OUR PLATFORM

Affordable, adequate, and secure housing is a human right and a building block for the health of our community. We have a moral obligation to ensure unhoused Missoulians have access to secure and adequate housing. As it stands, our city’s budget and policies fail to prioritize housing solutions that work for Missoulians of all walks of life. I am committed to policies that ensure every member of our community has access to affordable housing.

Policy & Budget Priorities:

Affordable Housing Trust Fund

We must reallocate funds to increase the portion of the general budget that goes towards the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to ensure permanent funding for homes that Missoulians can truly afford. On City Council, I have pushed to increase this fund every year and have successfully helped create hundreds of affordable homes in Missoula.r

Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

TIF has the capacity to do a lot of good, but it should only be used for affordable housing or other projects that benefit the entire community. In recent years, TIF has been used to help fund big businesses such as Starbucks, The Marriott, and Stockman bank in Missoula. I will not allow this to continue, but instead will commit to the majority of TIF spending to go towards affordable housing and community investments.

Addressing Homelessness with Shelter & Housing

Missoula needs a permanent Housing First policy to create long-term housing for our unhoused neighbors. Housing First provides housing and social services for unhoused people with no preconditions. When Missoulians are forced to move or evicted, there needs to be a relocation assistance program with a hired housing navigator to help our neighbors secure housing.

Recently the City Council decided to close our largest homeless shelter, leaving hundreds of Missoulians out on the streets. This is unacceptable; we must have shelter space available for members of our community who need it the most. With a plan and political will, we can ensure that every Missoulian is housed.

Providing Pathways  Out of Homelessness in Our Community

We need to continue to create long-term, stable, supportive housing for Missoulians experiencing homelessness, going beyond providing short-term shelter to address the root cause of housing instability: affordability and resources. On City Council, we have taken a huge step towards this with the Blue Heron & Trinity Navigation Center projects, where Missoulians have access to their own apartment style housing and case workers to help them get back on their feet. Housing is a public health issue, and coordinate community partnerships to provide people experiencing homelessness with mental health care, treatment for substance abuse disorders, and other wrap-around services.

Tenant's Right to Counsel

As one of the only renters on our City Council, I understand the power dynamics between landlords and renters well. We as renters need more power to ensure we can stay in our housing or find access to other affordable rentals. I will work with the Missoula Tenants Union to fight for a tenants right to have legal representation in all rental disputes like evictions and fair security deposit recovery.

Tenant Protections

Renters should be able to be organized in a renter tenants union that could participate in City Council decisions, help prevent evictions, and be contacted when the rental laws change. When tenants have as much political say as real estate and big developers, we will be able to ensure affordable, available housing.

Limiting Vacation Rentals inside City Limits

We have a shortage of homes in Missoula. As our city rapidly grows, we need to make sure the new growth is to the benefit of people that actually live here. On City Council I have introduced legislation to categorize vacation rentals as businesses, not residential homes, to ensure more homes can be used to house Missoulians.

Land Banking

Land banking is a tool to set aside urban land for future affordable housing development, parks, and other publicly used facilities. This will help us make sure our publicly owned land goes towards opportunities for truly affordable housing or other public benefit.

We must take action at the local government level to create stronger protections for the water in our rivers, the air that we breathe, and for the place we call home. Our local government must take direction from Indigenous people, scientists, and local grassroots and non-profit leaders to create a truly sustainable community founded on climate and environmental justice.

Policy and Budget Priorities:

Expanding Access to Nature Trails & Parks

One of the best parts of living in Missoula is the abundance of nature trails, hikes, and water access that we have in town. On City Council, I have fought to expand access of our public lands, nature trails, and recreational opportunities. We have made it a goal to have quality parks in every neighborhood and trails to allow for easy access to nature or walking & biking.

Planning for Sustainable Land Development

We must not let Missoula urban sprawl and instead protect our natural lands. I will prioritize land development that provides for and preserves existing open spaces for everyone in our community.

As Missoula expands and continues to develop, we must focus on preserving farmland and providing spaces for urban gardening to incorporate nature into our urban settings. On City Council, I have pushed for allowing mixed use neighborhoods to allow for amenities within our neighborhoods, making it easier to walk to a coffee shop, gym, local bakery, and other places that we like to go to in our daily lives.

Protecting our Watershed

Our rivers and aquifer are the most precious resources in Missoula. We should protect our riparian areas from any new development. The pollution in our watershed is causing many of the fish to be poisonous to eat. We must work to pass stronger water protection ordinances to restore our watershed from pollution and to create stronger regulations that will prevent future pollution on our watershed.

