Growth Should Lower Costs, Not Raise Them.

In Banning, families are getting hit from every direction. Rent's high. Groceries cost more. Gas costs more. And the hidden costs add up too: long commutes, aging infrastructure, and public services stretched too thin.

For too long, development in Banning has worked the same way: private profit now, public costs later.

Projects get negotiated one by one, promises stay vague, enforcement's weak, and residents are left paying the price.

We need a different standard at City Hall. If a project needs public approvals, public land, or public support, it should help lower the cost of living, strengthen neighborhood stability, and pay its fair share of the impacts it creates.

That also means making daily life easier and less expensive by putting more of what people need closer to home.

Too much still gets worked out behind the scenes. We deserve clear rules, public accountability, and a process residents can actually see and understand.

As your Councilmember, I'll fight for affordable living with a simple set of rules:

• Stop approving projects on vague promises. If a project claims it'll help with affordability, that commitment should be clear, measurable, and enforceable.

• Make growth pay for growth. Require up-front funding for infrastructure, traffic, safety, and other public impacts.

• Create a better public deal tracker. Show residents what was approved, what was promised, what got built, and whether the city enforced the deal.

• Build affordable homes near schools, services, and jobs. Support infill housing where daily life already happens.

• Prevent displacement before families fall into crisis. Back housing stability, eviction prevention, and anti-displacement tools.

• Rebuild Banning's homelessness response. Support transitional housing, emergency shelter, and real pathways into permanent housing.

• Go after outside funding before passing costs to residents. Use housing, infrastructure, and neighborhood dollars to keep local burdens down.

• Back Eastside grocery access. Support grocery improvements, healthier food options, and safer access to the stores families already rely on.

Affordable living isn't just about rent. It's about whether life in Banning gets easier or more expensive, and whether the people who already live here can afford to stay. We need growth that lowers everyday costs, strengthens stability, and makes this city work better for the people who call it home.