In answering questions, please try to keep your answers relevant to and within the scope of the office you seek election to. Try and list specific policy ideas you think would be helpful in addressing issues.  Responses will be published on TempeYIMBY.org.

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How would you increase overall housing production?
By reducing impact fees and relaxing zoning requirements to
developers that have a plan and are willing to build workforce housing.
There are untapped opportunities with people wanting to expand on their houses,
which could grow the inventory. If there are incentives for people to expand, we can
leverage that growth.

How would you strengthen tenant protections?
We start by enforcing laws that are currently on the books. The city
must take steps to address predatory land lords and “slum lords” that are operating in
the city. It has to start by there being a means to report them to and followed with an
escalation process, which my result in it landing with the city attorney’s office, if
necessary.

How would you go about ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing in the
city?
Unfortunately, we have been limited by what we can do by state regs.
That said, we must be creative in how we work with developers who wish to rezone
and develop in new areas. The state law may prevent the city from requiring
affordable housing, we certainly can create incentives to include affordable housing in
new builds. The city still maintains control of a number of levers, including zoning,
inspections, and taxes. We must be innovative in how we use these levers.

What policies would you hope to enact regarding the issues of homlessness in Tempe?
We have spent money on programs and the results are inconclusive or
just bad. I would like to establish the metrics of performance of these programs so we
can see what is working and what isn’t. There are several programs in the community
that seek to remedy and reduce the homeless population. We must benchmark these
programs so we can continue to invest where the results are proven. But we must
measure the results so we don’t continue to spend good money after bad.

With the ongoing climate crisis, what city policies would you enact to take on climate
change and its effects?
It starts by acknowledging that humans are the primary reason we’re
seeing this change. We then must conduct an impact assessment of city processes and
policies that are contributing to climate change. Unfortunately, the state government
has passed legislation that has hampered the city’s ability to pass sweeping rules, so
we must focus on what we can change: city buildings, city vehicles, and multimodal
transportation. We can then invest where we will see the greatest return.

Do you support legalizing new and diverse housing options in parts of the city where it
is currently illegal to build them?
Absolutely. To the extent the city is able to control what happens within
it’s borders, and not run afoul of proposition 207, I support any option/idea that will
make us better. If that means half-houses, tiny home communities, or building in
areas that require rezoning, I am in favor.

How would you support multimodal transit options in the city? Would you support
protected bike lanes and expanding bike infrastructure?
Multimodal transit is necessary if we want to reduce greenhouse gasses
from cars, traffic congestion, and parking issues. However, simply adding bike lanes
doesn’t mean people will use them. We saw that first hand with the McClintock bike lanes. Form should follow function with the addition of bike lanes. Ultimately, the
people who live here will need to use them.

When it comes to public transit, what direction would you like to see Tempe take?
What improvements would you make to existing systems? Are there any new modes of
public transit you would like to see?
Our solar system transit model is forward thinking and innovative. I
believe it’s a model for other cities. I would like to see this sort of program continue,
and I would like to expand the Tempe in Motion program, so residents can get around
without relying on cars.

In regards to parking in the city, are there changes you would make to current policy?
Changing parking minimums, changing the cost of public parking, etc.
Not without further review. Changes in policies like this can have
tremendous impacts on the businesses and the patrons. I am in favor of park-and-ride
options, where visitors to the city centers can be shuttled in using the Tempe
Circulators.