Thanks, Matt, for responding to our candidate questions. As a reminder, the ACLC does not endorse candidates. We have provided these questions to all of the candidates and will be posting their responses as we receive them.
Alachua County Labor Coalition City Commission candidate questionnaire
Please keep each response to 500 words or less.
1. The Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Commission have made significant progress on providing living wages for municipal workers, including part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted workers. How do you propose we achieve similar wage and benefit gains for workers throughout our community?
We’ve seen progress in wages going up. McDonald’s now starts employees in Florida at $11 an hour. Bank of America recently announced an increase to $21 an hour. As one of the city’s largest employers, I believe it’s important that we demonstrate a commitment to a living wage by increasing wages for employees and applying pressure to the University of Florida to do the same. We could decrease poverty significantly in Gainesville if the University of Florida increased wages for their lowest earners. I look forward to working with the ACLC and partnering with local businesses to raise wages.
2. If you are an employer: Do you pay all your workers a living wage and how do you define a living wage? If you do not pay a living wage: how are you making an effort to do so? [If you are not an employer, “N/A” is an acceptable answer.]
The minimum wage for workers on my campaign is $20 an hour. Paying my workers a living wage compensates them for the value of their time and demonstrates my appreciation for their hard work. Paying a living wage is the right thing to do and a smart business decision. I hope to lead by example and encourage other employers to do the same.
3. The City of Gainesville recently passed a comprehensive rental housing ordinance. What will you do to see that this ordinance is properly implemented and what measures would you propose to keep the City accountable to these protections? What are some additional policies the City of Gainesville can enact to improve access to quality, safe, affordable housing in our community?
The ordinance is here to stay. If we fix the quality of housing, the cost of utilities will go down. I thank the ACLC for their hard work on the ordinance and look forward to working with the ACLC to ensure the ordinance is followed. I also appreciate the ACLC’s understanding that there may be challenges in the first year and I appreciate their openness to making changes as needed to ensure the ordinance is effective for everyone. I will work with the ACLC and city staff to ensure income discrimination ordinances are followed and effective mediation policies are in place to address landlord and tenant issues. I believe we should be proactive in ensuring tenants know their rights.
4. Do you support a local hiring preference that includes the use of certified apprenticeship programs for taxpayer-funded projects?
Yes, I fully support such a hiring preference. We have a shortage of skilled tradespersons and we must make every effort to build a pipeline of talent and provide young adults with additional pathways to employment. I believe we must be proactive in our approach and take action to ensure the state does not preempt our ability to establish such a hiring preference.
5. Do you support making RTS free for all Gainesville residents at the point of service? How can the City of Gainesville improve public transportation for people who rely on it but aren’t affiliated with UF or Santa Fe?
I support making RTS ree for all Gainesville residents but I also acknowledge that this is a complex issue. The University of Florida and Santa Fe College pay millions of dollars in support of RTS service. If we make RTS ridership free for all, we may lose those revenue streams. I support recent efforts to make ridership free for those ages 18 and under or 65 and older and support additional pilot programs such as free ridership for low-income residents not already covered by the University of Florida or Santa Fe College student transportation benefits.
6. What would you do to advance equity in healthcare outcomes throughout our community?
I believe we need a stronger partnership between the city and the county to address equity in healthcare. I also believe in taking a proactive approach to provide healthcare to our residents who need it most. Our community resource paramedic program meets residents where they are and provides the help they need which frees up valuable resources for other residents in need. We cannot rely on every resident finding their own way to a healthcare provider. We should consider expanding the community resource paramedic program and continue our proactive approach to meeting the most vulnerable where they are.
7. What steps can the City of Gainesville take to address unequal access to quality food?
I’ve seen examples in other cities where the expansion of mobile food markets has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on addressing unequal access to quality food. Mobile food markets are an effective way to get quality food directly to the residents who need it most. We must also strengthen our partnership with the county and the University of Florida to support such an effort to expand mobile food markets.
8. What will you do to ensure UF is a better corporate citizen in Gainesville (e.g., payments in lieu of taxes, moving more services to GRU, helping to ensure better access to quality housing, etc.)?
We must keep the pressure on the University of Florida to increase wages for their lowest earners. We must also continue our efforts to establish agreements with the University of Florida to purchase more energy from Gainesville Regional Utilities. Lastly, the University of Florida should work with the city to ensure an adequate supply of workforce housing and affordable housing for faculty and students.
9. What will you do as a City Commissioner to help GPD keep people out of jail unnecessarily? For instance, civil citations in lieu of arrest. How will this issue play a role in your selection of a new City Manager?
We must pursue all reasonable policies aimed at reducing jailable offenses. There is no one-size-fits-all approach; there are many levers we can pull at the same time. We should expand the use of civil citations in lieu of arrest, work to transition more jailable offenses to non-jailable offenses, and increase our use of mental health first responders in lieu of police officers. These recommendations will reduce the burden on first responders and help police officers to focus on real police work.
10. Given all the turmoil at City government in recent months, what reforms would you like to see to our local governance structures that would improve local government’s effectiveness while maintaining transparency and accountability?
I am unaware of another city in America with the number of charters officers as we have here in Gainesville. With six commissioners, a mayor, and six charter officers, we have 42 different vertices of communications and challenging silos of work. We should consider opportunities to reduce the number of charter officers and increase commission staff. Such efforts would improve the efficiency of work and effectiveness of policy implementation, and increase the time city commissioners have to engage with the community.