It is an honor to be re-elected by the voters of Monterey for a third term. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted but in particular, thank you to everyone who helped me in this campaign. It was a difficult campaign and I really missed meeting with voters in person and talking to them at their doors, but due to Covid that was not a safe option. With the support of donors we were able to put up 175 lawn signs, send out three direct mailers, connect with over 5,000 voters with Facebook ads, and send text messages to over 4200 voters. I also appreciate the help of my Brothers and Sisters at Unite Here for making over 1500 phone calls on my behalf. Thank you to Jason Reed and Ivan Bautista who managed my donations so I didn't have to pay for an accountant.
I was asked what this election result means locally and here are my thoughts. I think the voters appreciate that this city council and our Mayor work effectively together as a team and with the community. Covid 19 devastated our local economy and has fundamentally changed how we live and work, but the voters appreciate how we responded with help for renters and small businesses and with our face mask ordinance.
The voters also strongly supported the city's hotel and tourist tax, Measure Y. We all know that hospitality is an important part of our local economy and dealing with traffic and other tourist impacts is part of the reality of living in a destination city. But the voters were clear that the tourists should pay more for the impacts they have on Monterey. The additional 2.8 to 5.6 million in revenue should allow us to restore most of the programs that were cut in the spring due to Covid 19 financial impact. In the future, when the economy recovers, I am hopeful that some of that funding can go to needed infrastructure improvements in our city buildings.
Thank you again for your support and I look forward to working with all of you to continue moving Monterey forward on issues like affordable housing, homelessness, and restoring our parks and recreation and library programs.
