Anyone who lives in San Mateo County knows housing is one of our greatest challenges. Here is where I stand:

1. Housing is a human right.

2. We must protect vulnerable tenants now.

3. We must create more affordable housing, thoughtfully.

As a lifelong renter, I have a track record of championing tenants, from working as a community organizer with Faith in Action to supporting local ballot measures as a community leader and elected official. I not only endorsed and supported several pro-tenant and pro-affordable housing ballot measures, but my name and picture were used in their mailers.

We have the power to build affordable housing that solves problems without creating new ones or exacerbating pre-existing ones. I will lead with common sense and thoughtfulness about what people need and how our communities are affected. We need to build more affordable housing, yet no single neighborhood or area should bear the burden alone. I am listening to many people with very different approaches to housing. It’s challenging, but I am proud of my track record of bringing communities together.

I am a housing and tenant protections champion. I don’t take money from corporations or developers.

The other candidate in this race cannot say the same. The San Mateo Daily Journal’s Mark Simon reported that more than 30% of the other candidate’s latest funding came from people and entities with ties to real estate. Among his funders are an organization with a history of whites-only restrictions on house deeds and bad actors who have run nasty campaigns targeted at renters and housing advocates as well as having pumped millions of dollars into influencing local elections.

As Supervisor, I will lead cities, school districts, neighbors, and other stakeholders in developing affordable housing projects together. I will create a rental registry in San Mateo County and incentivize cities to participate so that we can gather data about what our tenants are experiencing right now. I will make sure the housing we build incorporates the infrastructure to support more people and the surrounding neighborhoods.

This county is rich. Yet disparities continue to widen. Housing can be the issue that, when solved collaboratively, brings us closer together.

Prioritizing mental health is key to improved public health outcomes and a safer San Mateo County.

Despite the fact that nearly 95% of us have medical insurance, we face critical mental health needs in our county. Simply having insurance is not enough. The pandemic made us face this reality and also exacerbated it.

As a social worker, single mom, and School Board Trustee who led the largest school board in the county through COVID, I see firsthand where our neighbors fall through the cracks. When I was 16, my brother took his own life. I have witnessed the consequences of not having mental health support when you most need it firsthand. We must do better by our community so that no one else loses a family member to suicide.

As Supervisor, I will close the gaps that leave so many in our community vulnerable.

Right now, we have about 15 young people incarcerated in a facility built to serve 200. Those resources could be put to meeting a much greater need for mental health services. I propose transforming our county juvenile detention center into a state-of-the-art mental health crisis center.

We can support those who struggle to navigate the very real complexities of our medical system and make mental health services available to all.

Now, more than ever, we need more women’s voices, not fewer, in the most powerful local office in our county. Everything we care about is on the line. This past year has shown us how tenuous our hard-won gains are. No candidate for Supervisor fights harder for issues that are fundamental for women than I do.

Here in San Mateo County, women make up more than half of the population. But did you know we’re in danger of having a Board of Supervisors made up of five men? Unacceptable.

Representation matters. I don’t just talk about women’s issues. I live them. As a college student, I became a single mom. I know firsthand the importance of access to high-quality reproductive healthcare, childcare, family healthcare, affordable housing, and education. That firsthand experience is what inspires my action. It’s why I ran and was elected twice to the San Mateo-Foster City School Board and served as President.

With the federal right to an abortion overturned, local legislation is more important than ever. I will protect and improve our reproductive healthcare clinics. I will prioritize funding women’s healthcare so that all women have access. I will continue to be a tireless advocate for public education, housing, childcare, seamless transit, gun safety, and every issue that impacts women and our families the most.

I’m a NARAL Pro-Choice America member. I received a 100% Pro-Choice rating from Planned Parenthood. I’m a champion of Prop. 1, the Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom. I do not endorse or support any candidate who is not unequivocally pro-choice. I was on the cover of TIME magazine as one of the women who stepped up to run for office following the 2016 elections and Women’s March. I received the first “Women of Courage Award” in honor of Congresswoman Jackie Speier to highlight and support outstanding women in San Mateo County. I will continue with that track record as San Mateo County Supervisor.

