I don't have a single predetermined answer, and I think any candidate who claims to already know the one right answer isn't being straight with you. My commitment is to facilitate an honest, public conversation with residents, local businesses, and outside economic and market experts to pair real data with what our community and visitors actually want — and build our "next economy" from there.

No — it's the opposite of the usual approach, where a candidate picks a pet project and pushes it regardless of whether the numbers support it. I'd rather bring in people who study this professionally, test ideas against real data, and build consensus around what actually works for Port Hueneme, rather than guess.

A significant one. Part of building a resilient local economy is lowering barriers to entry for local businesses and entrepreneurs — including organized, safe street vending options and incentives for busking and street performance, so economic activity and community life happen together, not separately.

Directly. Sales tax makes up the majority of most city revenue, including Port Hueneme's. A stronger, more diversified local economy is what funds the police, parks, roads, and services residents rely on — economic strategy and fiscal responsibility are the same conversation, not two separate ones.

This isn't a one-term fix. It starts with an honest public accounting of where our revenue actually stands, followed by a structured process to bring in expertise and community input — but I'd rather be honest about the scope of the challenge than promise a quick turnaround I can't deliver.

Yes. My professional background is in economic development and program management, including work in Placer County's economic development office, and I currently assist developing and monitorin Ventura County's budget — so I understand both the mechanics of local revenue and the practical realities of how these industries actually operate.

It's a real structural challenge, rooted in our development history. Port Hueneme wraps around Naval Base Ventura County, and instead of one central downtown, we have three distinct commercial cores — Victoria Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard, Channel Islands Boulevard and Ventura Road, and Ventura Road and Pleasant Valley Road — each with its own economic profile. Any real economic strategy for this city has to work with that reality rather than pretend we're a single-downtown city we're not.

Meaningful development almost always requires outside capital — there's no local business or individual with the billions of dollars it takes to develop at that scale. That means it's on the city itself to understand its own economic story and actively communicate it to outside investors. A small city like Port Hueneme doesn't naturally come to mind for investors the way a larger or more visible city might. If we don't do the work of understanding and telling our own story — including the distinct character of each of our three commercial cores — we're leaving that opportunity for someone else to define, or simply leaving it on the table.