My Values

My core values are integrity, community and justice.

Integrity: being honest and acting ethically. The end does not and cannot justify the means, because the means shape the end. For me, an example of integrity is speaking in public meetings based on my values. It would be easier for me simply not to emphasize my values when they conflict with significant portions of the community. Many people supported separating children seeking asylum from their families and detaining them in internment camps. I spoke out and said the city should oppose that, because it was wrong.

Community: including everyone. We are all part of a shared community, and we have to work together to make it better. I have spent time with community groups with many different points of view. I have spent many hours on commissions, attending meetings and volunteering to make our community better.

Justice: making sure the right thing is done. Not the easy thing, or the popular thing, but the right thing. Justice is shaped by the laws and the constitution but not defined by them- an act could be both constitutional and legal but completely unjust. What, then, defines the right thing? Caring for the individual and their community, fairness (making sure everyone has an equal chance), and ethics (acting in a way that contributes to the common good).

In Pinole, justice and security don’t have to attack progress. Making sure everyone is heard helps build trust among communities. Justice means everyone feels safe reaching out to the police.

I wear tie-dye to demonstrate all of those values. In the 1960s people wore tie-dye as a symbol of their fight for a broader community, one that included all racial groups in an integrated whole, not one that pitted black against white or Latino against Asian. It was a fight to correct injustices against minority communities so that everyone could thrive. Pinole has made progress on that- we’re the fourth most integrated community in all of California (Bay Area Segregation Study). But injustices remain, and we need to fight them. I support the city creating an environmental justice element in the latest general plan update, and working to “Affirmatively Further Fair Housing.” Finally, my wearing tie-dye is a matter of integrity, because it would be easier to hide those values, to avoid the mockery from misunderstanding and negative associations. But it would not be the right thing to do.