A better future for Working CLass Roanoke
Key priorities
Housing
Homelessness and housing affordability are growing challenges facing our community. I plan to leverage my background in serving unhoused community members along with my background in policy to chart a path forward where all Roanokers have a roof over their head.
This means adopting zoning ordinances to permit high density housing and working with Delegate Rasoul to pass legislation requiring a proportion of new units be reserved for low income neighbors.
This means supporting our homelessness prevention organizations who are helping residents at risk of eviction remain in place.
This also means prioritizing accessible public transit and imagining a less car-reliant Roanoke. Low income Roanokers face the brunt of climate change from heat islands to flood risks— we must plan ahead for climate change as we build housing.
Education
Education is the cornerstone of a strong community. With high quality education, families thrive, children reach their potential, and neighborhoods reap the benefits.
My priority is to stabilize the education budget, returning our school funding to the standard 40% formula that ensures the school system can plan ahead and not be bogged down in political budget fights every year.
It is important to me that our educators have the ability to engage in collective bargaining and have a seat at the table to inform the school system budget, to ensure our funding appropriately centers their expertise and the needs they see among our children.
It is imperative that we maintain funding for activity busses and meal programs on which our low income students rely. All students, regardless of their family income, should have the opportunity to reach their potential.
Transparency
Many of the community members with whom I have spoken have expressed concerns about transparency with regards to decisions made by city council. I acknowledge that city council has gone to great efforts to engage community members, but often times our working class neighbors are unaware of or unable to attend events aimed at promoting community awareness of council actions.
On the campaign trail, I am asking every one of my neighbors how they most prefer to be informed of topics coming before city council and decisions that may affect them. We must avail ourselves of the myriad ways of communicating with community members to ensure they are informed.
I would like us to leverage existing platforms used for text banking to permit our community members to stay informed and be able to voice their opinions on topics that are important to them.
Hot Takes
Flock Cameras: I am vehemently opposed to the presence of Flock cameras in our community. I do not think mass surveillance makes our community safer. I respect those community members who do, however if we are to pursue this tactic we should be vetting different options and engaging the community to ensure this is truly wanted. Flock is notoriously unsecure.
Data Centers: I am opposed to the presence of data centers in our community and in our neighboring communities insofar as these centers are impacting our natural resources (as is the case for the proposed data center in Botetourt county which may jeopardize our drinking water).
Entertainment District: I am not opposed to a casino if this is what the community wants, but I think we should explore various entertainment options and, if a casino is truly desired, then this should go out for a competitive bid process. This should be done visibly, with community feedback, particularly from the Gainsboro community most impacted by the harms of urban renewal when the Berglund Center and surrounding areas were developed.
My preference for increasing our revenue would be to explore a mixed use development or athletic center that could benefit our community’s children. As a whole, I would prefer that our tourism efforts be centered around our vibrant music scene and eco-tourism activities that protect our natural resources.