Hi, I'm Crawford Coates,
and I'm running for District 1 City Council.

Consolidate and empower our support services.
We need to support our struggling neighbors. As your city councilor, I will work with county and city services to bring more to our community. For example, the County of Ventura Public Defenders' Fresh Start Unit brings resources for those who are recently incarcerated and suffering from addiction. We must find real, collaborative solutions. 

Make Main Street work. Downtown is struggling. We can't deny that. The Westside has lost a major thoroughfare for connecting with the rest of the city, as well as complicated egress in the event of emergency. We need to follow the data, shield the city from expensive liability, and explore a hybrid model that preserves our historic character and grows our tax base.  

Embrace our natural ecosystems. We are surrounded by beauty: farms, hillsides, the ocean, and the Ventura River. We must embrace and steward these resources. I will work with the Ventura Land Trust, Merito Foundation, Surfrider, and others to bring this nature into our community through trails and opportunities. We need to bring these various groups together. The Thomas Fire should have been a wake-up call. The time to prepare for emergency is now. 

No paid parking.
I get that the city needs revenue. I get that our costs are increasing -- for all of us. As your city councilor I will emphasize fiscal responsibility and long-term thinking, and I will put our residents and business owners first. The three topics I hear about most are 1) overdevelopment and cost of living, 2) the poor condition of our streets, and 3) support for public safety. We can do this, and fund our schools and parks with the money we have. 

Keep the the Westside working. This is a working neighborhood, with companies that have been here decades. OST Trucks & Cranes, for example, has been here since 1947. I will support, listen to, and grow local businesses, ensuring our residents have job opportunities close to home. What we don't need is another out-of-town developer building luxury condos where a solid business once stood. We don't want our neighbors driving great distances for jobs. Dignified work is essential to human flourishing and the first step toward affordable housing.

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Rental protections. We need to finally pass a city-wide ordinance that outlines basic renter protections that align with state laws and regulations. State law prohibits raising the rents over certain thresholds year on year. It protects renters from eviction for minor rennovations, followed by unreasonable increases in rent. We must keep our neighbors from being displaced unfairly and illegally. Our Housing Service Division should be the hub for these resources and data.