What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

Alameda is still stuck in the mindset of panicking over the loss of the Navy. It has been nearly 15 years since the closure of the NAS, and there is still no clear vision of what to do with the land. Now that the ENA with SunCal has ended, this issue is once again at the forefront of the minds of Alamedans and is by far the most important issue of this election. I have always felt that SunCal was a bad fit for our City and was among the 85% who voted against Measure B. The city needs clear leadership over the issues concerning the NAS and the direction Alameda will take into the future.

I think that it makes more sense to reuse the existing structures and leverage all the existing assets to generate income for the City, rather that bringing in mercenary developers who are tone-deaf and more interested in lining their own pockets than doing what's best for our community. We also have a historical background that is worth preserving.

We do not need to build more housing at the NAS—we currently have nearly 1,000 units on the market for sale or rent. There are so many complications with building on the site and no plans have satisfactorily taken into account the myriad issues from hazardous waste to public transit to the Least Tern's habitat to low income housing balance vs jobs that I cannot support the PCD or any development concept for the NAS at this time.

What is the biggest problem in Alameda?

We are now a city divided after the schisms artifically created by the unwanted manipulations of SunCal and their attempts to gain control of the NAS. Now that the citizens have voted 85 percent - to 15 percent to remove SunCal, and the current City Council has also voted to end the ENA, it's time for the City and our neighbors to come together.