Soraida Iwanaga

I want to be your voice on the council dais advocating for our future while honoring our past.  The decisions our elected officials make will impact our daily lives.    

I promise to be an independent voice you can trust.  I’ll work hard to:

• Provide fiscal sustainability – City Hall won’t be able to provide services including public safety, senior and youth recreation, street maintenance and many others without a strong and healthy budget. I will evaluate the budget and ask the right questions to get the most value out of the tax dollar.  I’m willing to make the tough decisions between city “wants and needs.” 
• Public Safety – Too often quality of life crime impacts our residents and businesses. Adding a single officer to the streets can have a positive influence downtown or in the shopping districts. Our firefighters need to be given the opportunities to maintain their life-saving skills because most calls are medical in nature.
• Maintain and enhance infrastructure – City Hall needs to plan and support road improvements including the completion of sidewalks. We should also look at opportunities to enhance infrastructure including bike and walking trails. 
• Stand up to Sacramento – We must be able to consider our infrastructure needs including water when making decisions that impact our residents. The decrees coming out of Sacramento have tied the hands of your local officials and are stressing the ability of cities throughout the state to provide services.  Enough is enough!  Whether its contacting state officials or working through the League of California Cities, we need to be proactive and lobby against the Sacramento’s heavy-handed approaches that seem to be in vogue.
• Supporting our Youth and Senior Citizens – As a mom, I know how important it is to keep our kids engaged in healthy activities. Our parks and recreations services provide a sense of well-being and community.  We must plan for parks and open space when new development is proposed.  In addition, as the nation experiences an aging population, we need to be prepared for activities and services for our senior citizens.