Vision
My vision for Woodbury comes from my own personal connection to the community. As the place I’ve made my home, I want to see Woodbury thrive today, and evolve so it can continue to be a safe, inclusive, and beautiful city well into the future. This is why, now more than ever, we must lean in on ways to enrich our community.
Safety
Safety is at the core of a great community. Yet, there are people in my community of Woodbury who do not feel that law enforcement is creating an environment of safety. This is a challenge that can be overcome through cultivating and maintaining a trusting relationship between the community and law enforcement.
Water
Clean drinking water is critical for a community to have a high quality of life. The people of Woodbury deserve to have confidence that there is an effective and sustainable treatment plan to address the chemicals in our groundwater supply. This type of confidence is built when city leadership vigorously pursues comprehensive changes to address water quality issues.
Economic Equity
Our community is growing and well regarded within the State of Minnesota; however, that does not mean that it offers great or equal opportunities to every citizen. Community demographic data shows that our community continues to diversify. Yet, there is work to do to ensure that the educational outcomes and small business ownership levels are representative of the overall population and demonstrate equity across people of all backgrounds.
Safety (continued)
My approach includes creating opportunities to have honest conversations around safety
issues, developing ways to drive transparency and accountability, as well as supporting our Police Officers by improving mechanisms to address officer concerns and feedback. This plan is created in direct response to the stories shared by a range of community members, who have offered examples around how local law enforcement has not been able to support their personal safety needs.
As a private citizen, I’ve already shown my passion and action when it comes to public safety. Following the death of Philando Castile, I initiated a forum in collaboration with the Chief of Police, Lee Vague to bring community members of color and the police together to find common ground on some safety opportunities in Woodbury. As a member of City Council, I will boldly champion for the safety of all members of the Woodbury community.
Water (continued)
As a City Council member, I would take steps to drive confidence that drinking water is clean today, and will remain so well into the future. Providing more transparency around water quality would supplement the temporary water treatment facility by helping to establish trust in the current safety of our drinking water.
I would go above and beyond the current administration’s approach by actively advocating on behalf of our community to hold parties accountable for the negative impacts chemical pollution has had on our ground water. A clean, sustainable water source is critical for the health of our citizens today, and also for supporting the needs of our community well into the future; it’s not something we should sit back and hope someone else will address.
Economic Equity (continued)
If we want to be a strong, attractive community in the future, we need to also provide economic opportunities, great educational experiences, and community support to historically under-served and under-represented groups. Launching initiatives to improve educational outcomes, enhance skills, and support small business owners of diverse backgrounds will be good for all citizens of Woodbury.
Economic equity is an integral part of the vision I have for a better Woodbury, which is not a position shared by other candidates for City Council. I’m uniquely passionate about this topic not only because of the unique and personal experience that I can offer on this topic, but also because of my forward-thinking view of our globalizing world. I’m confident that taking steps to ensure equal opportunities across our community will make Woodbury an attractive, strong, profitable, and vibrant community well into the future.holder.