Sherri Lightner does her homework. Laying a proper foundation is one of the fundamental principles that she understands and has a healthy respect for.
I have attended meetings of many planning and other community groups — some of which I didn’t even know existed — throughout the district with Sherri over the last several months and have come to realize just how many individual issues are confronting our communities today.
Listening to Sherri’s thoughts on the issues raised at these meetings has made it clear to me that she values:
- Preserving neighborhoods, protecting open spaces and parks, and restoring City services
- Listening and addressing the concerns and needs of those most affected by changes in the community: the residents
- Paying as we go, rather than shifting our burdens to the future
- Planning for the future and what impacts any proposals might have on us or our children
- Adhering to the planning process, the community plan, and the City’s numerous Codes and Ordinances
- Enforcing the laws we already have, rather than making up new ones
When I asked Sherri for a list of the biggest issues facing each community, I got a catalog of over 40 items. Clearly, I don’t have enough space to address a list of this size, so here are just a few of Sherri’s positions:
Emergency Services: Every single one of our communities is deficient in either Police or Fire coverage (or both) either through a lack of stations or a lack of staffing.
I-5/S-56 Connector: Traffic is a huge problem, but it should not be addressed at the expense of residents.
Paid Parking at the Beach or in the village of La Jolla: Sherri has been at the forefront of leading the charge against this proposal from the very beginning.
Regents Road Bridge: We need results for traffic and fire safety now — many of which can be gained through improvements to the Genesee corridor without resorting to an expensive, highly- contested 40-year-old plan that would encroach on some the city’s last open space west of I-805.
Westfield UTC Expansion: Not only will this add 18,000 additional cars on already jammed roads and plant a 35-story residential building at UTC, it is not clear if there are any community benefits.
Hopefully, from the examples above, you can see how Sherri applies her beliefs to individual issues and problems.
It is a shame that many issues are made to be a litmus test in today’s politics. With so many of them, it is practically impossible to find a candidate with whom you can agree one hundred percent of the time. Sometimes you have to hope for the best; sometimes you get suckered.
However, with Sherri, I will always know where she stands because of her core beliefs. Fortunately, her values mirror my own. And if it so happened that she were to take a position on a particular issue that runs contrary to my own, I will at least know that it has been the result of careful, consistent, and detailed thought along with community input, rather than just a knee-jerk reaction to public opinion or at the pull of a special interest-string.
That is how you restore trust in leadership. That is why I trust Sherri Lightner.