Ross’s Policy Priorities
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Berkeley's housing affordability crisis doesn’t just affect newcomers, but all of us: from parents and grandparents whose children and grandchildren can’t afford to live here, to businesses that can’t find workers, to those pushed out onto the street when rent goes up. While rents have gone down slightly since Covid, we still need to be doing more to bring down the cost of housing and protect low-income and long-term tenants in our community.
As Councilmember, I will:
Champion new housing at all income levels: from subsidized affordable housing to help our neighbors get off the street, to new market-rate housing that grows our tax base and provides more revenue for better services and supports local businesses.
Support strong tenant protections, ensuring longtime residents aren’t driven out by rising prices or unfair landlord practices.
Encourage family housing, “missing middle” housing like duplexes and quadplexes, and backyard cottages (accessory dwelling units) that make it easier for multigenerational households to stay together.
Support necessary zoning, building code, and other changes to make smaller, affordable-by-design homes more feasible to build, while ensuring we keep community benefits and strong design guidelines so that new buildings enhance our city.
Prioritize housing near transit and destinations like schools, jobs, and grocery stores, helping keep cars off the road and reducing our community’s environmental footprint.
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Berkeleyans deserve world-class streets. That means not just smoother streets free of potholes, but also ones that are comfortable and welcoming for all road users, whether they're walking, biking, rolling, or driving. We especially need to ensure our streets are safe and accessible for the most vulnerable in our community, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities, both those who depend on automobiles for mobility, as well as those who can’t drive for health or safety reasons. Thanks to the generous support of Berkeley voters, Measure FF (passed in 2024) will provide some $270 million over 14 years to help fix our streets – but it’s up to the next City Council to ensure we use that funding efficiently and deliver on the street improvements Bekeleyans voted for. As your Councilmember, I will:
Ensure Measure FF and City tax dollars are spent wisely and effectively towards fixing our streets, including repairing Berkeley’s failed streets, and ensuring new safety projects benefit all road users.
Prioritize accessibility, mobility, and comfort for the most vulnerable among us, ensuring safety for people walking and biking, while preserving parking spaces for those who rely on them.
Advocate for fixing broken sidewalks, support District 1’s Equity Zone for priority paving, and support beautification and increased street trees on our neighborhood blocks and arterials.
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Homelessness is one of the most visible and painful challenges facing District 1. Every person sleeping on our streets is someone's neighbor, and often someone's parent, sibling, or child. Solving this requires building real pathways back to stable, healthy lives, while also keeping our parks, sidewalks, and public spaces safe, clean, and welcoming for everyone.
As Councilmember, I will:
Treat every person with compassion and dignity, while holding the line on the public health, safety, and access to public spaces that our whole community deserves.
Keep our parks, sidewalks, and public spaces clean and safe for every family that relies on them.
Fight for more shelter beds and expanded mental health and substance use treatment, so no one is left without a place to turn.
Support permanent supportive housing throughout the city to provide a pathway out of homelessness, rather than managing it indefinitely.
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I've spent fifteen years working to protect the natural world, from restoring forests and wildlife habitat across the globe to serving on our local Sierra Club's executive committee. Berkeley's environment deserves that same care at home. Every family, in every neighborhood, deserves clean air, trees in their neighborhood, and a park nearby they're proud to bring their kids to. Protecting our local biodiversity, our creeks, our shoreline, and our urban forest is an important part of making District 1 the vibrant, refreshing community that residents deserve.
As Councilmember, I will:
Support planting more street trees, especially in the flatlands, to ensure every neighborhood benefits from shade and cleaner air.
Keep our parks clean, well-maintained, and welcoming for families, kids, and seniors.
Protect our shoreline and invest in the Berkeley Marina, preparing for sea level rise and supporting new transit options and Marina-focused businesses and activities..
Turn Golden Gate Fields into a public park rich in amenities, while restoring wetland habitat and creating more access to the bay for everyone.
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Berkeleyans deserve world-class service from their local government, but our city has not always been a pinnacle of operational excellence. Our families and small businesses shouldn't have to choose between a city with the right values and a city where potholes get fixed, permits move quickly, and your tax dollars are spent effectively.
As Councilmember, I will:
Provide rigorous budget oversight, ensuring every tax dollar is spent wisely and in line with the voters’ intent.
Streamline permitting for housing and small businesses, so projects don't sit stuck in red tape for years.
Support investments in the City’s operational efficiency, such as by modernizing outdated software and technology systems, to help deliver better services at lower costs.
Prioritize constituent services, ensuring calls and emails are returned in a timely fashion, listening to diverse perspectives, and helping residents and local businesses get the assistance they need.
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Every family in District 1 deserves to feel safe at home, walking to school, or out in their neighborhood at night. That means both safety from crime, as well as safety from abuse of power and technology. Real safety means more than just responding after something goes wrong; it means preventing harm in the first place. Keeping Berkeley residents safe requires balancing an effective police force with effective and responsible guardrails and oversight.
As Councilmember, I will:
Ensure our police department has the resources to respond quickly and effectively to violent crime in our community, as well as the resources to deter and prevent crime before it happens.
Support the Police Accountability Board’s role in providing independent civilian oversight and fair and impartial investigations.
Require any policing technology to have clear and appropriate usage policies, including vendor requirements for data access controls, with enforceable mechanisms to hold bad actors accountable. Flock does not meet these standards, and I would support moving off of Flock as quickly as possible.
Support hiring of non-sworn first responders and civilian staff roles where feasible, ensuring our resources are utilized effectively.
Support community policing that builds real relationships and trust between officers and the neighborhoods they serve.
Invest in lighting, visibility, and street design that help prevent crime before it happens.
Balance accountability with compassion, so every resident, from small business owners to families to our most vulnerable neighbors, feels genuinely protected.
Restore funding for a clinician-staffed, non-transport response unit for low-acuity medical calls, so engines and ambulances stay available for true emergencies.
Fully staff our Emergency Communications Center, because alternative response only works when dispatchers have the capacity to send the right resource to the right call.