Recycling & Compost Pick Up

The Missoula government has committed to zero waste by 2050. We must take action now to make this goal possible. We should establish mandatory recycling and compost pick up services for Missoula residents to create a circular economy. On City Council, I have passed an amendment to make compost drop off free for Missoulians.

More Green Space, Less concrete

We must use urban land wisely to preserve our natural land for the health of our community and environment. Reducing the minimum parking requirements for buildings will open up space for many other possibilities: gardens, natural beauty, or other community spaces rather than forcing land to turn to asphalt.

Deconstruction, Rather than Destruction of City Buildings

Deconstruction is the process of dismantling buildings for the maximum reuse of the materials. According to the EPA, more than ⅔ of all waste originates from construction and demolition materials, so we must change the way we allow developments.

Deconstructing our buildings will create local, good paying jobs, drastically reduce our community’s waste and energy consumption, and will create a sustainable cycle of materials.

Preventing Fracked Gas in New Construction

If we are going to make progress on tackling the climate crisis, we must stop using fossil fuels. That means we have to electrify our buildings and move away from our reliance on gas heating. I will fight to ensure that our zoning ordinances mandate that all new construction must be electrified with higher energy efficiency standards and must not use fracked gas heating.   

Strengthening Energy & Water Efficiency Regulations

We must strengthen building codes to increase energy and water efficiency. Implementing stronger building conservation codes will drastically lower our emissions and improve indoor air quality. If we have stronger energy efficiency standards for all new buildings along with on-site energy production, we can reduce energy costs for buildings to zero.

Strengthening energy efficiency standards in city buildings, committing to electrifying our city vehicle fleet, and ensuring government buildings are producing more on site renewable energy will help stop our local government’s dependence on fossil fuels. Not only will this reduce the city’s carbon footprint, but it will also save taxpayers money in the long run through savings on energy.

Investing in affordable, reliable, and sustainable transportation creates shared prosperity and health for our community. I am fighting for transportation policies that uplift all Missoulians to ensure we can all safely get around Missoula without needing a car. I will be working to protect and expand fare-free transit and pedestrian & cycling infrastructure, and I will be working on easing traffic congestion.

Policy and Budget Priorities:

Expanding our Bicycle & Pedestrian Path Network for Safe, Connected Cycling & Walking

Missoula is continuing to work on increasing our share of commuting trips by bike and walking, but to do this, our paths must be safe and connected. We must accelerate progress in building bicycle paths to connect every part of town, such as connecting the University area to the South section of Missoula and to the other existing bicycle paths with safe cycling options. On the City Council, I’ve helped pass a plan to add a bicycle and pedestrian bridge to connect from Broadway to the baseball stadium and Riverfront trails.

Allowing for Amenities Close to Where We Live

On the City Council, I have helped pass changes to allow for mixed-use neighborhoods. This allows people to live just a walk away from their favorite coffee shops, day care, bakeries, and other places that we like to go to often.

Preventing Car Crashes

The vast majority of car crashes are completely preventable by designing our streets with safety as the top priority. I have passed policies on City Council that are reducing the number of car crashes such as putting traffic circles at previously unmarked intersections and writing the City’s Vision Zero policy to ensure safety is the top priority in future street designs.

Upgrading our Snow Plowing Service

Even during the harshest days of our winter, we need to all be able to have reliable transportation. We must ensure that all roads in Missoula can be plowed fast each winter day by researching which roads need more timely service and adapting to those needs.

Adding New Sidewalks, Crosswalks & Traffic Safety Lights

We can make transportation around Missoula much safer by adding more sidewalks, cross walks, and other safety measures. I have worked tirelessly to help us budget for more sidewalks in Missoula, fill in the gaps where we are missing crosswalks, and push for maximum safety measures in our transportation designs.

Equity in Transportation & Fare-Free Buses

I will prioritize building our transportation agenda around access for all of our neighbors and connecting paths and bus routes to every part of town. Our bus service should continue to expand to new routes with higher frequency, making public transit convenient for all Missoulians to use. My goal is to make Missoula a place where you do not need a car to get around.

The Mountain Line bus system in Missoula provides over 5 million rides a year for our community, fare-free for the passengers. Fare-free transportation helps uplift our community as a whole to work towards economic justice. I will protect fare-free transit to continue into Missoula’s future and expand service.

