Allow Floor Area Bonus for Hotels with Public Amenities - YES
Corte Madera is a first-rate community, and we deserve first-rate hotels—but for decades, overly restrictive zoning regulations prevented our local hotels from renovating and kept new hotels away, which in turn kept businesses and visitors away. To address this problem, we updated our zoning ordinance to give hotels access to a floor area bonus, letting them get a little bigger—but only if they met stringent criteria that ensured they blend in harmoniously with the surroundin
Allow Local Businesses to Operate Outdoors - YES
When COVID hit, the initial lockdown devastated local businesses, and we quickly went to work looking for ways to ease the burden—not only on business owners and workers, but on residents who suddenly had nowhere to eat or shop. One result was this urgency ordinance, passed on an emergency basis (to shorten the approval process by two weeks) allowing local businesses like restaurants and stores to operate safely outdoors in compliance with the County's public health guideline
Provide $50,000 for Emergency Housing Assistance to Vulnerable Residents - YES
This is probably the proudest accomplishment of my time on the Town Council. As the country descended into the depths of COVID, cities across the nation were scrambling to help businesses stay afloat and pay rent—but nobody seemed to be talking about people. After Corte Madera created our grant program to help local businesses survive, we continued our leadership by creating a similar fund to help residents stay in their homes. With so many residents losing their jobs to the
Make Sales Tax Citizens' Oversight Committee Permanent - YES
The Corte Madera Sales Tax Citizens' Oversight Committee was created when the Town adopted its new sales tax in 2013. The purpose of the committee was to oversee how sales tax funds were being spent by the Town, to ensure funds were only being spent on authorized uses, and to provide an added layer of public accountability. Although the Committee was scheduled to phase out in 2020, it was such a huge success—and its work so valued by the community and the Town Council—that we
Authorize <$25,000 to Redo Town Park Bathrooms - YES
I voted yes on this modest contract to deliver a small but important victory that many residents had been waiting for: repairs and upgrades to the bathrooms at Town Park, which residents thought fell short of providing a nice and clean place to do their business.
Renew Participation in the Community Development Block Grant Program - YES
As a member of the CDBG program, Corte Madera receives federal funding to help us provide housing and services for low-income residents. This is an incredible opportunity to help our most vulnerable community members without dipping into local tax dollars, and I was proud vote yes.