The Environment
I consider myself an environmentalist. I love the outdoors and the wilderness and I care about protecting our planet for future generations. I have worked with the Sierra Club for a number of years now on many different environmental issues.
The importance of action against climate change cannot be understated. Everyone must do her/his part, including our City, In fact it is mandated by the state that cities produce Climate Action Plans to outline the steps they are taking to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
What our city can do is to make sure encourage and incentivize reduction of the emission of GHGs. We need to encourage alternative transportation including walking, bicycling and the taking of mass transit and ride car sharing/ride sharing so that people have alternatives to their gas-burning cars. We can help encourage walking by supporting Albany Ballot Measure P1. I urge support of this Ballot Measure as it will create a dedicated stream of funding to fix our sidewalks.
Climate Action Plan
The City created a Climate Action Plan (CAP), adopted in 2010. This plan created targets for the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. It appears that the city is not meeting its goals, however.
I believe the city must act agressively to implement this plan in order to met these goals. Although the City's Sustainability Committee has come up with a number of sound plans to help the City pursue its GHG emission reduction goals. Although I supported these plans, and voted for them, the Council as a whole did not approve them. I will continue to support our Sustainability Committee and work with them to refine their proposals.
The Waterfront
Our waterfront is a valuable and important part of Albany and it has great potential. It is underutilized and parkings lots adjacent to the shoreline are an abomination.
I support the vision of the Voices to Vision process. I agree with its outcome. I was pleased that the process was inclusive of all the citizens of Albany.
I support maximum open space, minimum development (to replace or extend potential lost racetrack revenues), adding to the adjoining sections of the Eastshore State Park, and completing the Bay Trail. Future development proposals are sure to come and I am prepared to consider them thoughtfully with an eye towards protecting our waterfront while doing what's best for the citizens of Albany as well. As a Sierra Club leader, I expect to have a hand in refining the Sierra Club vision of the waterfront as new opportunities arise.
Sierra Club
I'm an elected member of Sierra Club leadership, but I started out in the Sierra Club as an Outings leader. What better way to teach people the importance of our natural world than to lead them out into it? I've lead people as far as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because I believe preserving wilderness is important to the sustainability of the planet we live on.
Carbon Neutral Albany
I'm a board member of Carbon Neutral Albany, a group dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and fighting global warming.
Albany Strollers & Rollers
I co-founded the community group, Albany Strollers & Rollers, a group dedicated to advocating for active transportation (bicycling, walking, etc.) in 2004. Our work with the city has helped bring nearly a million dollars in external grant funding for projects such as lighting the Ohlone Greenway. We sponsor many educational, safety and outreach efforts, and we recently worked with Albany small businesses and helped fund and bring the colorful bicycle-shaped bike racks to the city.
Here are some of the accomplishments of the organization
- Countless hours of advocacy for pedestrians and cyclists including attending countless city meetings.
- Help in raising grant funding for various pedestrian and cyclist related city projects
- Design help in numerous city projects
- Installation of the very first bike racks at Jewel's Terrace Park and Memorial Park
- The set up of bike valet parking at numerous events, including the Solano Stroll
- Installation the colorful bicycle-shaped bike racks in front of local businesses around town
- Selling bike lights that funded bike light give-aways to kids
- Setting up free bike tune-ups at the Arts and Green festival
- Setting up of bike courses at bike rodeos
- Holding bike classes
- Coming up with routes and guiding folks on the popular Bike About Towns rides.
I'm really proud of this recent work with the city on curb ramp design that makes the ramps much better for the disabled and those pushing strollers. Here' a photo and here's the link to the full story.
City
I was a Traffic and Safety Commissioner in 2006 and I've been a Parks & Recreation Commissioner since 2007, serving 3 years as chair. I've attended countless Commission, Committee, and City Council meetings to speak up for what I believe is best for Albany.
TRAFFIC AND SAFETY COMMISSION
I was appointed to and served on the Traffic and Safety Commission in 2006. During my tenure, I guided the city's choice of design options for the Buchanan bicycle path. This path will complete the only direct cyclist route from the Berkeley Hills to the Bay shore in the East Bay north of Fremont. I approved lighting and alignment improvements for the Ohlone Greenway. I was also called upon to be the voice of the city's bicyclists and pedestrians for numerous other issues that came before the Commission.
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
Subsequently, I was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission in 2007. During my tenure to date, I supported the improvements and renovations at Terrace Park, Ocean View Park and Memorial Park. I also saw through the completion of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Task Force and voted to implement an IPM policy in the city. This policy provides for pest management without the use of synthetic toxins in the city. I helped form the Tree Task Force, which has been working diligently to advise the city on the best way to get more trees planted and to make sure that the trees selected won't damage property. Through a series of public meetings, I lead the effort to improve the future design of the Ohlone Greenway paths after the BART seismic retrofit. Also as chair, working with the Waterfront Committee, I helped guide the Commission through the process of recommending uses for Measure WW funds. I voted for the ball field swap that gave the Albany High School Softball Teams and ABGSL a permanent home and two fields at Cougar Field, approving modifications at Memorial and Ocean View Parks for AHS Baseball and Albany Little League. I advocated for the residents of Pierce Street for the city to purchase the the Pierce Street parcel so that the residents and the city could finally start the work of building a park at that site. I worked on the Albany Hill Master Plan, and finally have made sure that all sides be heard in the issue of dogs in our parks.Moonrise over Dinner With Albany
Country
I served our country in the Peace Corps for three years in Togo, West Africa. I taught science and trained teachers.
