Thousand Oaks is the perfect place to grow up. Staying in Thousand Oaks is the hard part.Teachers, nurses, first responders, and people who grew up here and want to build a life here can't afford to. Meanwhile, the city is aging in place, and that's not a coincidence. When young families and workers can't stay because it's unaffordable, it hits our schools, our workforce, and every part of what keeps a community running.I'm not interested in overdevelopment, and I don't want Thousand Oaks to lose what makes it Thousand Oaks. We live here because of the slower vibe and the small town charm.  And we have to make room for the next generation of Thousand Oaks residents, creating homes that are actually affordable in places that make sense, near jobs and transit. Smart housing means planning in a way that also maintains our single family housing neighborhoods and our commitment to protecting open space. Additionally, we need to be honest about workforce housing, because the people who keep this city running should be able to afford to live in it. Creating homes that are actually, truly, realistically affordable will help our businesses thrive, reduce freeway traffic, and create peace and happiness for the individuals whose dreams can come true in Thousand Oaks.I grew up here. My son is growing up here. I want that to still be possible for the next family, not just mine.

Thousand Oaks has incredible businesses. What it doesn't have enough of is business that feels like ours.Right now, it's easier for a national chain to open here than it is for a local entrepreneur, and we have underused spaces around the city that could be humming with local energy instead of sitting empty. The American Dream of owning your own restaurant with your family's recipes or providing a service that you specialize in helping others, is not out of reach. It's possible as long as we prioritize it. I have a vision where starting and keeping an independent business in Thousand Oaks is simpler, not harder. That means using pop-ups, events, and local retail to bring life back to our commercial corridors, and treating arts and culture as what they actually are: engines of foot traffic and community pride.

You can tell what a city values by its budget. Thankfully, after many years of civic engagement (and countless long nights at City Council meetings), I know the budget well.I know what it looks like and where we can make adjustments. For years, arts and culture in Thousand Oaks have been treated as a nice-to-have; something a nonprofit handles, something added in if there's room left over. I am not comfortable with settling on that status quo when I know we can do better. I've spent years on the other side of that equation, with TOArts where I currently serve as Vice Chair, and as a longtime producer in the television industry I can tell you the demand for a vibrant arts community is here. It's ready. We can create it.A thriving arts and culture scene means support for public art and performances, pathways for young people to enter into creative careers, and funding decisions that support the arts as a driver of our local economy. We can create opportunities so that artists can actually make a living in Thousand Oaks, and so that the whole community has a reason to come together. A city that treats the arts as a necessity is a city that succeeds civically, economically, and peacefully.

People don't trust systems they don't understand, and public safety is no exception. Yet, this should be a system that everyone understands and appreciates, especially since Thousand Oaks residents live here because of its low crime and safe neighborhoods with a law enforcement unit that wants the best for us.Thousand Oaks is fortunate to be served by the Thousand Oaks Police Department, under contract with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. While crime is trending toward historic lows, the relationship between TOPD and the community can always grow stronger I want to see more investment in mental health response and crisis intervention and more consistent engagement between residents and the people protecting them. I want to make sure that every single resident knows about the multitudes of helpful resources that are available and protocols that are in place to protect them.

Let's face it: we aren't New York City and never will be. And that is just fine with me! After attending NYU and spending 5 years in the city that never sleeps, I know what smart transit looks like. We can create bus routes that allow people to go where they actually want to go and do so for free or low fees; we can provide walking paths that allow residents to securely walk to and from their points of interest; we can protect our cyclists to ride their bicycles in lanes designated just for them and remove the threat of cars flowing in their space.  Seniors who can't drive anymore. Students without a driver license. Commuters watching traffic get worse every year. We already have tools that could help, like Dial-A-Ride, but they're underused, and inefficient. We need to expand access to our buses, and make our streets genuinely safer for pedestrians and cyclists, through better design, not just paint and signage.Nobody is taking anyone's car away. I just want Thousand Oaks to have options for more than one way to get around.

Thousand Oaks has always been proud of its environment. We have protected almost all of our incredible open space, have strong Oak tree protection policies, and invest in community resources like our Botanical Garden. This iswhat draws so many people to love Thousand Oaks, and I'm grateful for the stewardship of our natural resources and landmarks. The question is whether we're actually ready for what's on the horizon.Hotter summers, longer fire seasons, real water constraints: these aren't hypothetical anymore. High temps that last long after our typical summer months for heat create an energy crisis and higher electric bills for you. Dry brush and Santa Ana winds don't care if it's September or February. That means investment in fire safety and evacuation planning, infrastructure that can handle the stress we're already seeing, and insisting that new buildings take the lead on energy efficiency are the best ways we can act with the environment in mind. Thinking about our climate and the way we treat it also means running every major decision, from land use to transportation, through the lens of what the world looks like decades from now. When we ask ourselves, "What will Thousand Oaks look like in 30 years? 50 years?", we should be able to confidently say that we did everything we could to protect this beautiful cityfor our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.I'd rather we prepare a year too early than a year too late.

Every city that works has a place people gravitate to; a place where people gather. A designated spot in Thousand Oaks where people from all walks of life and interests can come together. Thousand Oaks doesn't have that yet, even though we have everything we need to create it.A real gathering place isn't just good for foot traffic; it's what a vibrant community is built around. It's where you run into a neighbor you haven't seen in months. It's where your kid sees a mural and finds joy and inspiration. It's where a regular Tuesday night can turn into an opportunity to showcase live music because there's actually a place for it to happen.That's the version of downtown I want to work toward: public murals that give our local artists opportunity, an amphitheater that gives touring and local musicians somewhere to play, and a public market that gives local vendors a reliable place to sell. Arts and commerce doing the same job at once, pulling people downtown and giving them a reason to stay once they're there.The City of Thousand Oaks is full of incredible history. From the old Westerns shot in Wildwood, to the history behind the Stagecoach Inn. Every acre of this town has a story to tell. Creating a downtown doesn’t erase any of it. In fact, I believe it builds upon it!.  A destination that provides economic growth that keeps spending in town instead of out of town, enjoyed along a walkable design that makes the whole area easy to move through on foot - will bring a whole new energy to grow with Thousand Oaks, creating new memories, adding chapters to our history books. Our city is hungry for the next generation of families to move in. Let's keep insisting it is a desirable to be so that we can continue to thrive, rather than take steps backward.. It doesn't have to be one or the other; Our rich history is  embedded in everything we do and everywhere we go; giving Thousand Oaks more opportunities for people to appreciate it is what makes our city great.

Most residents don’t spend much time thinking about City Hall, and not because they don’t care, but because it’s not always clear what it actually does, or how it shows up in their daily life. Through my role on the Community Funding Review Committee, as an advisor for the Y's Youth & Government program , and even dating back to my days as a Thousand Oaks Youth Commission - I have a great sense of how our city works. So let's make it possible for Thousand Oaks residents to also feel knowledgeable and comfortable accessing city resources and understanding its governance.We can do that, but only if the people running the city actually do the work to make city council work approachable. It starts with decisions made in the open and communication that doesn’t require a law degree to parse. We do a great job already, and there's even more that we can do.Here’s what I tell people at every opportunity we get to chat, because I want it to be a real commitment: You and I might not agree on everything, and that’s fine — that’s actually good for the process. Disagreement makes me better. It makes this community better. It makes this city better. But here’s what I can promise you. I will lead with transparency and govern in the daylight. I will do the work and read the staff reports front to back. I will listen to every resident, regardless of their background or whether they agree with me on a given issue, because your concerns matter to me, no matter what.You shouldn’t need to know somebody to understand your own city government, but in this case - you’ll know me, and I've got your back.