1. Development that serves the whole community

No one is really against development. What community members oppose is development that is not to scale, development processes that exclude their input, and development practices that are unsustainable to the communities they supposedly serve. I will work to ensure that development will serve the whole community, and not merely powerful segments of it.

2. A real safety program

So often when we talk about safety we fail to talk about the things that really put us in danger. I bring new ideas to help us really be safe, such as

• Disaster preparedness, such as including earthquake retrofits and landscaping to prevent fires;
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training -- organized and trained neighborhoods are their own response teams;
• Sharing the road -- traffic policy that views us not as drivers, bikers, pedestrians, or wheelchair users, but as ALL of them over the course of a day or a lifetime
• Continuation and expansion of our successful Community Policing and Bicycle Police Programs

3. Continuing Berkeley's ecological leadership

Berkeley has a justifiable reputation as a leader in ecological governance. As a Green, I have a special commitment to continuing that leadership. In particular, I promise to use government resources for

• Restoration of currently daylighted creeks and repair of culverts
• Expanding Biodiesel, both of city vehicles and in collaboration with AC Transit's biodiesel program
• Ensuring continued energy efficiency, solarization, and other energy savings
• Encouraging car pools and public transit

4. Improving our democracy

Berkeley is also now developing a leadership in good government reforms with our support in March for Instant Runoff Voting and the movement toward Public Financing of Municipal Elections, which I support strongly. Vigiliance will be necessary in the implementation of IRV, and I promise to work tirelessly to see that we have a working system in 2006. I also have significant experience in working on youth outreach for voter registration and voter education, and as a Grassroots Activist I promise to use my energies to expand participation in government. The City Council also must insist that County-purchased touch screen voting machines be both accessible to the disabled and recountable. A clear voter-verifiable paper-trail and open source software is vital to ensuring fairness at the ballot box.

5. Working Toward Common Goals

Berkeley has a community identity as a place of innovation and heart-felt activism. We can harness that activism toward common goals and avoid polarization within the city if we remember that we are united about the real battles, which are over state and federal policy.