What are your top 3 priorities for county commission?

“Infrastructure/Smart Growth, Fully Funded/Supported Public Schools & Transparent/Accessible Government”

What would you do as a commissioner to help the city and county work together toward a shared vision?

“At the very least, make intentional efforts to cross-promote meetings and forums with city officials to the community at large so residents understand how they are different, how they are the same, and the opportunities that exist for them to collaborate.

I think it needs to be an ongoing, ground-level marketing approach that starts with educating the public first, then empowering them to ask questions, expect accountability, and advocate for themselves and their communities.

Once the community knows the “what” and “how,” they’ll be much better equipped to ask “why.””

What can the county commission do to ensure that development reflects the needs and input of our communities?

“Our officials can start by stopping their incessant need to make things more complicated than they need to be. By that, I mean educating their constituents about development from a holistic approach: the pros, the cons, how to engage with developers so they’ll listen, officials using their own public platforms to highlight developers who WANT to listen to and consider the public’s needs, hosting town halls regarding development on a regular basis, publicly disclosing if they have ties to a certain developer or project, and recusing themselves if and when necessary, etc.

For me, everything stems from education and communication because you have to help people crawl before they can walk, and that’s part of our responsibility as representatives.”

What is your most unpopular opinion?

“Tough question! I believe that depends on one’s worldview. I have a lot of opinions that are extremely popular with a large number of people, while others would strongly disagree.

I think the world needs to stop expecting women to help everyone & demand nothing in return. We’re raised & told to build society up, build men up (fix their mental health issues, solve the “male loneliness crisis,” or reverse the decline of marriage and birth rates, etc), and give to the point of depletion and I’d like to see that change. That approaches hurts both women & men, and its outcomes are showing up more and more each day, particularly in government, at every level. Women have been screaming for understanding, conversations, and laws that would ultimately address their own grievances — and others’ as well — but “they” (men/the patriarchy) often don’t WANT to listen, reflect, or go in a different direction. Because of that, the gap between men and women will likely continue to widen, to the detriment of mankind.

Happy to see women running for office, building coalitions, alongside communities, and continuing to fight back & lead us forward.”