My Vision for Orem
I believe there is room for everyone in Orem. While we have Orem families with Orem pioneer pedigrees, we also have transplants, immigrants, refugees, homeless, young professionals, students, and so many other groups of people. I’d like to focus on celebrating our unity as a diverse community.
Smart Economic Development
I want to make sure we continue to maintain and hopefully increase the sales taxes the city currently receives generated by local businesses. I want to continue to make Orem an attractive place to do business so that we can continue to benefit from the sales taxes.
Growth
I think Orem’s growth is exciting if approached strategically and through a long-term lens. I’d like to embrace growth by preparing solutions for affordable housing, air quality, infrastructure needs so our kids can live in a safe and strong city.
Budget
I am super motivated to work within a balanced budget, but we have to be willing to give up what that may mean. If we as a city are opposed to raising taxes for certain services, we have to be willing to compromise on a way to provide for those services somehow. If that means incentivizing new developments to generate more sales tax for our city, that would be fantastic. But I am not opposed to raising taxes if our city's needs cannot be met.
UVU Development
I see the growth of a university and an educational community as a strength to our city. I am interested in equally sharing the growth among the entire city through more ADU allowances so there is not one single neighborhood having to bear all of the burden of extreme growth.
Bikeability
I plan to support the implementation of the Orem Bicycle Master Plan and make Orem a more bicycle-friendly city by adding wider, separated, elevated, and way more designated bike lanes on main corridors. I’d like to add more pedestrian and bike bridges and calm traffic on state street and center street. I’d be interested in implementing these solutions by trying to use the yearly UIA dividend.
While safety is always the biggest biking deterrent for most people, we also cannot be motivated to bike anywhere if we don’t have under 15 minute access to corner stores, shops, restaurants, entertainment, and more. I believe more fresh produce stands and locally-owned corner stores within our neighborhoods (think immediate 2-4 blocks) will promote more bikeablity and walkability. Adding more bike lanes will get us a long way, but it’s not the only solution.
Orem Library
I have a deep love for city libraries and the resources they offer. We are lucky to have our Orem library director and her team who work hard to stay on top of rapidly changing needs to serve our community. They’re working on overcoming E-material hurdles (never-ending holds on ebooks thanks to publisher limits and costs,) they have transitions into eventual no-fine system on their radar, they offer Spanish story-time for toddlers, and they’re focusing on how they can better serve our teens who can often be overlooked in library programming. As a city council member, I’d be so excited to support this incredible team and community institution. I am so supportive of the bond that passed to get the library the classroom and the auditorium they’ve needed for so long and I’m so pumped to support them in their needs.
Child-Friendly City
Designing a child-friendly is better for everyone. New studies suggest that a child-friendly lens through which we plan a city helps create a city that offers a wide range of social benefits for all including health and wellbeing, sustainability, resilience, and safety. This is because when we give less real estate to vehicles and roads we minimize barriers for children to access play spaces, reduce our levels of airborne pollutants, reduce child road fatalities, and increase independent mobility. When I talk about wanting to create a more sustainable, walkable, and bikeable city it’s coming from the lens of planning for my children, but it’s also clear this approach benefits everyone. The more we can walk from our home to school/work/stores, the more we boost foot and traffic and commercial activity which benefits all of our local businesses. I would love increased safety, cleaner air, and more independent mobility for my kids and I’m board to help get us there.
State Street Master Plan
I am excited to focus on the beautification of State Street. In the State Street Master Plan, there are allowances for not only a cycle track or buffered bicycle lane, but there are also allowances to better utilize land to increase land values and tax revenue. I want to move forward on this plan as quickly as possible and I’m very interested in seeking partnerships with developers to create these innovative spaces and the infrastructure for these approved projects. I’d also like to tack on our needs in this plan (like landscaped medians, pedestrian walkways, decorative lighting, etc.) as conditions to approvals of other new proposed projects. Focusing on freeing State Street from its current hideous state will not only create a more official and vibrant downtown in Orem, but it will generate more dollars to our city tax base.
Latino Community
10% of our population in Utah County is Hispanic and my dream is to see those numbers reflected in the general election in November. There is a vibrant community here not being represented and if there’s anything I can do, its represent their need to feel welcome, safe, seen, and an integral part of our city.
Parks and the CARE tax
Our CARE tax is a fund we pay into that supports incredible cultural arts and recreation developments like my family’s favorite splash pad and parks and our city council has the opportunity to vote on what projects our CARE tax will fund. My family has spent countless hours making memories at Palisade Park Splash Pad, The Altogether Playground, Nielsen's Grove Park, and Mt. Timpanogos Park. I will always vote in favor of spending our CARE tax on projects like these because these parks are the heart of our city. Our parks are what make a great city and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the process.
Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship
I’d like our youngest citizens to be able to grow up safely, without the risk of developing asthma by playing outside in our poor air quality. If we continue to plan our city around parking our cars, we will continue to plan for poor air quality. I believe increasing transit connections, better bike lanes, and pedestrian bridges are critical to environmental stewardship, but we can’t just keep building more pedestrian infrastructure around car infrastructure. We have to plan our city for long-term safety and health, and that means planning for walkability and bikeability over planning for cars.
Gentle Density & Housing Diversity
We need more nuanced site-specific answers, they’re critical to building a better city. I’m in favor of incremental and gentle increases to density like more allowances for mother-in-law build-outs or single-family home to duplex conversions. Moving in smaller scale iterations that allow the generation of an additional unit or two is a more sustainable and affordable way to grow our city and gives more control to individual homeowners. Providing gentle density options like more ADU allowances creates more affordable housing and allows our children and their children an opportunity to stay in the neighborhood.
