ISSUES
SAVE YUCAIPA'S
RURAL CHARM
Yucaipa has a rich history and once served as the main village for the Serrano Native American tribe. As the area grew it retained is rural nature and it attracted residents who appreciated the distance from the more urban communities of San Bernardino and Riverside. It was peaceful, beautiful and inexpensive. It lived up to its Serrano name of “green valley”.
As the region's population grew, pressure to expand
motivated the citizens to incorporate in 1989.
That pressure for growth continues as more people move to the Inland Empire and the Coachella Valley. People are attracted to the community for the very same reason as the original residents. It is vitally important that we preserve the nature of the community while selectively taking advantage of the opportunities for growth and the fiscal stability it brings to support our services to our residents without raising taxes.
Protecting our rural areas limiting density and concentrating any growth near the freeway is a big priority. I believe in smart development and I want to preserve the special qualities of Yucaipa that attracted us all to the community in the first place.
COMMUNITY VOICE
AT CITY HALL
I support a family friendly, safe, walkable community with
collaborative policymaking, smart and controlled development that meets the state requirements for housing without losing the rural charm of Yucaipa. Support developments that keep higher density
affordable housing where it is most convenient for the
tenants/buyers-- near the freeway. I support rent stabilized mobile home parks so that seniors in the community can continue to feel safe that they will be able to stay in their homes. I believe that the rural areas should continue to be lower density development. I believe
that commercial development that is visible from the freeway needs to blend in with the surrounding area, with design palette of earth tones.
THOUGHTFUL
DEVELOPMENT
If Yucaipa is to do this while maintaining a large part of what makes it charming, livable and a place to raise a family –or retire in a place that feels different – we must do it thoughtfully. To merely start building homes without an eye to honoring those aspects of the city will have
permanent – and negative effects.
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I think the best option for the freeway corridor in Yucaipa is multi-family housing, which follows strict design guidelines and color palettes to blend into the landscape and become and not become an eyesore to the residents in the rest of Yucaipa. Those developments would need to invest in the appropriate infrastructure to accommodate the increased traffic, but the developers, not the residents, would pay for the infrastructure.
FULLY FUND
PUBLIC SAFETY
Fully fund public safety: A main component of Yucaipa's charm is the peace of mind that comes with an appropriate level of public safety personnel-- fire, paramedics and sheriff deputies -- literally our first
line of defense. As the city faces budget deficits, it is important that city leaders support efforts that will continue to fully fund public safety because higher crime and lower response times have a snowballing
effect on a city's livability, quality of life, commercial viability and property values. I support Measure S, the .01 sales tax increase, as a way to keep Yucaipa residents safe as the costs of public safety continue to rise.
STABILIZE
MOBILE HOME RENTS
Professionally, I have seen how mobile home owners can be victims to absentee landlords, or management that is unresponsive. And even those in well run parks can
have problems maintaining their homes on limited incomes. In my professional capacity,
I find and use grants and donations, and build partnerships across interested stakeholder groups to help seniors, veterans, disable people and those making no more than 80% of San Bernardino County median income (which is $65,600 for a household of two). I would like to make that a reality for Yucaipa mobile homeowners.
For those suffering in substandard conditions because of the park owner neglect, I would like to see a task force that pressures owners to improve the site, and resources
to help ensure residents have a decent, safe place to live. Left unaddressed, substandard parks can be breeding ground for code violations, unlicensed and
unscrupulous contractors and unsafe living conditions. 1