I’m pro-choice. I’m shocked and angered about the recent Supreme Court decision. I’m happy to live in a state with a governor, legislature, and U.S Senators (currently) who support women’s rights and bodily autonomy. I’m deathly afraid of what happens if any of that changes in the coming election, and I encourage you to vote like your rights depend on it–because they do.

Yes, I have been a proponent of tearing down the old motels that preyed on our most vulnerable citizens. These rentals were mostly cockroach- and rat-infested singles, with broken heating and cooling, that cost over $1,200 per month. We should not allow nor encourage an environment that takes advantage of vulnerable folks in that way. I know personally how much effort went into finding better housing situations for those residents, including help with the cost of moving. Shedding a tear over the demolition of those abominations is like crying if a payday lender that charges 500% interest per day gets put out of business. We’ve said for years that we needed to clean up downtown, build infill development, and connect the university with downtown. These projects are doing just that.

A lot of these downtown developments have a lot of higher-end condos. For the most part, these are not direct replacements for the people who were displaced from some of the old motels. That kind of housing is going in, though, albeit more slowly than I’d like to see. I’m hopeful, however, and have seen those projects getting off the ground through recent investments from state and local recovery funding.

We need more housing for working families and first-time homebuyers, and everyone else. I understand the need personally, from the citywide lens of the mayor’s office, and I see it as a small retail business owner where I struggle to pay the young people who work for me enough to afford housing. I’m excited to see units of all different types being built as we speak, and to be part of the continuing conversation about making housing more affordable across the board.

Regulations like rent control are not allowed under state law. There is also very little that the city can do to force people to do one thing or another with private property, whether it’s telling them what to build or what they can charge for rent. In a lot of ways, that’s good–as private citizens, we should be able to decide what to do with what we own. That’s why it’s so important to work with people to find ways to incentivize developers to build the things we want to see built. We do need more options to crack down on predatory practices, to protect “mom and pop” landlords while not letting Wall Street investors buy up all our housing and charge outrageous rents that drive up the entire rental market, and to require developers and incentivize the types of housing developments we want. These are state and regional issues that the city cannot solve by itself. I have worked with our legislators and other government partners to address these issues, and I will continue to do so.

“What political party are you really, though?” I get this question a lot. I am a registered non-partisan, and I have been for my adult life. There are smart, caring people in both major parties who have good points. People in the same party disagree with each other on some issues, and moderate people of opposite parties agree with each other on some issues. I’ve never been interested in the partisan side of politics, and what city government does is really outside of partisanship, too–after all, a pothole is a pothole.

I am pro-choice. I am happy to live in a state with a governor, legislature, and U.S Congress (currently) that supports women’s rights and bodily autonomy. I am shocked and angered by the recent Supreme Court decision. I am deathly afraid of what happens if any of that changes in the coming election, and I encourage you to vote like your rights depend on it because they do.

Yes, I have been a proponent of tearing down the old motels that preyed on our most vulnerable citizens. These rentals mainly were cockroach- and rat-infested singles with broken heating and cooling costing over $1,200 per month. We should not allow nor encourage the kind of behavior that continues to take advantage of vulnerable folks. I know personally how much effort went into finding better housing situations for those residents, including help with the cost of moving. Shedding a tear over the demolition of those abominations is like crying if a payday lender that charges 500% interest per day gets put out of business. We have said for years that we needed to clean up downtown, build infill development, and connect the university with downtown. These projects are doing just that.

I get it. I have three roommates. I own a small retail business where I struggle to pay the young people who work for me enough to afford housing. We need more housing for working families and first-time homebuyers. A lot of these downtown developments have a lot of higher-end condos. These are mostly not direct replacements for the people who were displaced from some of the old motels. That kind of housing is going in, albeit more slowly than I would like to see. However, I’m hopeful and have seen those projects get off the ground through current state and local recovery funding investments.

Things like rent control are not allowed under state law. There is also very little that the city can do to force people to do one thing or another with private property, whether it is telling them what to build or what they can charge for rent. In many ways, that is good – we should be able to decide what to do with what we own as private citizens. That is why it is so vital to work with people to find ways to incentivize and require developers to build the types of housing developments and infrastructures we need to help keep our city vibrant. We need more options to crack down on predatory practices, to protect “mom and pop” landlords while not letting Wall Street investors buy up all our housing and charge outrageous rents that drive up the entire rental market. These are state and regional issues that I have and will continue to work with our legislators and other regional governments to address; they are not ones that the city can address or solve by itself.

“What political party are you really, though?” I get this question a lot. I am a registered non-partisan, and I have been for my adult life. There are brilliant, caring people in both major parties who have valid perspectives. People in the same party disagree with each other on some issues, and moderate people from opposite parties agree on some issues. I have never been interested in the partisanship side of politics, and what city government does is outside of partisanship, too – a pothole is a pothole.