Priorities: 

This is a brief outline of my priorities based on observations and communications with the constituents of District 2 Calaveras. Once elected and my communications with staff and constituents continue, my priorities will grow and reflect those who have elected me! 

SCHOOLS

  • I will continue supporting local schools, educators, and families.  Children are the future; their safety, quality of life, and education are very high priorities.   I am a founding member of Friends of Rail Road Flat School and the Save Our Small Schools campaign that began 16 years ago. I cut my teeth in the advocacy world under the guidance of Steve Wilensky with an amazing team of dedicated residents, including Rochelle Sweet, Penny West, Randall Youngblood, Kathy Risso, and many more, working tirelessly for our upcountry schools. I am grateful for the experiences, lessons, and hard work. Having lived through the closure of RRF School, I know that the closure of MHE, or WPE, will be a devastating blow to our communities.  The SOS Campaign has been reactivated, and we are already working towards solutions to sustain our two remaining  D2 elementary schools, support our school districts in sustainable ways, and provide high-quality educational experiences to all of our schools and families. 

FIRE SAFETY 

  • Fire resilience is a high priority of mine and an area I am very familiar with.

  • Here is District 2 Calaveras; we are fortunate to have Fire Protection Districts, Cal Fire, and County Departments that work collaboratively and proactively to keep our communities safe.

  • I supported and endorsed Measure A during the primary election - I see firsthand the level of support and service our local fire protection districts offer our communities.

  • Workshops and town halls hosted by me will provide awareness and education to our communities, encouraging public input in plans and bringing awareness to programs available, such as Cal OES Home-Hardening, Cal Fire Home-Hardening, and the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force. I will work with local fire departments, the Calaveras Office of Emergency Services, the Calaveras Sheriff's Department, and the Tuolumne-Calaveras Cal Fire Unit to continue making our district safe, fire and catastrophe-ready. The efforts underway with various stakeholders such as Cal Fire, Calaveras County Resource Conservation District, West Point Fire, Central Calaveras Fire, San Andreas Fire, Moke Hill Fire, OES, THe US Forest Forest Service, Sierra Nevada Conservancy and East Bay Mud for sustainable land management, home hardening, shaded fuel breaks & fuel reduction projects need to be continued and bolstered.  As The Calaveras County tree mortality project comes to an end, we can champion obtaining grant projects in D2 modeled after the McKays Fuelbreak East of Arnold.

    I will coordinate efforts to increase our focus on the long-term management of our fuel reduction projects. Protecting our communities from another catastrophic wildfire will involve a variety of land management tactics, such as continued clearing of underbrush, control burns, rotational grazing, and forest mastication.

  • As Calaveras County updates our Community Wildfire Protection Plan, I will educate and support each D2 Community interested in developing their community wildfire protection plans, fire-wise communities, or fire-safe councils while working with our OES, Cal Fire, RCD, Fire Protection Districts, and other partners. As your D2 Calaveras Supervisor, I will work to support, coordinate, and facilitate cooperation between our Fire Prevention partners and improve our communications.

  • I want to ensure that all property owners have the knowledge and resources they need to take ownership of their land management, be aware of evacuation procedures, and maintain clearance and adequate ingress and egress of their properties. I will bring awareness to available resources for defensible space through USDA grants, CAL FIRE C-FIP(California Forest Improvement Program) grants, state and federal assistance, county programs, and local businesses that help our people manage their land efficiently with sustainable practices. Through these home-hardening efforts, we can help support the efforts of our state senate representatives and our insurance commissioner as he advocates for affordable homeowners' insurance through his “sustainable insurance strategy.” We must require that insurance companies see us through a rural lens and increase their percentage of policies in fire-prone areas such as the foothills of D2 Calaveras.

  • I will advocate for increasing staffing at our Calaveras County Office of Emergency Services. We all know it is if - and not when we are faced with another catastrophic wildfire. Increasing staff will allow personnel to focus on increased training and certification opportunities and ensure that OES grant procurement supports the expansion of special fire protection district capabilities and the interoperability to support each other. Through annual grants, county MOUs, and budgeting, as well as facilitating training opportunities to increase certification levels, Calaveras County can support our local districts as we all work together to protect our homes.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

  • I support all viable economic development opportunities that can be successfully implemented in our district - my priority is to ensure employment opportunities are available to our community. Examining, focusing, and building upon what our district offers is a sustainable way to achieve this. I am participating in the planning meetings for a USDA Slaughter and processing facility in Calaveras County. Not only is this a massive need for our ranchers, but it will also create jobs and bring in tax dollars. Additionally, I support the cogeneration plant in Wilseyville and all Timber, Grazing, Agriculture, Tourism, and Forest practices utilizing our natural resources, managing our forests, creating fuel breaks, and providing jobs. Bringing industry back to our county, similar to when my father-in-law grew up with the cement plant in San Andreas, is an area I plan to explore. By having a thriving local industry, our communities, in turn, thrive.

HIGHSCHOOL VOCATIONAL

  • As I mentioned in my interview with the Calaveras Enterprise, I want to support and grow our vocational programs, such as FFA and Medical Science, at our local high schools. Streamlining a direct path for our young adults to graduate high school and continue their education at neighboring county junior colleges or go directly into the workforce of Calaveras County. 

