policies that make it easier for older adults to age-in-place — downsizing without having to leave the communities to which they belong. I will not forget that housing and transportation are two sides of the same coin and approaches for one that do not consider the other are unlikely to succeed.
Transportation
Safety. Sustainability. Freedom.
After housing, transportation is the largest line item in most household budgets. Owning and operating a car today is incredibly expensive, and traffic crashes injure and kill millions each year. In the US, a person is killed roughly every 12 minutes, and five are injured each minute in car crashes. Building car-dependent places means people who may not want to use a car for every trip are forced to do so, at great expense to themselves and to the city.
Kirkland is a Vision Zero city, meaning we’ve committed to completely eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries. But we’ve got a long way to go — this year we made it 6 days before our first serious injury.
We also have a large nondriving population: kids, folks who have aged out of driving, folks who can’t afford a car, and folks with disabilities that prevent them from driving. We need to make sure our transportation system provides mobility freedom for everyone.
As a councilmember, I will support efforts to make transportation in Kirkland easier, safer, and more financially and ecologically sustainable. My goal will be to decrease congestion by investing in viable alternatives to driving for those who want to use them.
We can build more walkable and bikeable places to reduce our reliance on single-occupancy vehicle travel. When we give people more options, we improve the transportation system for everyone, whether they are driving, walking, rolling, cycling, or taking transit.
Complete Community
If you want to experience arts and culture, do some single-track mountain biking, or enjoy amazing fine dining, you can do all those things and more right here in Kirkland. If you want to start up a small business, find a job that suits your unique skills, access world-class healthcare services, or shop at an independent book store, you can do those things here too. Increasingly, our wealth of amenities is at risk as local businesses cultivated in our city lose out to bigger players and the cost of living rises.
We are also no exception to the loneliness epidemic plaguing our country. We’re losing our “third places” where people can congregate and make social connections without having to spend exorbitantly. These spaces are particularly endangered in the northern parts of Kirkland. We must never forget that people are the indicator species of a successful place.
Opportunity. Accessibility. Places for people.
As a councilmember, I will always keep an eye toward fostering more community connections. I will support policies that encourage the creation of more public spaces that support not only our social fabric, but also the ability of our small business community to thrive. I will work to create the conditions under which entrepreneurs have opportunities to succeed locally while workers have a diversity of employment options.
Parks & Open Space
Natural beauty. Climate. Recreation.
We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a beautiful place and we should never take that for granted. I often tell people we have the trifecta: trees, mountains, and water.
In many places, growth and development have meant a loss of greenery, but that need not be the case. In Kirkland we are fiercely protective of our parks and open spaces. These will become even more important as we experience more of the effects of climate change, including both more extreme weather patterns and the large number of climate refugees our region is likely to receive. A long-time Green Kirkland Partnership volunteer, I have a keen understanding of the relentless focus and work required to maintain and improve our green spaces.
A more walkable, compact development pattern will allow us to ensure these critical amenities remain accessible to all, while decreasing our reliance on cars and the emissions, traffic congestion, and seas of gray asphalt that accompany them.
As a councilmember, I will support policies that preserve and expand our access to parks and open spaces, both locally and regionally. I will work to ensure all Kirklanders can enjoy the natural beauty of our city. I will push for more street trees and types of buildings and development that coexist harmoniously with trees and keep our city green (literally and figuratively). I will thoughtfully balance the importance and value of nearby greenery with preventing further devastation of forests closer to our urban boundaries.
Public Safety
Kirkland is a safe place! That’s no accident. Our city dedicates a significant portion of our budget to ensuring we have a highly trained and professional emergency response and human services team. Having and using the right tool for a job can be the difference between success and failure — public safety is no exception. Our preventative programs, whether social services, fire codes, or Homelessness Assistance & Response Team (HART) save us from needing to constantly deploy much more expensive reactive measures. This approach leaves our law-enforcement officers available for situations where they are truly needed.
To guarantee Kirkland remains safe for future generations, we must prioritize the most cost-effective measures that get to the root of our problems. We cannot sweep our problems under the rug or wait until things are on fire to act.
As we experience more extreme weather events, we must also prioritize emergency preparedness and ensure our city is adaptable and resilient. If we can preemptively mitigate the impacts of these events, we can significantly decrease the costs (human and financial) associated with them.
Comprehensive. Holistic. State-of-the-art.
As a councilmember, I will continue to support and champion the city’s holistic approach to crime prevention and homelessness. I will fight for changes that make our city’s systems more robust and resilient. I will take the long view and push for data-driven strategies that maximize the safety we get for our hard-earned tax dollars. I will also insist that we consider all community members when we define “public safety.”