Public Safety
With a career spent working in law enforcement, I have a unique insight into the public safety challenges facing our community and how we can best address them.
Protecting public safety starts with having the best and brightest officers, who are well-trained and know the community. Throughout my career, I have been steadfast in my commitment to training and officer wellbeing. On the City Council, I will work with our police chief and department to support our officers and boost recruitment and retention efforts.
I support investing in our police department and making sure our officers have the tools needed to be successful. During my time serving as Placerville Chief of Police, I upgraded much of the outdated equipment for the police department staff including emergency 9-1-1 and administrative telephone systems, body worn cameras, IT equipment and patrol vehicles.
In Folsom, I would strive to take a similar approach to make sure our Police Department has the resources needed to keep our community safe.
Homelessness
While serving in Placerville, I helped initiate a collaborative effort between the El Dorado County and the City of Placerville to better address the homeless-mentally ill community. Prior to retiring from the Placerville Police Department, the first six months of this collaboration resulted in a 37% decrease in calls for service related to the homeless population.
I would take a similar approach in Folsom. We must address the underlying causes of homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse, if we are going to get people off the streets and on the path to stable housing and long-term self-sustainability.
I support partnering with the county and local non-profit organizations to provide mental health, substance abuse, and social services to those experiencing homelessness and making sure that shelters and transitional housing opportunities are providing those critical services to those in need.
Fiscal Responsibility
For much of my career in public safety, I oversaw multi-million-dollar public budgets. I understand how to budget, run public organizations effectively, and protect taxpayers.
At the City of Folsom, we need to cultivate a culture of respect for taxpayer dollars and understand that all our revenue is entrusted to us for the public good from hard working Folsom families. I will always seek efficient, effective local government that delivers results to residents without waste.
We can balance strategic investments in our neighborhoods and community while still making smart long-term fiscal decisions.