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?
Since I’ve been elected Mayor, Tempe has led the way in how we help people find
housing and more specifically, affordable housing. Tempe is the first city to adopt an
Affordable Housing Strategy to ensure there is suitable housing available for people at
all income levels. Tempe works with developers to incorporate affordable and
workforce housing units into projects whenever possible. Our Urban Core Master Plan
both addresses our need for increased affordable housing and increased housing as a
whole, and I look forward to its passage.

How would you strengthen tenant protections?
I will commit to work with our legislators at the State Capitol regarding tenant
protections – this is an area where we are often pre-empted by the State, but that
doesn’t mean we’ll give up. This is an issue that’s important to me.

How would you go about ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing in
the city?
As discussed in my first answer, the Urban Core Master Plan will be an important tool
in addressing the creation of new affordable housing. The Broadway Maker district is
planned to include affordable housing as well. The cornerstone of our plan is our
Affordable Housing Strategy, which we’ve passed and are utilizing every day to ensure
new projects are taking affordability into account. This is an area where the City must
be innovative, creative, and willing to collaborate with partners to find new solutions –
I will continue to prioritize building a Tempe that folks at any income level can find a
home in.

What policies would you hope to enact regarding the issues of homelessness in
Tempe?
Tempe is working hard to prevent homelessness. Since I’ve been elected Mayor,
Tempe has invested millions of dollars and thousands of staff hours to address
homelessness. We have also established an interdepartmental task force including
Communication and Media Relations, Community Services, Fire and Medical Rescue,
Human Services, the Attorney’s office, Municipal Court, Police and Public Works.

We’ve created a City Manager work group between Valley cities to help build regional
solutions to address homelessness. Tempe spends 32% more on Human Services
than any other city in the valley. We have invested $1.6 million per year dedicated to
personally assist families and individuals – reaching 1,117 people last year. We also
dedicated $11.6 million per year for subsidized housing – that helped over 3,000
families and individuals find homes and stay in their homes.

With the ongoing climate crisis, what city policies would you enact to take on
climate change and its effects?
Under my leadership as Mayor, we just passed unanimously our Climate Action Plan.
We adopted a new goal of being carbon neutral in municipal operations by 2050 with a
strategy of 100% renewable by 2035. We worked with ASU to develop an urban
forestry plan that will ultimately create a 25% tree canopy plan. I also signed on to the
Global Covenant for Climate and Energy with the US Conference of Mayor’s.

Do you support legalizing new and diverse housing options in parts of the city
where it is currently illegal to build them?
Yes. We adopted a measure allowing accessory dwelling units in multifamily zoned
areas, where a single family home is. We also allow guest quarters. I look forward to
studying new, creative housing solutions and welcome any suggestions or feedback.

How would you support multimodal transit options in the city? Would you
support protected bike lanes and expanding bike infrastructure?
Tempe is truly a multimodal city with light rail and the streetcar under construction. I’m also excited about expanding our Orbit system to South Tempe. I do support protected bike lanes and expanding bike infrastructure and will continue to prioritize multimodal transportation in the City.

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?
I am a huge advocate of public transit and will fight for additional investment in our streetcar, light rail, and for further expansion of our Orbit system. Again, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made – but I’m always happy to hear new ideas, new innovations, and feedback from our residents.

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.
I would like to see our weekends offer free parking, or at a minimum have reduced rates/ free on Sundays. I would also like to encourage individuals to utilize our park and ride lots. While parking should be cheaper, the #1 priority is creating a city where nobody needs a car to get around.