Issues

Too many leaders disappear after election day. I won’t be one of them. I will be a City Council member who actually shows up — in schools, on doorsteps, at neighborhood events, and in the places where real conversations happen. I’ll listen, not just during campaign season, but every single day I serve.

Why it matters:
People deserve a representative who sees and hears them. I'm not interested in hiding behind closed doors. I’ll meet you right where you are — whether that’s a community center, a block party, or your front porch.

As Dubuque continues to grow westward, our emergency infrastructure hasn’t kept up. The West End remains underserved when it comes to fire station coverage, creating longer response times for residents, schools, and businesses in this part of the city. In any emergency — especially fires or medical calls — every second matters. Delayed response can be the difference between life and death.

If elected, I will work directly with both city and county leadership to prioritize building another fire station in the West End, ensuring that our public safety systems grow alongside our neighborhoods. This isn’t just about infrastructure — it’s about showing West End residents that their safety matters just as much as anyone else’s in Dubuque.

Why it matters:
Right now, some West End residents are waiting minutes longer than others across town for emergency response. That’s not acceptable. Adding a fire station out West will reduce response times, save lives, protect property, and provide peace of mind to families, seniors, and workers alike. Public safety should never be a matter of where you live.

Healthcare in Dubuque is facing a quiet but urgent crisis. Specialties like dermatology, infectious disease, and gastroenterology are severely limited or altogether unavailable, leaving many residents with no choice but to travel an hour and a half south to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, or an hour and a half east to the University of Wisconsin–Madison just to receive care. And it doesn’t stop there — this shortage trickles down into primary care, family medicine, and dentistry, making it harder for people to get timely checkups, treatment, and preventative services.

As someone who works in community health every day, I’ve seen how these gaps impact real people — especially seniors, working families, and those with chronic conditions. If elected, I will work closely with hospital systems, provider groups, and independent practitioners to explore real, achievable solutions. That includes reducing red tape for new clinics, building city-level partnerships, and most importantly, increasing the number of providers who accept Medicaid and Medicare.

I know it won’t be easy — but we can’t ignore this any longer.

Why it matters:
When residents have to leave Dubuque just to see a specialist, it creates a barrier to care that not everyone can afford to overcome. These delays lead to worse health outcomes, higher costs, and deeper inequities — especially for those already navigating economic or medical hardships. We all deserve access to care in our own community, and I’m ready to fight for the policies that make that possible.

We can’t keep watching taxes rise while wages and opportunities stay the same. I’m committed to working with city staff to find innovative, community-informed ways to keep housing affordable without continuing to raise property taxes on working families.

Why it matters:
Ward 1 residents shouldn’t have to choose between staying in their homes and affording groceries, utilities, or child care. Housing security is community security — and it’s time we stop passing the burden onto our neighbors.

While I absolutely understand the value that large corporations like Hormel Foods, Amazon, Nordstrom, and others bring to Dubuque — and I support the strategic tax breaks they receive to boost our economy — we cannot continue to leave our small businesses behind. The backbone of our local economy isn’t just in large warehouses — it’s in neighborhood shops, family-run services, and entrepreneurs who pour everything they have into our community.

We need to ensure that local, homegrown businesses get support just as significant and impactful. That starts with increasing the funding available through the city’s Equity Grant program and offering multiple grant cycles per year so business owners have more than one opportunity to access resources.

If we can give companies like Universal Plumbing a $1.5 million tax break, then we can — and should — do something equally bold for the small businesses that are keeping our neighborhoods vibrant, our families employed, and our community culture alive.

Why it matters:
Small businesses are where Dubuque’s identity, innovation, and resilience live. But without access to capital, many of them can’t grow — or worse, they shut down entirely. Supporting small business owners isn’t just economic development — it’s neighborhood preservation, job creation, and community investment all in one. We can’t afford to keep pushing them to the sidelines.

Dubuque is home to a vibrant network of higher education institutions — including the University of Dubuque (my alma mater — and yes, the best school in town, #GoSpartans!), Clarke University, Loras College, and Emmaus Bible College, as well as two respected trade schools: Capri College, which trains students in cosmetology, massage therapy, and esthetics, and the Dubuque location of Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC).

That’s six institutions shaping thousands of young adults each year — but too many of them leave Dubuque as soon as they graduate. I believe we need to change that story.

As someone who earned my degree right here in Dubuque and made the intentional choice to stay, I know how powerful it is when a city gives young people a reason to build their futures here. That means reforming and expanding our city’s college grant programs, building internship-to-job pipelines, and creating real incentives for graduate school enrollment, housing, and community involvement that keep talent rooted in this city.

Because we don’t just want students to attend college in Dubuque — we want them to fall in love with it and stay to lead, grow, and give back.

Why it matters:

According to a 2024 assessment by Clarke University, only about one-third of their graduates remain in the Dubuque region after graduation. This trend underscores a significant challenge in retaining talent within our city. 

College students are more than just temporary residents — they’re potential teachers, nurses, business owners, city leaders, and lifelong neighbors. When we invest in their future here, we invest in Dubuque’s future as a whole. Retention means stability. Retention means growth. Retention means home. Let’s make Dubuque a place where young people want to build their lives, not just earn a degree.