Issues
Balancing the Budget… Getting What We Pay For…
Bottomline: We must regain control of our city’s financial situation. We hear this all the time from politicians who then waste our tax dollars without requesting our input. Enough is enough. I want to give City Hall a wake-up call: This is OUR money, not THEIR money. And we want our money spent on law enforcement, parks, and roads – not City Hall insider perks, pet projects, and special interests.
As your City Councilman, I will demand a public audit of every department to eliminate waste and mismanagement.
I will set real priorities on spending taxpayer money to ensure that we are paying for what we really need – not what a small group of special interests demand.
And I will make sure to enact the outsourcing initiative we passed so overwhelmingly last year before it falls victim to our city’s bloated bureaucracy.
Balancing the budget does not mean raising your taxes. In fact, it should be harder for City Hall to raise taxes or fees. Every dollar City Hall wastes is a dollar robbed from a family who may need it to pay down the mortgage, or send the kids to school, or take a retirement vacation. Does anyone really believe that the politicians at City Hall spend our money better than we do?
I don’t. That is why, as your City Councilman, I will say NO to any new taxes.
Demanding Ethics Reform… Ending Business As Usual…
Politicians love to campaign as reformers, but once elected they end up voting just like the “good old boy” they replaced.
Why?
Let me tell you: Too much power for too many special interests and insiders at City Hall – not enough backbone in our local government.
I am not a City Hall insider. The special interests don’t own me. I’m not afraid of being the only one to stand up to the old “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” game. And I won’t be bashful about showing the “insiders” who are fleecing our city right out the door. I don’t work for them. I work for the people of San Diego. I work for you.
As your City Councilman, I will end the era of special perks for special interests. I will demand accuracy and transparency at City Hall. I will demand accountability for everyone – politicians, no matter what their party, and bureaucrats of every stripe.
Putting Law Enforcement First… Keeping Families Safe…
As a San Diegan and a father, let me be clear: the first job of government is public safety. Prosperity, parks, and beautiful weather don’t add up to a better quality of life if we can’t safely walk our streets or drop our children off at school.
To keep our families safe, I will put police and other law enforcement agencies first in line for the budget, not last. I will demand more officers in our schools and parks, and strict enforcement of the toughest laws for the worst criminals - including child sex predators. I will also put more money into anti-gang units. And I will demand tangible results in return for any additional money we spend.
No child should ever be afraid to attend school, or to play in the neighborhood park. That time is over. Our kids should be afraid of the next pop quiz, not the gun-toting gang-banger selling drugs right outside the school or the sinister pedophile prowling the playground. Our children need to know that in their schools and parks and other favorite places, they have sanctuary. The drug-dealers and sexual predators need to know that for them, there is no such thing.
