Return your ballots by Dec 20

I spent the summer of 2015 interning at a downtown church in Columbia, Missouri that served as a day shelter for dozens of unsheltered neighbors. There, I learned the struggles that unhoused residents face daily for their safety and health as well as the challenges of getting employment and permanent housing simply from lacking a mailing address and access to showers/laundry and internet. With a trained case worker on site, healthy snacks and clean socks, basic over-the-counter medications, a daily dinner service, and support from local law enforcement, I caught a glimpse of what it takes to get people stable and ready for the next positive step.

Jefferson Mildenberger, Stephanie Findley, and I support compassionate and proactive solutions for houselessness. This is a national crisis that needs immediate addressing and a single solution is unlikely to serve every need. Under federal court decisions, our city has a legal responsibility to provide alternate shelter. Newberg residents are not served by avoiding this problem, nor only by creating rules about where our houseless neighbors can't be. Our leaders must instead create circumstances and solutions to make homelessness as temporary as possible in the City of Newberg and do so in a way that preserves an individual's dignity and right to self-determination and does not remove them from their existing support networks.

Nobody wants Newberg to look like downtown Portland. Nobody wants to be without shelter. We need leaders who can meet in the middle with realistic, immediate solutions.

One of Newberg City Council's 6 goals is to "further develop an operational culture that adopts and cherishes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as core values." Our communities, states, and federal government still have a long way to go to improving public safety and reducing threats of harm, especially for persons of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Newberg residents have voiced that they feel less safe and less welcomed these past 2 years than they did before. I'd like to be part of reversing that trend.

I value DEI in my professional work and take regular trainings in intercultural competencies. I've been trying to be a good ally to LGBTQ and other marginalized groups for two decades now and that work will continue the rest of my life. If I earn your vote and get to serve as your next City Councilor for District 2 of Newberg, I will bring that advocacy work to our local city government to ensure that our city prioritizes public safety for all residents until all are safe.

Newberg City Council is non-partisan. When it comes to public safety, water quality, street improvements, and zoning regulations, Councilors Mildenberger and Findley and I are committed to seeking the welfare of all residents, regardless of political party affiliation. We are also opposed to outside efforts to politicize this non-partisan leadership role. Because of that, we have sought endorsements from a wide range of organizations to demonstrate our ability to work for all, not just special interests.

Candidates Mildenberge, Findley and I are all endorsed by the Oregon Independent Party, the Oregon Working Families Party, and the Yamhill County Democrats. Mildenberger and Findley also earned the endorsement of the Chahalem Valley Chamber of Commerce.