I am deeply aware and concerned that violent crime — especially homicides and gun
assaults — is out of control in the City of Richmond. As your new Mayor, I will bring a new
approach to alleviating crime.

There should be zero tolerance of the cowards who use guns to commit crimes, to hurt and
maim. I am committed to getting these offenders and their weapons off our streets. I want the
existing laws for gun free school zones enforced, and believe that we should consider gun free
zones in other areas with high rates of gun crimes. I support the use of new technologies to enforce
these gun free zones, and to seek out and identify offenders.

I support the enforcement of loitering, truancy, and curfew laws as ways to send a clear
message of what is required to be a responsible citizen. Any effort on the part of myself as your
next Mayor or the City Council to help the Richmond Police Department with ordinances should be
explored.

The Richmond Police Department needs to have more special operations details at street
level to directly confront gangs and organized crime. The Chief of Police and law enforcement
personnel need all the support that I and the City Council can assemble.
I will work hard to direct State and federal attention to the formation of a multi-jurisdictional
task force to work with RPD in the execution of warrants on wanted criminals. Combining assets
will multiply our forces in fighting crime.

I will work closely with the City of Richmond’s Department of Employment & Training. I
will see to it that high-risk youth and adults are recruited, trained, and employed into long-term
positions.

I will generate community support by seeking out other young, successful businessmen and
women like myself who have improved themselves. They have the ability to reach the hearts and
minds of high-risk youths who seek direction and hope from City Hall.

I will work to form a “High-Risk Youth Council” where youths and young adults can
bring more focus and understanding to the problems they face in their daily lives. This High Risk
Youth Council, in conjunction with the Mayor and City Council, can help assess where funding and
services should be directed to better assist the needs of these youth and young adults.

 

As your new Mayor, my Administration and the government of the City of Richmond will
meet the challenge to clean up past pollution, and bring an environmentally sound and ‘green’
approach to how industries and corporations operate within Richmond.

I will work with State and federal environmental agencies to apply for the funding and
technology to assist in cleaning up identified “Superfund” sites in the City of Richmond.
I will also work closely with business to help develop practices that will contain and reduce
contamination into water, land, and air. At the same time, I will move for the City of Richmond to do
likewise, taking the lead for other cities to follow.

While on the City Council, I was one of the main advocates in bringing solar energy to the
City of Richmond. My Administration will place a strong emphasis on developing an even broader
use of solar and other alternative energy sources. From the use of energy providers that utilize
renewable resources to fueling diesel city vehicles with biodiesel,the City of Richmond will do its
part.

For the past 100 years, the City of Richmond has been successful due to the families that
have lived here. Strong, vibrant, and close, Richmond’s working-class families are central to
Richmond’s history. Children, their parents, and their elders are the very essence of Richmond’s
social backbone, the neighborhood. However, over the past 25 years, the City of Richmond has
neglected the wants and needs of everyday citizens in these neighborhoods. Unless it is election
time or tax time, families remain generally ignored.

Now is the time to re-establish and reconnect with the families of Richmond, to hear their
concerns and learn what their expectations are. Families must be brought back to the table with citygovernment, as equal partners and stakeholders, because without them, the City of Richmond is nocity at all.

As your next Mayor, I will initiate a massive outreach to all 39 Neighborhood Councils, the
Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council (RNCC), and community advocates, activists, and
organizers to listen to the goals for their respective neighborhoods. Once identified, I will direct
City of Richmond infrastructure to fulfill both short-term and long-term objectives in a timely
fashion.

Every voice has value, and every idea has merit. From child to parent to elder, male or
female, young or old, I want to hear what you have to say. Your input can be the difference.

Richmond is an old California city with a long tradition in arts and culture. Over the years,
we have witnessed an amazing colony of painters, photographers, actors, dancers, writers, musicians,and other creators call Richmond their home. We have outstanding artistic and cultural venues, suchas the Richmond Art Center, oldest of its kind in the Bay Area, as well as the East Bay Center forthe Performing Arts.

Arts and culture are alive and well in the City of Richmond, but the city government needs to
place more emphasis on the promotion of arts and culture, now and well into the future, if we want
them to thrive. We must take advantage of our National Historical Park designation as a way to
showcase to the world the true character of pride and purpose in our city.

As your next Mayor, I will propose increased funding from the city’s budget to both the
Richmond Art Center and the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, so that they may continue to
advance arts and culture in Richmond.

To better advise the City of Richmond government, I will move for a stronger Arts &
Culture Commission. I will also enable the City of Richmond’s Department of Parks &
Recreation’s division of Arts & Culture to play a leadership role. Combined, these commissions
will be able to determine the best manner in which to better serve residents, change or expand
programming, and thus best support arts and culture for Richmond.

Affordable housing is vital to building strong communities. Statistics prove that in areas of
Richmond where crime is home ownership is low, crime is high, and vice versa. Thus, home
ownership — and the pride and responsibility that goes with it — can be an effective tool to
controlling crime.

As your next Mayor, I will work to direct resources into communities affected by low
income and crime to promote home ownership. Other cities that have done so have witnessed
decreases in crime and boosts to educational performance, and I believe that it can provide the samebenefits to Richmond. Helping Richmond residents to achieve the American dream is one way torestore the pride and purpose that has faded from our city.