Since being elected, I continue to pursue the agenda we helped build while being guided by three core principles. First, the people I serve understand their needs better than I. Only through constant engagement can those needs be understood, and only through a heartfelt commitment to service can that engagement be real. That is why my platform is based on your feedback, and why I welcome continued ideas on how to improve it. Second, any ideas for how to address your needs must be practical and flexible because the city’s budget serves as a cold limit on the amount of good the city government can achieve. Third, creative thinking and risk-taking are necessary to ensure we can effectively serve our constituents within those budgetary constraints.
Within that framework, I continue to engage my neighbors on ideas for moving Mount Rainier forward. Where my ideas fail to meet your needs or fit within the budget realities of the city, those ideas would change or be tossed aside. But the creative process does not stop, and I remain committed to pushing an idea forward when those three principles are met despite any political risk in doing so. And since being elected, I continue to find myself applying the skills I've learned through my day job - as a labor attorney negotiating collective bargaining agreements - to listen to others on the Council, find shared interests, and move the ball forward.
Through it all, I try to stay connected to you through newsletters and quarterly meet-ups with my Ward 1 partner, Celina Benitez. And for those times in between, my inbox and doorbell continue to welcome your questions or concerns so that I can be fully accountable to you.