achievements
In my first four years on the City Council, I’ve worked to serve residents and businesses by putting community interests first. I didn’t do any of the following things alone. Rather, I worked with Council, staff, and partners from across the ideological spectrum to get things done.
Here’s a sampling of what we’ve accomplished by working together:
The city’s first temporary homeless shelter opened in 2025. Thrive Grove Navigation Center has been open only a few months, but already it has helped reduce unsheltered homelessness by 46% and, as of May 2025, eliminated encampments. Better yet, this combination of housing and services is placing people into permanent housing. Residents asked the city to act on homelessness, and we’ve responded.
New housing starts increased more than 4x year-over-year in 2025. This helped to reduce a backlog of nearly 2,000 housing units, including nearly 300 affordable units, that the city already has entitled. The city also is moving forward with a 100% affordable project with 78 townhouse units for sale, helping new home buyers build equity.
Crime overall declined 8% in 2025. Commercial burglaries dropped 39%. Because domestic violence remains an unacceptable challenge, the City Council unanimously committed to match funds with the Ventura County District Attorney to locate a Family Justice Center here in Thousand Oaks, serving all of eastern Ventura County.
Amgen and Takeda invested $770 million in new R&D centers here in Thousand Oaks. These global leaders in biotech can locate anywhere on Earth – but they chose Thousand Oaks because it’s such a great place to live, work, innovate, and thrive.
The city continues to protect open space. More than 40% of Thousand Oaks is open space. As a board member and current chair of the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), I am committed to preserving and enhancing our area’s natural beauty.
The city stood with its immigrant communities after ICE raids here created fear and uncertainty. The city worked with the Ventura County Community Fund to establish the Neighbors Support Fund, backed by foundations, businesses, individuals – and the City of Thousand Oaks. The City Council voted unanimously to be the first municipality in Ventura County to contribute to the fund, providing much-needed aid for food, housing, mental health, and other services.
The city remains a leader in resiliency and sustainability, winning federal assistance for microgrids to keep critical city facilities functioning even when grid power goes out. The city’s membership in the Clean Power Alliance has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 60%, and the city’s Climate & Environmental Action Plan has nearly 100 action items to build on these gains. Even smaller steps like the phasing out of gas-powered small landscaping devices like leafblowers will be safer for the operator and the environment, while also reducing noise pollution.
The city enacted a 2-year, $608 million budget without which all the city’s excellent services would not be possible. The budget is structurally balanced and reserves are fully funded.