For ten years I served on my North Park community’s Town Council while working in a busy legal career and supporting other causes I felt strongly about. One of the things we worked to do was to encourage community leaders from Rancho Bernardo and Del Cerro to Nestor and Encanto to join with us in communicating shared priorities to our local representatives.  Our thought was that if we could show the leadership that we had shared interests it would be easier for leaders to reach across political divides to achieve solutions each community needed.

As I campaign to be the next member of the Board of Supervisors I see parallels to that neighborhood work in communities as distinct as Linda Vista and Lakeside. Although the communities have different geography and cultural nuances, they share plenty in common. Both communities are filled with parents who want high quality child care to be more affordable and whose aging residents struggle to meet their basic needs and get the care and support they need. Both communities suffer from housing costs that often far outstrip the available wages to pay for them. As a region, we must be more focused on embracing solutions for the crises our communities share in common.

Neighborhood leaders from across the County Board of Supervisors Fourth District – from communities in Clairemont and Mission Hills to North Park and Encanto and beyond – are standing to publicly endorse my campaign. Having the faith of people who have worked hard in their own San Diego neighborhoods means a great deal to me. They have earned the respect of their neighbors by their dedication. I am grateful that they see in me the type of leader who  has the professional experience for the job and also that I am one of them and will embrace the role of community leadership if elected to serve.  They see a neighborhood leader who is not a career politician merely in search of the next job but who has a demonstrated commitment to San Diegans and is stepping up for children, for seniors, and for a region that needs more investment in its neighborhoods. This public support makes me proud and reinforces the value I place in the people in our neighborhoods.