Quality of Life

Our local government must play a primary role in guaranteeing our quality of life. As mayor, I will ensure that at the heart of the county's planning and development framework lies initiative and action to improve the quality of life for residents.  We will oppose over development and we will work everyday towards sustainable smart growth. Our government must consider how each residential and commercial development will contribute to our residents' quality of lives: with safety, the right to affordable housing, roads that work, mass transit access, high quality schools, access to green space and clean water, professional and educational opportunities, access to health services, impact on environment, and beyond. 

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As mayor, every vote that I cast at the Board of County Commissioner meetings will be in favor for the people and the environment. I will be the mayor for people's and environmental needs not for corporate greed.  

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Environment

I am the only candidate who is refusing donations from developers and builders.  I am an environmentalist. I am the Vice Chair for Save Orange County, Inc. (a sustainable growth organization). We are only as healthy as our environment. We cannot continue to build and pave over Orange County. We must be good stewards to our land and wetlands by ensuring healthy ecosystems with healthy soil, clean water and air, and that we restore biological diversity and protect it.  We must protect our wildlife and preserve their habitat. As mayor, we will revise our wetland mitigation credit policy. My goal is no in-fill of wetland classes I or II. Further, I am the only candidate that will advocate for a rural boundary and an urban service area boundary in our County Charter (County Constitution). I am concerned for wildlife habitat loss. I oppose over development. 

Accessibility

I do not support holding our Orange County Government meetings during a day/time when residents must take time off work to attend and participate. I also do not support that the only way for people to participate is via face-to-face in the County Admin building. We have technology available to increase people participation. We should use such technology.  As mayor, we will move the time of the meetings to a day/time when people can attend without missing work. We will also adopt multiple modalities of participation to ensure greater participation.

Orange County residents must be able to participate in their local government. We need to remove barriers to encourage participation and implement policies and procedures that make it easier for people to participate and attend our local meetings.

Further, the people's attendance and commentary must matter. In other words, their participation has to actually matter - their voices must have a tangible impact on policy decisions, and improve people’s lives.  As mayor, I will be there to listen to the people and to ensure that their voices and concerns are listened to and adopted. I will also ensure that Orange County staff members that have forgotten that they work for the people and not special interests will act in accordance to representing people.  

No on Sales Tax Increase 

I do not support the incumbant's sales tax increase. Now is not the time to raise our residents' sales tax. Inflation is at a 40 year high, gas prices are soaring, food costs escalating, housing emergency, market uncertainties (e.g., the dissolvement of Reedy Creek).  Now is the time to look at our tourist development tax and determine how best to allocate resources towards mass transit improvement by way of tourism tax revenue. Now is the time that we must lobby for more flexibility to use our sales tax revenue to come back to our communities and people. 

Equity

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We must acknowledge existence of and remove systematic barriers that prevent the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; elderly people, persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. 

Budgeting

As mayor, I will conduct a budget review and overhaul for the next fiscal period. As mayor, we will have an open transparent budgeting process where each of the District Commissioners will participate in the budgeting process. Further, I will look for areas of excessive spending that benefit large private corporations in Orange County. The budget will be designed from a bottom up approach ensuring that the people and our environment come first in our budgeting process.

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Here are some of the policy reforms and initiatives you can expect 

1. Declare housing emergency - in accordance with state statute this allows us to stabilize rents for 1 year while work towards conversion of nearly 30,000 units.

2. Affordable housing solutions (e.g., concentrating on infill and conversion of hotel properties to increase affordable housing units, limit land speculation, tax out of state AirBnB (vacation home owners), lower the mandatory income bracket of $83,000 for 64% of Demings affordable homes - this income bracket is way to high! Incentivize affordable housing building. 

3. Determine potential issues (forecast) pertaining to advalorem tax surplus (property taxes increasing)

4. Budget overhaul for the next fiscal period 

5. Helping homeless people

6. Reformed tourist development tax (the money must come back to the people and the communities)

7. No advocacy for increased sales tax

8. No toll road through Split Oak Forest

9. Design a framework to implement the 2020 voter mandated referendum: Right to Clean Water/Rights of Nature

10. Board of County Commissioner meetings scheduled when people can actually attend (after work)

11. Participating in your local government in multiple modalities that will be recognized as public record

12. Mayor that is accessible and accountable to the people (Weekly townhalls for people to attend in multiple modalities)

13. Conservation mitigation credit reform 

14. Wetland mitigation reform 

15. Recycling program reform

16. Establishing urban boundary and rural boundary in county constitution (referendum)

17. Identification of resource gaps of marginalized communities

18. Resource allocation to marginalized communities

19. County wide elections for commissioners

20. Retention pond reform & storm water management reform

21. Wildlife protection ordinances & investment in wildlife corridors

22. Many more to come...