I believe there is room for everyone in Orem. While we have Orem families with Orem pioneer pedigrees, we also have transplants, immigrants, refugees, homeless, young professionals, students, and so many other groups of people. I’d like to focus on celebrating our unity as a diverse community.
Smart Economic Development
I want to make sure we continue to maintain and hopefully increase the sales taxes the city currently receives generated by local businesses. I want to continue to make Orem an attractive place to do business so that we can continue to benefit from the sales taxes.
Growth
I think Orem’s growth is exciting if approached strategically and through a long-term lens. I’d like to embrace growth by preparing solutions for affordable housing, air quality, infrastructure needs so our kids can live in a safe and strong city.
Budget
I am super motivated to work within a balanced budget, but we have to be willing to give up what that may mean. If we as a city are opposed to raising taxes for certain services, we have to be willing to compromise on a way to provide for those services somehow. If that means incentivizing new developments to generate more sales tax for our city, that would be fantastic. But I am not opposed to raising taxes if our city's needs cannot be met.
UVU Development
I see the growth of a university and an educational community as a strength to our city. I am interested in equally sharing the growth among the entire city through more ADU allowances so there is not one single neighborhood having to bear all of the burden of extreme growth.
Bikeability
I plan to support the implementation of the Orem Bicycle Master Plan and make Orem a more bicycle-friendly city by adding wider, separated, elevated, and way more designated bike lanes on main corridors. I’d like to add more pedestrian and bike bridges and calm traffic on state street and center street. I’d be interested in implementing these solutions by trying to use the yearly UIA dividend.
While safety is always the biggest biking deterrent for most people, we also cannot be motivated to bike anywhere if we don’t have under 15 minute access to corner stores, shops, restaurants, entertainment, and more. I believe more fresh produce stands and locally-owned corner stores within our neighborhoods (think immediate 2-4 blocks) will promote more bikeablity and walkability. Adding more bike lanes will get us a long way, but it’s not the only solution.
Orem Library
I have a deep love for city libraries and the resources they offer. We are lucky to have our Orem library director and her team who work hard to stay on top of rapidly changing needs to serve our community. They’re working on overcoming E-material hurdles (never-ending holds on ebooks thanks to publisher limits and costs,) they have transitions into eventual no-fine system on their radar, they offer Spanish story-time for toddlers, and they’re focusing on how they can better serve our teens who can often be overlooked in library programming. As a city council member, I’d be so excited to support this incredible team and community institution. I am so supportive of the bond that passed to get the library the classroom and the auditorium they’ve needed for so long and I’m so pumped to support them in their needs.
Child-Friendly City
Designing a child-friendly is better for everyone. New studies suggest that a child-friendly lens through which we plan a city helps create a city that offers a wide range of social benefits for all including health and wellbeing, sustainability, resilience, and safety. This is because when we give less real estate to vehicles and roads we minimize barriers for children to access play spaces, reduce our levels of airborne pollutants, reduce child road fatalities, and increase independent mobility. When I talk about wanting to create a more sustainable, walkable, and bikeable city it’s coming from the lens of planning for my children, but it’s also clear this approach benefits everyone. The more we can walk from our home to school/work/stores, the more we boost foot and traffic and commercial activity which benefits all of our local businesses. I would love increased safety, cleaner air, and more independent mobility for my kids and I’m board to help get us there.
State Street Master Plan
I am excited to focus on the beautification of State Street. In the State Street Master Plan, there are allowances for not only a cycle track or buffered bicycle lane, but there are also allowances to better utilize land to increase land values and tax revenue. I want to move forward on this plan as quickly as possible and I’m very interested in seeking partnerships with developers to create these innovative spaces and the infrastructure for these approved projects. I’d also like to tack on our needs in this plan (like landscaped medians, pedestrian walkways, decorative lighting, etc.) as conditions to approvals of other new proposed projects. Focusing on freeing State Street from its current hideous state will not only create a more official and vibrant downtown in Orem, but it will generate more dollars to our city tax base.
Latino Community
10% of our population in Utah County is Hispanic and my dream is to see those numbers reflected in the general election in November. There is a vibrant community here not being represented and if there’s anything I can do, its represent their need to feel welcome, safe, seen, and an integral part of our city.
Parks and the CARE tax
Our CARE tax is a fund we pay into that supports incredible cultural arts and recreation developments like my family’s favorite splash pad and parks and our city council has the opportunity to vote on what projects our CARE tax will fund. My family has spent countless hours making memories at Palisade Park Splash Pad, The Altogether Playground, Nielsen's Grove Park, and Mt. Timpanogos Park. I will always vote in favor of spending our CARE tax on projects like these because these parks are the heart of our city. Our parks are what make a great city and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the process.
Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship
I’d like our youngest citizens to be able to grow up safely, without the risk of developing asthma by playing outside in our poor air quality. If we continue to plan our city around parking our cars, we will continue to plan for poor air quality. I believe increasing transit connections, better bike lanes, and pedestrian bridges are critical to environmental stewardship, but we can’t just keep building more pedestrian infrastructure around car infrastructure. We have to plan our city for long-term safety and health, and that means planning for walkability and bikeability over planning for cars.
Gentle Density & Housing Diversity
We need more nuanced site-specific answers, they’re critical to building a better city. I’m in favor of incremental and gentle increases to density like more allowances for mother-in-law build-outs or single-family home to duplex conversions. Moving in smaller scale iterations that allow the generation of an additional unit or two is a more sustainable and affordable way to grow our city and gives more control to individual homeowners. Providing gentle density options like more ADU allowances creates more affordable housing and allows our children and their children an opportunity to stay in the neighborhood.