The safety and health of our community requires resources for public health: housing, treatment centers, trauma support, youth development, and fully funding new emergency response teams. Our local government should listen to community led efforts to create a multifaceted approach to public safety. We must change our crisis response infrastructure to ensure safe emergency situations for everyone in our community. By setting a new standard for community oversight and by taking direction from diverse groups of Missoulians, we can dismantle systems of oppression to create a healthy, safe community for all.

Policy and Budget Priorities:

Providing Proper Resources to Help Those Who are Experiencing Homelessness in Our Community

It brings us all down when our neighbors have to sleep on the streets. We need to create long-term, stable, supportive housing for Missoulians experiencing homelessness, going beyond providing short-term shelter to address the root cause of housing instability: affordability and resources. We must also recognize that housing is a public health issue, and coordinate community partnerships to provide people experiencing homelessness with mental health care, treatment for substance abuse disorders, and other wrap-around services.

Investing in Our Mobile Support Team

We must fully fund the Mobile Support Team, so that they can be the first responders to all calls that involve a mental health crisis, substance use, and other nonviolent emergency calls 24 hours of the day.

Fully Funding Treatment Centers

Fully funding treatment centers for substance abuse and drop-in crisis stabilization centers will build a better foundation for crime prevention and a safer, healthier community. We must also put more funding into jail diversion programs to hire a full-time employee and the Missoula Youth Crisis Diversion Program to help give people in our community guidance and solutions, not prison as punishment. 

Creating a Food Sovereignty Program

We must create a food distribution program that ensures every member of our community has healthy food to eat. By working with the already existing local food distribution programs and local farmers, we can create a food sovereignty program that is sustainable and reliable for Missoulians of all walks of life.

Missoula’s economy has been making it harder on the people who sustain it, while it sustains the people who exploit it. Missoula’s economy should be built on a commitment to empowering workers, ensuring workplace safety, and fighting for livable wages. I am focused on confronting wealth inequality and ensuring every worker can meet their family’s basic needs.

Policy and Budget Priorities:

Fair Use of Our Property Taxes

While big businesses such as the Marriott, Starbucks, & Stockman Bank have received millions of our tax dollars for their redevelopments, everyday Missoulians are having to pay more and more to stay in our homes. Forever increasing property taxes is not sustainable for retired or fixed-income Missoulians. On the City Council, I have introduced resolutions to help stop big businesses from taking advantage of our tax system, and I have voted against the largest increases to taxes on every Missoulians.

Helping Small Businesses

The local businesses in Missoula make our community unique. We must make it easier for everyday people to open up businesses and not have to rely on big box stores. I’ve worked on this on the City Council by loosening burdensome barriers to opening small businesses in Missoula and by allowing a mix of business types within neighborhoods.

Combating Gentrification

We must allow our community members to plan for our neighborhoods, not big developers. Establishing a Citizen Oversight Committee for developments with majority renters and working-class representation and no big developers on the committee will ensure that every day Missoulians decide what kind of developments are made in our community.

Fully Funding Childcare & Early Education Programs

Having the resources to provide affordable childcare is essential to keeping Missoula affordable for everyday working families. We must fully fund childcare and early education services in Missoula by advocating for state funds, amending the current budget, and by providing incentives for non-profit childcare providers.

Our local government must stop incentivizing big businesses to develop in Missoula by stopping the trend of giving local tax funds to corporations such as Stockman Bank or Starbucks. We must prioritize development of small, local businesses in Missoula when our community wants them and deny developments from corporations and expensive hotel or real estate companies in our town.  

Protecting Ability to Public Comment & Free Speech

On the City Council, I have passed measures to make it easier for Missoulians to give comments to our local government. Recently the majority of City Council removed the public comment period from the beginning of the meetings, which I have worked hard to bring back to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak publicly about issues that affect them.

Responding to Public Comments with Action

When our community members participate in local government by speaking out through public comment in person or online, our City Council should act on what the majority of our community wants. I will ensure that our budget and actions reflect what our community says that they want. 

Creating New Citizen Oversight Committees

We must work to establish new Citizen Oversight Committees to oversee other programs from the city and ensuring more political power to these Oversight Committees. Citizen Oversight Committees are a great tool for ensuring our community’s input drives the decisions that City Council makes, and I will work to ensure equity and diversity on all Citizen Oversight Committees.

Working with Community Organizations

Many organizations in Missoula have been working on these issues for decades and know best about how to solve the issues that they work on. I will take action on the City Council to represent what our community organizations suggest for solutions. 

Accessible Communications with Missoulians

Throughout my time on City Council, I will always be accessible to meet with Missoulians and be responsive to your emails and phone calls. It is crucial that our community members’ voices lead the charge for local government decisions.