HOUSING 

  • Affordable housing is a county-wide issue that affects D2 significantly.  We need additional workforce housing, fewer short-term rentals, and vacant homes. I want to encourage our county Housing and Economic and Community Development Departments to apply for state housing development grants and work with local developers to identify and develop local housing sites using grant funding to offset costs.  Looking at projects such as the Eureka Oaks Development in Angels Camp.

INSURANCE

  • High Insurance rates, even the - California Fair Plan, are becoming utterly unaffordable for families.  Insurance companies must be held accountable; soon, many homeowners will be unable to insure their homes, further fueling housing unaffordability and devastatingly impacting the housing market. I will support the work being done by Senator Marie Alvarado-Gill and the RCRC Ad Hawk Committee to hold The insurance commissioner Ricardo Laura to develop a legislative plan to provide relief for millions of Californians. Our home, community, and county hardening efforts must be considered when rating our risk, not our proximity to a hydrant. People are losing their homes and moving out of state, and first-time home buyers are being priced out. This needs to change.  I support the efforts of our state senate representatives and our insurance commissioner as he advocates for affordable homeowners' insurance through his “sustainable insurance strategy.” We must require that insurance companies see us through a rural lens and increase their percentage of policies in fire-prone areas such as the foothills of D2 Calaveras.

SMALL BUSINESS 

  • Supporting our small businesses and encouraging additional ones to open is essential to providing jobs and keeping our tax dollars in Calaveras County. Many of us spend the majority of our money in neighboring counties. Helping local businesses get off the ground and ensuring they have the support to be sustainable creates jobs and secures tax dollars for the operations of the county. Streamlining and reducing the requirements and fees that small businesses must endure to get up and going before they generate an income is a barrier that prohibits new development. By reducing these costs and requirements, we are gaining long-term investment towards a thriving local economy.

PARKS 

  • I will continue to support our community centers, parks, and outdoor spaces. We need these to enrich our communities and offer healthy and safe areas. Focusing on the beauty and wealth of our district's outdoor spaces can add to our assets and address the mental health and loneliness issues many residents face. I support the county-wide parks and recreation department. Advocating for programs similar to our surrounding counties’ robust Parks and recreation programs will require some outside-the-box thinking.

MENTAL HEALTH

  • In keeping Metal Health at the forefront, I will work with existing departments and groups and search for additional programs to fill the support & recovery gaps in our County so we can provide avenues for those wanting help. We need to focus on finding the cause of homelessness, be it mental health, drug use, or simply lack of housing. We must take a multi-pronged approach to this. Additionally, we need to work to attract more county employees to fill the open positions so we are not paying exorbitant private contractors. 

LAW ENFORCEMENT 

  • We need to continue finding more money from outside the county; a big concern is the current state shortfall. We need to be wary of this and cautious with our budget. That being said, my priority is to ensure that the Sheriff's Department has all the resources it needs to protect our county successfully. I am excited to see the department grow and succeed under the leadership of our first female Calaveras County Sheriff, Rachelle Whiting.

COMMUNICATION 

  • I will regularly share information with D2's constituents, including upcoming events, job opportunities, services available, planned projects, invitations, and a summary of board of supervisor meetings.

  • I will create and share regular D2 Calaveras Newsletters

  •  I plan to hold regular town hall meetings and office hours and encourage participation in the board of supervisor meetings. 

  • I am running as a community representative - I have my constituents' insight, advice, and guidance. 

  • I want more community participation in the Board of Supervisors meetings. To make our county successful, we need buy-in and invested interest from the majority of our residents. 

COUNTY WORKFORCE

  • I will support all county employees and work to ensure their wages are at the current market rate. As a member of the Calaveras County workforce, this is a very real issue for me. I see the trials and tribulations of my fellow employees. While I believe the Class and Compensation Study underway in Calaveras County is a good start to bringing our staff to wages comparable to those of their neighboring counties, we still have a lot of work to do.

  • Calaveras Child Care Council, a group I am part of, recently presented about providing employee child care. With a bit of creativity and dedication, Calaveras County could implement this. Calaveras County HR staff was present at this meeting; I plan to pursue this if elected. 

  • Like our residents, our workforce has real-time knowledge and insight into our county's needs. I will look to them for input, guidance, and knowledge. 

MEASURE A 

  • I am proud to have supported the passage of Measure A. The Fire Districts in our unincorporated areas of Calaveras County are essential to our safety. They are often understaffed and underfunded. Passing Measure A will help retain and hire additional staff, improve response time, update equipment, and ensure that safety gear is current and compliant. Having lived most of my life in the most rural corners of Calaveras County, I understand the need for neighborhood fire districts to respond to emergencies. 

ANIMAL SHELTER 

  • We need to bolster and support the animal shelter - the bill to finish building the shelter is daunting. While the county is looking at an additional grant, we must continue looking for innovative funding opportunities. This is something we do need to get done. We all love animals! 

SENIORS

  •  With a large percentage of our population being low-income Seniors, we must support and continue programs providing in-home health care, medical appointment transportation, technology, and utility bill assistance.