Our community is calling for change. Recent community efforts and election results speak loudly and clearly that we want accountability, transparency, and community-based public safety that keeps all of our neighbors safe.

We also want our police to have the support and resources they need to do their jobs with integrity and community backing. Yet, every day since January 2021, we have been expecting them to work without a contract. It’s not fair to them or to the people they serve.

Asking county employees to work without a contract is not one of our community values. As Supervisor, I will prioritize reaching agreement with our deputies, so they can work fairly under contract.

In addition, we ask our law enforcement to do work that is outside of their scope and training. That’s also why I support a non-police mental health emergency response model like CAHOOTS, which deploys professional mental health responders to non-threatening crisis calls. This well-documented approach is proven to save lives and money.

I also actively work to implement effective civilian oversight of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office as a member of Fixin’ San Mateo. Oversight will provide transparency and accountability that benefits citizens and Sheriff’s Office employees alike. Nearly every notable elected official endorses Fixin’ San Mateo’s initiative, including Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, State Senator Josh Becker, and Assemblymember Kevin Mullin.

My opponent, however, did not support Fixin’ San Mateo until a recent poll proved that it would be politically expedient for him to change his stance. In addition, he endorsed Carlos Bolanos for Sheriff and Sheriff Bolanos endorses him.

While Sheriff Bolanos was routinely cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), I was working with Faith in Action’s emergency response to support immigrants who were turned over for deportation after serving their sentences.

I’m proud to have endorsed and campaigned with our new Sheriff-Elect Christina Corpus, who overwhelmingly won the election against Sheriff Bolanos in every single precinct and will become the first Latina Sheriff in California. I will continue to work with Sheriff Corpus to make the changes to keep our entire community safe and our police supported as they put their lives on the line every day.

The Board of Supervisors creates and approves the budget for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. I will make sure that budget reflects our community values. And I will work for every parent to be free from the fear of their adult child being harmed by police.

As a daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, a bilingual Spanish speaker, and someone who has lived and worked within the immigrant community my whole life, I have been and always will be a champion for ALL immigrants.

As School Board Trustee, I created the award-winning Sanctuary Task Force to provide support so that all students and families in San Mateo-Foster City School District are safe, supported, and celebrated, inclusive of all birthplaces and immigration status.

In addition, I have supported the value of biliteracy and bilingualism at both local and state levels. I believe the language immersion schools in our community are assets and should be welcoming and inclusive spaces for all students.

As a community organizer for Faith in Action, I trained grassroots leaders to address the systemic inequities they face in their communities.

I have been an outspoken advocate for immigrants who were being turned over to ICE without due process. I have also been a long-time champion of independent citizen oversight of law enforcement to make sure that ALL our community members feel safe. I was one of the early endorsers of Fixin’ San Mateo, a movement to enact citizen oversight in our county.

I’m proud to have endorsed and campaigned with our Sheriff-Elect Christina Corpus because she is committed to accountability and transparency. The other candidate endorsed and funded Sheriff Carlos Bolanos and defended his practice of turning over immigrants to ICE without due process.

As Supervisor, I will continue my track record of addressing the needs of our immigrant communities with the attention and insight they deserve. I know the answers to our challenges lie within our communities and I’m committed to working together for us all.

I have served as a Board Trustee for the San Mateo-Foster City School District for nearly five years. SMFCSD is the largest and one of the most diverse school districts in the county with a budget larger than Belmont’s and Foster City’s combined. I served as President of the Board in 2020 and led our community through the first year of COVID safely.

In the boardroom, I have been steeped in data, policy, and decision-making that has improved educational outcomes for all students. Behind the scenes, I have been on the front lines working side by side with our educators and staff to meet the urgent health and housing needs of our students and families as the founder of our school district’s award-winning Sanctuary Task Force. I have also been a key member of our school district’s Equity Task Force for years.

