Affordability, change, and protecting our rights
I’m deeply concerned about rising costs in Hillsborough County. Expenses like rent and homeowners insurance are out of control – and car insurance is in a bad way too. When I talk with families in the hospital and community it’s shocking how often money, not health, is their top concern. It’s unacceptable that hardworking families in our community are struggling to afford life or death medical care. Many are also struggling to afford basic necessities. When housing is this expensive, the inflated grocery bill hits extra hard. I’ll prioritize policies aimed at curbing these escalating costs, ensuring that every individual has access to affordable healthcare and quality housing.
Only 17% of Hillsborough residents think quality of life will be better here in 5 years. We need to change the direction of this county if we want to retain what makes it a great place to live, work, and raise a family. We can’t afford a County Commission that slashes investment in housing affordability while it dithers around waging culture wars.
We need a Commission that’s working hard to make sure urban sprawl doesn’t consume all our green spaces, clog our roads, and overfill our sewers. Our commission should be serving this community: making sure that every single family has what it needs to prosper in the coming years. And I promise you that’s how I will approach this job.
I’ve witnessed a troubling truth: our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers did. Today’s attacks on women’s rights are the tip of the iceberg – here in Florida we have to worry about whether the books available to our students are being chosen for ideological reasons instead of educational reasons. If you are gay or bi or trans, the government is now hostile to your existence in a way it wasn’t just a few years ago. We need leaders at every single level who are committed to defending the rights, the autonomy, and the dignity of every single member of this community. Local government often decides how to implement policies dictated by Tallahassee or Washington. We should choose carefully who we want in charge of that work.
