Key Issues
Effective and Actionable
I love Palo Alto. We are families, neighbors, colleagues, and friends. We appreciate the qualities that make Palo Alto desirable – the weather, the schools, our small businesses, access to Stanford and open spaces – but we differ on how our community should grow while maintaining and improving these great qualities. I want to work for everyone in our community – young and old, owners and renters – and create a path forward based on the desires of residents. We are diverse, and no group should be left behind as we envision and create our future Palo Alto!
Palo Alto has a great legacy of strong community environmental leadership.
Climate change and the onsequential environmental
deterioration can seem like overwhelming problems. But
addressing climate change needs to begin at the local level.
Strong support for local retail business.
A healthy and vibrant small and local business community is a very
important part of Palo Alto’s economy, and vital to the health of the entire community. Local retail businesses provide residents with
the convenience of shopping locally, while reducing green house gas
emissions, and allowing for community building when neighbors meet up at these businesses.
Public safety must be a
City Council priority
With crime on the rise and increased fire danger, public safety, including traffic enforcement, have become critical issues in the 2022 Palo Alto City Council election.
Palo Alto is a Community, not a Commodity
Doria Summa was the only one on the Planning & Transportation Committee to oppose upzoning the PF zone ordinance to allow for the Alta Locale project which provided no benefits to the community. This is just one example of her knowledge and understanding of the issues, and courage to do the right thing.
Public Safety
Our citizens must be and feel safe in their homes and on our streets. I support returning Public Safety employment to pe-Covid employment numbers to ensure that we have sufficient traffic enforcement and safety on our bicycle routes.
Density
Palo Alto is bound to grow, and, given our restricted area and the need to protect our parks and open spaces, this growth will result in increased density. We need to manage how and where we grow in order to preserve the quality of life that we currently enjoy.
Local Business
Small and local businesses are the heart of Palo Alto’s economy and one of the things which makes our city so desirable. These businesses were hard hit by Covid and the pandemic’s repercussions.
Housing
Housing is clearly one of the top issues facing Palo Alto and the State. We need to retain and create affordable housing choices and protect renters. We need housing at all levels, but affordable (below market rate) housing needs to be the priority! The challenge is building and especially retaining truly affordable housing.
Environment
Climate change and the consequential environmental deterioration can seem like overwhelming problems. But addressing climate change needs to begin at the local level. Palo Alto has been a leader in many ways such as purchasing green electricity – but we can and should continue to do more.