When I ran for City Council – both in 2018 and 2022 – I ran on a platform of diversifying our tax base and local economy. Guess what – we have never been more ideally situated to do that than we are right now. So continued steady leadership is what Benicia needs now. I don’t know if anyone else will jump into the race but I do know that Terry Scott and I both have the experience needed and are the most qualified to get us through this transition.

The current Council has made some hard decisions that past City Councils have not. We voted time and time again to invest in our community, families and workers for most of the ballot measures, Benicia has said yes – we are worth it. 

We have governed as if we did not read the trolls online. We have governed with principle, whether or not that impacts our reelection efforts. I’m proud of the accomplishments of this Council. If Valero hadn’t announced it was leaving last April, the City of Benicia would have had a balanced structural budget with infrastructure needs getting addressed now and into the near future. 

I believe that the future is bright indeed. Because Benicia will be safer, healthier, stronger and more sustainable into the future. This community and families can be one where our next generation can thrive. My hope is that my kids Julia and Joey want to come back to live their best lives. 

My second reason for wanting to remain your City Councilwoman is because of the community members who have asked for me to run again. Whether they have attended or watched City Council meetings regularly or not. Whether they have reached out to get something fixed or ask me a question that has yet to be answered. 

I’ve heard from so many Benicians who have appreciated what has happened the past four years. We’ve rebuilt a knocked down pedestrian bridge, one vital to our schools and young people. And we did that without spending city dollars, because we took the time to make sure that Republic Services was held accountable. It took some time, but we did that without an impact to our budget. Thanks, Republic Services.  

We now have crews working on street repairs, implementing our street improvement plan with funding to support it. Our community will have stronger, better roads throughout Benicia within the next decade. We also improved our water infrastructure and overcame some unexpected natural disasters in doing so. We’ve done good work and I’m ready to continue it. 

And the final reason I’m running for City Council is to continue to bring my environmental expertise to Benicia’s decision-making leadership as we navigate what Benicia’s development future looks like. There is so much money out there advocating for dirty projects, energy and water hog projects.  There are projects that enrich the few on the backs of others. I stay current on the guardrails needed when bringing industrial companies to our town. And I’ll know when a data center or a “corporate” opportunity isn’t a good fit for Benicia. 

This is the third campaign where I’m going to emphasize that we don’t have to settle. We don’t have to just accept pollution for this beautiful city in exchange for funding. We don’t have to be taken advantage of. Benicia is a strong, well-located AND charming town. We will have a say in how Benicia grows, especially on that soon-to-be-vacant 900 acres. 

I have been working on environmental issues for more than two decades - first helping California’s mighty agricultural industry lessen its impact on the environment and communities, and then broadening into the advocacy space to promote climate action, and educate people on the importance of biodiversity and community protections. You know why? Because our future depends on it. We can make good and do good at the same time. And I plan on sticking around to make it happen here.  

Let’s vote, again, for a safer, healthier, stronger and more sustainable future. And that begins with reelecting me to City Council for the next four years. I hope I can count on your vote this Fall. Thanks for taking the time to visit our website.