The questions below were sent to each candidate competing in the race for City Council.
Stephanie Lynch
What does your district need most right now — and how will you help?
The district as a whole is calling for greater traffic safety infrastructure, improved city services and continued infrastructure improvements. We help address these issues by empowering neighborhoods to be their own best advocates. We have encouraged our civic associations to form “safety subcommittees” and had each identify the top 3-4 improvements they would like to see. We have achieved a 90% success rate in doing so*.
We also have a significant need to support our aging population and other vulnerable community members who are struggling to afford rent, childcare, food and other basic items. The Family Crisis Fund is one of the programs I pushed for that I am most proud of and has helped hundreds of people access emergency assistance to help with rent, utilities etc.
*safety committee model data/metrics available for more detail
How will you engage your constituents on policy issues?
We are continually communicating, conducting outreach and working on strategies to empower our neighborhoods to be the change they want to see in their communities. We do this through good old fashioned in-person town halls, social media, emails, snail mail, through our civic associations and most importantly ensuring we remain good partners with our local media who play an important part in raising visibility to our local issues. We do a lot of surveys as well- which is a great way to get feedback on specific policy ideas and issues.
Civic Engagement is tough work because it’s not built into the social fabric in the same way, as it once was. But, it’s the most rewarding and important work because we truly need to know where our people are- it’s my North Star and always has been.
What's your top citywide priority?
Because of my background, perspective and day-to-day experience- I’d say my top citywide priority is, and has always been ensuring we are giving visibility and intervention to the issues impacting our most vulnerable communities. Primarily, those living at or below the poverty level. As a social worker, I have seen a lot of change in this city but sadly- little has changed for the folks in the lowest income brackets. There is still an obscene lack of housing options for those at 40% of the AMI and below. On the whole, RRHA continues to operate with a lack of compassion and understanding for what our families are going through. And further, there seems to be no sense of urgency around 1:1 replacement for planned demolitions of these public housing units. The public services and benefits system is still extremely challenging to navigate and difficult for community members to access. Our homeless services point of entry is still broken and not meeting people where they are at the point of crisis. And, our school systems are left ill equipped to deal with all the above.
I have rocked the boat throughout my city council career in calling attention to these issues that largely impact the lowest income community members. These aren’t issues that lie solely at the feet of local government- but we have to pick the pieces up from a broken system. These are social justice issues that deserve equal consideration, attention and resources from a local level and that is why this is a priority and a perspective that I will always continue to push on.
How can you help restore trust in the city and its services?
I think people need to keep seeing results. It is actions that speaks the loudest. When you put in a 311 ticket or make a formal request of the city, it just needs to get done (within reason of course). Our city services have largely improved over the last decade and I am very appreciative and proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the 5th. We’ve come a long way and we should celebrate that- but should not shy away from where we could improve.
I think being real, genuine and transparent with people goes a long way. I’d love for the administration to give us more detailed timelines on projects like paving, sidewalks, street sweepings- all the things that citizens see, feel and touch on an everyday basis…I think the frustration and the trust erodes when we cannot give clear answers and deliverables. Again, we’ve gotten so much better but there’s certainly room for improvement here and everyday citizens want to see action, results and accountability- full stop.
What steps can council take to ensure more affordable housing — not just publicly subsidized housing — is accessible to residents?
The performance grants agreements, incentives and funding we’ve put into affordable housing over the last four years has been remarkable but we are playing 50 years of catch up on an issue that has been boiling since 1930s redlining. We have to make 10 times, if not 20 times the investment in affordable housing. I am committed to making continued, sizable investments into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, housing bonds and performance grant agreements as well as pushing for legislation that grants tax relief for long term occupancy tax relief and other measures.
What's your perspective on term limits for council representatives?
Personally, I believe everyone and everything has its season but- it is really up to the voters to make this decision. I think a healthy mix of institutional knowledge, fresh perspective and diverse experience is what makes for a good mix of a council body. Term limits may or may not enable that dynamic but there should be a community discussion and we should let voters decide on the details.
