COVID-19 - Continue Assisting the Community
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve worked hard to protect Irvine and assist our residents:
- Established Orange County’s first City-sponsored COVID-19 Testing Program
- Over 75,500 Meals-on-wheels and prescription deliveries for Seniors and At-Risk Residents
- Monetary Grants for 506 Irvine small businesses
- Financial Relief and Affordability for Homeowners and Over 1,870 Renters
- Protected funding for the Irvine Public Schools Foundation
- COVID-19 HOTLINE assisted over 2,235 residents - Call (949) 724-8250 for Help
- Helped hundreds of Irvine residents get the help they need
I pledge to continue my work assisting those in need. I pledge to continue providing regular, accurate, and timely COVID-19 information to our residents.
I will also continue to ensure the safety of our residents, at every step of the way, as we re-open additional areas of our community under State and County guidance.
The Irvine Master Plan - The Key to Irvine's Quality Of Life
My priority is to protect and defend the Irvine Master Plan. Now for every one of us, and for generations to come.
The Master Plan of our City is the "key ingredient" of a formula that has made Irvine one of the most desirable places to live in the nation.
Combine world-class parks, open space, and trails, into a "city of villages" -- neighborhoods with distinct and unique personalities -- where families can thrive.
Add in neighborhood school sites with award-winning public schools, close-by job centers where people can work, and the best Public Safety a community can envision, and you have the recipe for community success. That's Irvine.
The essence of the Master Plan is simple. Defending it is hard work. It requires a keen understanding and continued vigilance.
I strongly support the Irvine Master Plan. Since joining the City Council, protecting the Master Plan has been Job Number One for me.
To this I bring my experience as your current Irvine Vice Mayor, as the former Vice Chair of the Irvine Planning Commission, and as the former Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Public Safety - Ensuring Irvine Remains Safest City in America
Irvine is the Safest City in America of its size, for the 15th year in a row.
Ensuring we remain the Safest City in America is a top priority. That means supporting Public Safety.
The men and women of our Police Department are the reason we enjoy a safe community where we can thrive. They work to protect us 24/7. They are a caring organization and devoted to Irvine, and we fully support them. I will continue to work closely with our Police Chief and provide support whenever and wherever needed.
Cutting Irvine's Public Safety budget would undermine the investments our community has made, for many decades, in making this City a safe place in which to live, work, and play.
That doesn't mean we should ignore transparency, mental health, homelessness, and other concerns. For me, it means let's not undo something that's working very well for this great City.
I am the only candidate running for City Council that is endorsed by the Irvine Police Association. I am proud to have their endorsement.
Traffic and Development - Time for Action
We must address the growing traffic problem in our City before it's too late. Traffic is an issue that threatens the Quality of Life that we all came to here to enjoy.
Here's what I say at the many Community Town Halls I have held: it's one thing to talk about percentage improvements here, and more cars getting through intersections there.
But -- and this is critical -- what we need is our residents to feel and experience that they're moving quicker through previously congested areas, and that they're moving safely from Point A to Point B.
IMPORTANT FACT: The population of the City doubles during the day, as people come into our City to work.
IMPORTANT FACT: 1 out of every 5 cars on our streets is using Irvine as a "pass-through." They don't live in Irvine. They're getting off the 5 or the 405 Freeways and congesting our arterial roads, including Alton, Barranca, Culver, Jamboree (and more).
My Traffic Plan has 3 steps:
- Increase use of our "Smart Traffic Control Systems" which use traffic data and machine learning to adjust traffic light timing to move more cars through our intersections. Our pilot has been a success but we need more.
- Implement a successful traffic improvement tool: "Reversible Lanes." These are lanes where traffic can travel in either direction, and they're used in other cities to improve traffic flow during rush hour. Lanes are set up with lighting and street markings, and there's also movable barriers that are moved during low-traffic periods to switch a central lane from one side of the road to another to increase traffic flow.
- Create long-term plans and incentives to move non-residents in and out of our City's job centers -- Irvine Spectrum and Irvine Business Complex -- in a way that gets commuters' cars off of our streets.
I am fully committed to easing the traffic congestion in our City. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.