Values

As your City Councilor, I will work alongside everyone in District 1 to do what is needed to ensure Duluth remains a place we all can call home. I understand that working parents need access to quality childcare and will work to make it abundant and accessible to all. I will support funding city services and infrastructure to keep us safe. As someone who experienced housing discrimination when I was a renter with two children, I am dedicated to fighting for fair housing for all. I will also work to protect our water and green spaces, take immediate action against climate change, and advocate for attracting more clean energy jobs to Duluth.

As a single-mom I had to turn down some jobs because the pay wouldn’t be enough to cover childcare expenses. Since the time I faced those struggles, the childcare crisis has increased with a shortage of openings and increased costs. I will make sure our childcare providers are supported, and that this crisis is treated with the urgency needed.

I support:

• Shared-service alliances and family childcare networks that would allow our small business owners to take administrative responsibilities off their plates, resulting in financial savings and the ability to lower costs
• Working to get state funding, grants, and contracts to provide stable income for childcare providers
• Incentives for businesses to address the childcare crisis through employer-provided and discounted care

As someone who experienced housing discrimination when I was a renter with two children, I am dedicated to fighting for fair housing for all. We need affordable housing for Duluthians across all income levels. I will fight to increase housing stock, and ensure that Duluth has high standards for rental inspections so that everyone can experience dignified living.

I support:

• Community programs working to increase first-time home ownership.
• Projects like Safe Bay that allow a designated and safe place for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
• Lessening the property tax burden on our community, especially considering those with fixed income so they can stay in their homes.
• Having high rental inspection standards so we can all experience safe, dignified, living.
• Working to eliminate racial bias from rental and home buying processes.
• Work alongside our BIPOC communities to address the consequesnces of historical redlining.
• Increased housing stock across all income levels

No place is “climate proof.” We are already seeing climate change affect our communities and we need to act now to reverse its effects. I will fiercely fight to protect our water and expand our green spaces. We have an incredible opportunity to build our economy with a labor-led transition to a clean-energy economy.

I support:

• A Prove-It-First Resolution so Duluth is a fierce voice against copper-sulfide mining proposals threatening our water
• Working to combat run-off through increasing green and biodiverse spaces within our city so that water flows into the ground, as opposed to carrying trash and chemicals into our sewers and lake
• Creating incentives for homeowners to eliminate pollutants from their lawns and plant pollinators
• All legislation banning PFAS, and support funding for water studies including the water study bill in our state legislature that would fund research to plan how we can have clean water for the next 50 years

I am dedicated to promoting the types of job opportunities that will allow our children to make a life here. Duluth is a union town and we must continue to stand in solidarity with our unions. As a server I also know what it’s like to be in an industry where joining a union wasn’t available. We must push for all workers to be able to earn livable wages, have healthcare, and strong unions.

I support:

• Ensuring city contracts go to local businesses and labor unions
• Enhancing workplace protections within the city
• Protecting workers who come forward about unfair labor and employment standards
• Investing in our small and mid size business community
• Working alongside our legislators on paid family & medical leave
• Supporting programs like workforce development, CareerForce, SOAR careers, and the Entrepreneurship Fund who work to bring opportunities to Duluthians
• Listening to city employees and value their input on decisions regarding benefits and career opportunities

Duluthians deserve city services and infrastructure that work and keep us safe. This means drivable streets, lead-free pipes, snow-removal, affordable utilities, and fully-funding our civil servants including firefighters and a community-crisis response team.

I support:

• Fully-funded civil servants, including firefighters and our community crisis response team
• Accelerating lead-pipe removal
• Prioritizing affordable, sustainable, and reliable utility services
• Ensuring efficiency and transparency in street repair planning
• Upkeeping our parks and trail systems that we all hold dear
• Strengthening our sewer systems, infrastructure, and electrical grid, especially as we continue to face record storms

I support the Protect the Gateway group in fighting the roundabout at 60th Ave E. I personally have driven, biked, and/or walked that intersection almost every day for the past 15 years, and I agree with so many residents who say - we do not need this project.

The concerns are real. There has been no environmental study done on this project that is feet from Lake Superior. This project would possibly cost the city 40% of the project, and also remove a home, and part of a historic park, not to mention the increased hardscape that will increase run-off directly into Lake Superior. An additional concern is the extensive light pollution that will greatly hinder the long tradition of smelt fishing off of the historic stone bridge.

I am proud to already be working with elected officials, and attending City Council meetings to let sitting councilors know how important it is to vote in September against this roundabout construction.