Crime

 There's no denying it; Fairfield has a crime problem. I will make sure our law enforcement officers have the funding and resources they need to keep this city safe. However, law enforcement cannot solve this crisis alone. I also want to work with community and neighborhood leaders to ensure that the citizens themselves are a part of the crime reduction process in this city. 

Above is a picture of a parking lot in downtown Fairfield. This is unacceptable. How can a city flourish and grow when its streets look like this? Simply put, it can't. 

So what to do? Well, throwing money at the problem is not the answer. If it was, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and a whole bunch of other cities would have solved it by now. No, we've thrown enough money at this problem and it's clearly not working. 

How can it be solved, then? By making it personal. Homelessness is a very complicated issue and a large bureaucracy with a one size approach is not going to work. Every single person living on our streets has different issues and needs. Some have addiction issues, some are mentally ill, many are both. A few are just temporarily down on their luck, and I've even met some that were foster care kids who had aged out of the system. 

With that in mind, I am going to work with our city leaders, non-profits, and faith leaders to get these people the personalized help they need to get them off the streets. I'm also going to make sure the money that we spend is actually being used to help people in need, rather than lining the pockets of certain "non-profits".

We can do better than this.

Small business is the backbone of the economy. Too often elected officials bend over backwards to give handouts and support for large corporations, but ignore small businesses. 

To our local shop owners, I hear you. I see your frustrations and I will do everything possible to ensure city officials do not get in the way of your success. 

We can fix this city, and I believe small business is going to lead the charge.

Agriculture is a vital part of our community. Too often it seems like the people in charge of our city think they know best when it comes to managing the land that farmer's work.

Let me be clear, farmers know best about their own land and what to do with it. We don't need to spend millions of dollars on think tanks and non profits who on how to slice up and develop one of our most precious resources. 

Roads, bridges, parks, trails. These things are vital for any community and they need to be maintained. A city that looks clean and maintained will attract people who are the same.

Sadly, today I see many trails with overgrown weeds, sidewalks that are cracked, parks that are aging, and a whole bunch of other things in this city that look like they are in terrible shape. It's not surprising that many crimes happen in these areas.  

Thankfully, the solutions to these minor problems are very easy and affordable. 

I will make these solutions happen.