Fact: Escondido faces a serious housing shortage. More and more residents are being pushed out of their homes.

Vanessa supports:

• Enacting a vacancy tax on corporate landlords who let units sit empty. Using the the tax revenue to create supportive housing programs, including a rental assistance, fully funded right to counsel for tenants facing eviction and safe parking lots.

• Passing rent control in all areas allowed by state law.

• Enacting strong tenant protections, including just-cause eviction requirements.

• Converting vacant or underused properties into social housing owned by the city, nonprofits, or the community working families.

People who work in Escondido should be able to live in Escondido. No one should be priced out of housing.

Fact: Homelessness is a policy choice.

Vanessa will advocate for:

• A Housing-First strategy

• Permanent supportive housing

• Mental health outreach teams

• Tiny home village communities with services

• Safe camping sites

Let’s end unsheltered homesless through housing sevices - not criminalization.

Fact: Working families are the backbone of Escondido.

Vanessa supports:

• Project labor agreements for city-funded construction.

• Raising the local minimum wage to $17.75 per hour for businesses with 26 or more employees.

• Unionization and worker cooperatives.

• Prioritizing city contracts for companies that pay living wages and benefits.

• Local Anti-Wage Theft enforcement.Residents who build and sustain our city should have power over the economy that affects their lives.

• Supporting street vendors and small immigrant owned businesses.

Fact: True public safety means healthy communities.

Vanessa supports:

• Ending the shooting range agreement betweed Escondido Police Department and the Federal Government.

• Creating civillian crisis response teams for mental health calls.

• Redirecting resources from punitive policing methods to mental health, violence prevention, restorative justice, and youth programs.

• Expanding community oversight boards with real power over police budgets and policies.

• Engaging residents in designing safety strategies that reflect neighborhood needs.

True safety comes from community investment, not enforcement.

Fact: The most important infrastructure should be publicly owned.

Vanessa will advocate for:

• Ending give aways to luxury developers that leave the taxpayers to foot the bill for aging infrastructure.

• Invest in affordable public transit, expansion of library services, and recreation programs.

• Protecting public services from privatization.

Public resources should serve the public good.

Fact: Climate change demands a massive public action.

Vanessa will advocate for:

• Expanded tree canopy, shade corridors and cooling zones.

• City investment in renewable energy and energy-efficient buildings.

• Green public works jobs.

• Expanded biking infrastructure.

• Electrified public transit.

• Community-owned urban farms.

• A public grocery store

Climate policy should improve daily life while protecting our planet.