I understand the importance of high-quality childcare. I could not have graduated from San Francisco State University without the reliable childcare that was readily available to my son and me. I believe that every family has a right to the same support I was given—high-quality childcare and preschool for all should be available to every family in our county. That is why I have collaborated with childcare leaders across the county to increase childcare availability.

Knowledge is power and every child deserves the opportunity to thrive.

I’m the only candidate for District 2 endorsed by our local Sierra Club chapter and Sunrise Silicon Valley.

Climate change is a real and present threat to the well-being of our entire community. Wildfires, smoke-filled skies, intensified droughts, and rising sea levels warn us of it daily. I refuse to leave this crisis for my son and his generation to deal with because we didn’t.

I don’t see climate as a separate issue. It’s the issue of our times. Every decision and every failure of decision must be seen through the lens of climate action.

On the local level, our firefighters and conservationists deserve the resources to keep our beautiful community lush and safe. And we are being called to do more. As Supervisor, I will be proactive in reducing our county’s carbon emissions, protecting our community from the threat of wildfires, and engaging our community in taking bold action to solve what is ours to solve.

Inflation is touching every person in our community. Add this rising pressure to the devastating effects of the pandemic on our local economy and it’s clear: We need immediate economic recovery.

Our small businesses, school communities, essential workers, working parents, communities of color, and children are hardest hit. Our nurses, firefighters, teachers, social workers, grocery store workers, and other essential employees continue to need support. We still have renters, property owners, businesses, and organizations dealing with the fallout of lost income, changes in services, and changes in health protocols.

As a twice-elected Board Trustee and former President of the largest school district in San Mateo County, I am the leader with the fiscal experience this county needs.

I am responsible for a complex, fiscally strong budget that is twice the size of the City of Belmont’s. I bring my experiences as a single mom and social worker to make tough choices in making ends meet and channeling resources where they’re needed most.

I plan to use Measure K funds to expand healthcare for low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities to address immediate needs. I will make sure we have the systems and procedures to manage resources responsibly so that mistakes like the critical safety equipment that was destroyed in the rain don’t happen again.

As Supervisor, I will work to close economic disparities like I have done on the school board. I will champion a budget that reflects what we value. In a county with so much wealth, we have the resources for all of us to thrive.

I led my school board in becoming the first school district to pass a resolution in support of seamless transit, a movement to transform Bay Area transit into a world-class, unified, equitable, and widely-used system.

Right now, we have 27 independent transit agencies in the Bay Area. Each uses different fare structures, apps, maps, and systems in a highly fragmented system. Riders frequently miss connections, arrive late, or get stranded. No wonder only 5% of Bay Area trips take place on public transit.

We need to put people first, not regional rivalries. While transit organizations duke it out and gas prices rise, inequalities deepen and our environment suffers from at least 70% of Bay Area trips taking place in cars.

The other candidate serves on the SamTrans Board, which participates in this ongoing rivalry.

Meanwhile, forward-thinking leaders are working to connect us, which is exactly what transit is supposed to do. I support State Senator Josh Becker and Seamless Bay Area, among others, who are working for seamless transit. As Supervisor, I will continue to be a part of the movement to connect us, not divide us.

I’m the only candidate for District 2 with the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction.

It’s a distinction awarded to candidates who have a demonstrated record of advocating for gun violence prevention and who are committed to governing with gun safety in mind.

I’m a survivor of gun violence. That’s why I’m so committed to this issue. As a mom and a School Board Trustee, I take it as my personal responsibility to make sure our children will never be a school tragedy in the news.

There’s no denying that guns play a role in suicide, domestic violence, mass shootings, and everyday gun violence in our community. We need to expand awareness of Gun Violence Restraining Orders and support the Sheriff’s Office in getting guns out of the wrong hands.

We can have sensible laws that both save lives and are compatible with the second amendment. I respect the right to safe, legal gun ownership. I will work to ensure that every gun owner in San Mateo County is properly storing their guns, away from children, teens, and vulnerable community members.