Katie’s Vision For Palo Alto
A City That Supports and Celebrates All Community Members
It’s time for Palo Alto to have its first LGBT+ Pride Celebration - and so much more!
Palo Alto can be a city where we join friends and family to attend an LGBT+ Pride parade downtown, or go to California Avenue for exciting festivities for celebrations such as Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Nowruz. It can be a city where seniors and kids come together to paint beautiful murals in our public spaces and make new connections with neighbors.
Palo Alto is a culturally diverse community with residents of all backgrounds from all over the globe. All our community members deserve to feel seen, safe and celebrated, but we do not always give our neighbors the opportunities to thrive. Especially during a time of rising loneliness, it’s more important than ever that we invest in spaces for community members to come together and opportunities to strengthen cultural bonds.
As a Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Palo Alto, Katie has helped lead public listening sessions to learn about the challenges communities are facing and what policies the city can pass to better support our neighbors. As a life long Palo Alto resident, she also knows the essential role our public libraries, art programs, and Junior Museum play in supporting the well-being of our community members.
A City That Creates Stable Homes For All
We need to create more homes, more affordable homes, pass renter protections, and support neighbors who do not have a stable place to live.
Palo Alto can be a city where your grandkids and grandparents live within a few blocks from each other; where your neighbors are teachers, healthcare workers, and first-responders. We need families, local business employees, and people from all walks of life to be here together in our community.
But the housing shortage is tearing our community apart, and Katie has seen this first-hand. As a nonprofit worker, she has helped seniors, families, and vulnerable community members when they are on the verge of having nowhere to live due to the high cost of rent - a reality for too many of our neighbors.
As a Commissioner for the City of Palo Alto and a nonprofit worker, Katie has worked to establish policies that help our most vulnerable neighbors, who are often our seniors and families, stay in our community. As Commissioner she has ensured funding goes to impactful housing nonprofits. In her nonprofit work, Katie has advocated for policies that plan for future homes for every Palo Alto community member and help our city follow state law.
A City That Leads On Climate Change
Over 60% of Palo Alto’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cars. To combat climate change, we need to make sure community members can safely walk, bike, or take public transit.
Palo Alto can be a climate leader: Where driving doesn’t have to be your first option when going to school, work, or running errands, because you can safely and more conveniently walk, bike, or take public transit instead.
Yet carbon emissions continue to rise as people have to drive to places within walking or biking distance because of unsafe roads and scarce public transit. At the same time, fast and dangerous roads prevent our neighbors from safely walking or biking, and narrow cracked sidewalks make it even less safe for neighbors who use wheelchairs or mobility aids.
In her day job, Katie works with city governments across the Peninsula to help improve infrastructure for those who walk and bike. On the Human Relations Commission’s Climate Change Subcommittee, Katie has partnered with local nonprofits and student leaders to research how climate change is impacting our community and how the city can help.