I am honored to be a candidate for Brisbane City Council. When my partner Alan learned of the open seat on the Brisbane Parks and Recreation Commission, he excitably encouraged me to apply to the commission because of my previous commission experience in Chicago.  It’s been my pleasure to serve on Brisbane’s Parks and Recreation Commission, and for 3+ years I’ve worked within a collaborative group with a team focus on enhancing current programming, pricing, maintaining and improving existing facilities and providing recommendations on all things Park and Recreation to the Brisbane City Council.  I recently completed a successful year term as chair of the commission, where my fellow commissioners, Parks and Recreations City Staff and City Council commended my efficient running of the commission. If elected, I hope to continue on city council to further long-term projects such as additional improvements to the Crocker Park Trail and the installation of public art in Brisbane.

As an involved resident and member of the Brisbane Parks and Recreation Commission, I’ve come to appreciate our city’s enthusiasm for its uniqueness, focus on the arts and love for our mountain. These qualities foster a sense of community and inclusion that I’ve never seen or felt before in a city (for example, there is a LGBTQIA+ flag that flies for us every single day of the year!). 

We transitioned here from San Francisco during the peak of Covid-19 lockdown in April of 2020. Because of the lockdown, we couldn’t have guessed at the heightened level of community connection Brisbane provides.

Prior to moving to California from Illinois in 2018, I sought appointment to a special commission in 2014 by former White House Chief of Staff and then Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emmanuel, for a new taxation district covering two of my beloved Chicago neighborhoods: Albany Park, where I was a resident, and the adjacent Irving Park.  Both communities needed a little help.  As the first commission of the service area, we conducted a needs assessment survey of the 77,000 residents and business owners. Over two consecutive terms, I had the pleasure of developing AND executing the following programs providing solutions to the survey results: Residential and Business Façade Improvement Rebates, Litter Abatement Programs, a public easement Tree Inventory and Assessment with a renowned arborist, Snow Removal Program and Public Art installations. This was meaningful work that I handed off to the remainder of a very capable commission only because personal circumstances brought me to California. Anyone on the ground in Illinois knows that when I visit my family in Chicago, I check in on the state of commission and its on-going progress. 

I seek your vote to City Council to not only expand on the work I’ve been doing on the Parks and Recs Commission but to bring my unique experiences and to apply our residents’ voices in guiding upcoming projects such as the Baylands, with keen eye on fiscal responsibility and our precious environment while continuing to foster our tight knit community.  Thank you for your consideration of my candidacy.