Mental Health
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I am passionate about mental health! In the 1990s I had severe depression and very few resources. One of the worst symptoms of depression is difficulty making decisions. In that condition I was trying to navigate the Harris County Hospital District bureaucracy. I clung fiercely to my faith during that time! In the 25 years since those struggles I have found many very helpful modalities. Some cost money and some do not. I believe that cooperation and collaboration of the Harris County Psychiatric Center, the Menninger Clinic, and our local churches can significantly reduce the spike in mental health disorders we are seeing post-covid.
The Issues
Homelessness
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Houston’s chronic homelessness problem must be addressed. It will take the same cooperation and collaboration mentioned in the Mental Health issue statement on this web site, because mental illness and homelessness go hand in hand. Not everyone who is homeless is struggling with diagnosable mental illness but all are wounded and discouraged. We can make a difference. There is a non-profit in Austin called Mobile Loaves & Fishes. They noticed that the “housing first” concept was not achieving much success so they decided to try a “community first” approach. It is achieving tremendous success. We can do the same and we won’t have to reinvent the wheel. We can learn from them and build on their knowledge base. Many of the factors that cause a person to spin down into homelessness are due to a lack of resources that are only available in community. If you do not have a community you don’t have those resources.
Accessibility &
Transparency
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Accessibility and transparency begin with accountability. We have a crisis of everything because we are holding no one accountable. This means that you need the tools to hold me accountable. I will then have a mandate from you to hold accountable those people you can’t. You can’t hold porch pirates, squatters, or red light runners accountable. You depend on law enforcement, the judicial system, and our laws to do that. Harris County Commissioners Court has oversight responsibility for the Constables, many of the Courts, the Hospital District and more. The transparency tool is easy now that we have the internet. If you can’t get the information you need you will be able to start a social media firestorm on the Precinct One web site. Accessibility is a little harder because you have to show up somewhere. I hope to mitigate that by coming to you. I am not sure what that will look like, but I plan to show up wherever I know groups are gathering.
Free & Fair
Elections
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In order for elections to be administered freely and fairly, we must have adequate election judges and clerks. In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit them. Our elections used to be easily staffed and competently run, but many of the people who have been serving in this capacity for decades are now struggling with the long hours, increasing complexity, and constant changes to election administration. We must simplify our election processes wherever possible to improve the experience for voters and election workers.