Issues
As a candidate for the Olympia City Council, my platform focuses on preserving desperately needed resources for our community by ensuring fiscal management and empowering small businesses to foster a thriving, resilient community.
A Safer, Healthier Olympia for Everyone
My campaign is grounded in a commitment to strong support for local businesses, public safety, and compassionate solutions for our unhoused neighbors—all rooted in the belief that we must manage Olympia’s city budget with transparency, discipline, and long-term thinking.
Responsible Fiscal Management
We cannot meet our city’s challenges without a solid financial foundation. This year's budget shortfall resulted in the reduction of 18 full time permanent city employees and the associated resources and benefits they provide our residents. Over the next 10 years, the budget forecast projects expenses outpacing revenue every year leading to a depletion of our reserve fund and a $16 million shortfall by 2032. This trend is simply not sustainable.
I will advocate for:
- Transparent budgeting and performance accountability
- Efficient use of taxpayer dollars to protect core services
- Proactive financial planning to avoid future deficits
- Incentives for business development to increase revenue
Olympia is facing real budget constraints, and we need leaders who are ready to make responsible, strategic decisions.
Local Business, Local Pride
Small businesses are the heart of Olympia’s economy and character. I’ll champion:
- Incentives: Prioritize filling vacant commercial spaces by addressing unaffordability of leases. Provide incentives for property owners and managers to help address the vacancy issue.
- Enhanced Access to Resources: Collaborate with local organizations like the Thurston County Small Business Incubator to provide entrepreneurs with mentorship, training, and resources necessary for growth and long-term success.
- Streamlined Permitting Processes: Simplify and expedite permitting and licensing procedures to reduce barriers for new and expanding businesses, making it easier to navigate regulatory requirements.
- Financial Support Initiatives: Expand programs such as the Business Resiliency Project to offer scholarships and funding for training programs, particularly targeting minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
When our local businesses prosper, our community grows stronger.
Public Safety You Can Trust
Olympians deserve to feel safe in their homes, neighborhoods, and downtown. I support smart investments in public safety that:
• Prioritize community-oriented policing and crisis response and expand programs that have demonstrated success. The Olympia Police Department notes that resources are needed to develop a comprehensive communications strategy that would help it broadly share public safety challenges and success stories, relevant data or new and/or changed programs and policing approaches. The department is also currently operating without a public-facing westside satellite station, traffic unit, or a sufficient supply of patrol vehicles.
• Improve capabilities, coordination and communication surrounding mental health and social service professionals. The Crisis Response Unit is popular among community members familiar with them. Expanding and sharing more information about this program could enhance public safety response perceptions. Increasing their training and capabilities could also alleviate some pressure and costs associated with the Olympia Fire Department's response to these types of calls.
We must strike a balance between safety and compassion, ensuring that our first responders have the resources they need while also investing in long-term community well-being.
Addressing Our Unhoused and Drug-Impacted Neighbors
Creative and collaborative solutions regarding homelessness and substance use require sustained commitment and strategic investment. I believe in:
• Expanding access to emergency shelters, transitional and low income housing, and behavioral health support. With more than 1,000 people in Thurston County experiencing homelessness, we need to engage our partners in the building community and streamline processes to expedite construction of emergency shelters and housing.
• Strengthening partnerships with nonprofits, outreach workers, mental health service providers and substance abuse counselors to deliver resources to those in need. We need to identify and assist those at risk of experiencing homelessness and intervene early for the best possible outcomes.
• Implementing evidence-based solutions that improve outcomes for individuals and the community. Despite significant work made to address this issue, the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased since 2006 and rose 23% from 2023 to 2024.
Olympia must lead with empathy and action—not just words.
I believe we can build an Olympia that is safe, compassionate, and economically resilient—if we work together and bring more people to the table. Let’s get to work.