UC Village Development
I'm excited to see the UC Village project underway. I've supported this project from the start and through my efforts and that of my advocacy group, the project was made more environmentally sustainable. This project will have excellent bicycle and pedestrian access, including Albany's first cycletrack - a dedicated path for cyclists to access the store. These amenities and a new crossing at Dartmouth St. mean that the residents of West Albany will have realistic ways to access the grocery store by walking or bicycling. Also included in this project through my efforts are solar panels on the root of the senior housing project.
It's also wonderful to see Albany receive its first senior housing project.
This project will revitalize this section of San Pablo Avenue and will be great for the City's coffers as well.
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Issues
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Hello! I was one of your Council Members from 2104-2020, and I took a couple of years off because of term limits. Now I am running for City Council in 2022. Read about me more below.
But first, I also wanted to introduce you to my Albany Forward slate-mates, Robin López and John Miki. Find more about the whole slate at ALBANYFORWARD.ORG
I had the privilege of serving as your Council Member from 2014-2020, finishing my second term as your Mayor and leading the City through the onset of Covid.
I led the effort bringing the Soda Tax to Albany, creating funding for many programs for health and youth, and including funding school crossing guards.
I successfully brought forward and supported a number of other measures that have sustained and increased the City’s funding for important programs and services, such as emergency services, parks, sidewalk repair, and climate action programs.
Through my work in the community, on Commissions, and on Council, I have a proven record of crafting and funding positive change including environmental, safety, and housing initiatives.
I instigated the process leading to Albany’s first civilian police oversight body.
I serve on the Planning & Zoning Commission continuing work I started on the Council.
I run to continue the work of this Council in climate action, safe streets for all, economic and social justice, and housing production.
I am endorsed by Mayor Preston Jordan, Vice-Mayor Aaron Tiedemann, and School Board President Sara Hinkley, among many many others.
Vote Pilch, Miki, and López #1, 2 and 3 to move albanyforward.org.
Pick Nick!
More about me
The Albany Forward Platform expresses a number of values that I represent. Housing, the environment, and transportation equity are very important areas of work for me.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
These are more than just words for me. We've got a long way to go to overcome institutional racism, sexism, and all the isms, and celebrate the diversity that surrounds us, support those who have been and are being hurt, and welcome others into our home.
I'm proud of what our City has done in this area while I was on the Council previously. Beginning in 2016, we recognized the threat of newly elected President Donald Trump and took measures to let others know that we wanted no part of his exclusionary policies. See https://www.albanyca.org/government/city-council/community-diversity-inclusion. I was the first to call for a Sanctuary City resolution, and one was adopted in 2017. Also while previously on the Council, the City raised the Pride Flag was the first time in its history, and it now flies all Pride Month every year. Finally, I called for Albany to join the United against Hate campaign and produce posters that the City and our businesses and citizens could display.
My appointments to advisory bodies were diverse. In 2020, I was Mayor, and subsequent to the murder of George Floyd, I called for a Mayor's Town Hall in order to hear the voices of those in our own City who had had negative interactions with our police. We heard from a number of Black and Brown people, and we knew we had more work to do. Subsequent resolutions put forth by me led to the creation of the first Policing Commission who will work with the Police and the Community to give us the transparency and data we need to feel better about our public safety employees.
More recently, I was there to support then-Mayor Ge'Nell Gary's work to recognize that the City of Albany sits on Ohlone land. See https://www.albanyca.org/our-city/our-community/honoring-the-confederated-villages-of-lisjan. We now read a Land Acknowledgement statement at the beginning of our public meetings. We recently replaced our City signs as well.
Finally, I have always supported removing the cross from Albany Hill, taking numerous actions to do so while previously on the Council. I support the current Council's efforts in this regard as well. This symbol of Christian religion has no place in our diverse community of many different religious backgrounds.
Environmental Record
- Long-time alternative transportation advocate, co-founded Albany Strollers & Rollers.
- Supported alternative transportation and other good environmental policies for 10+ years on Albany Commissions.
- Environmental leadership with the Sierra Club for many years. 3 terms on the Bay Chapter Excom, and terms on the Northern Alameda Group Excom, including Conservation Committee Chair, stints as Bay Chapter Nomination and Elections Committee Chair, and Fundraising Chair. Additionally led trips with local outings and Sierra Club Alaska National Outings.
- Long-time participation in Albany Climate Action Groups - Albany Climate Action Coalition and its predecessor groups.
- Supported a CEQA lawsuit against the City when it changed the language of an EIR after the Council took all public comment. The suit resulted in better bicycle facilities and solar panels on the roof of the UC Village Senior Housing and commercial project.
- As Albany Mayor, helped place Albany Measure DD on the 2020 ballot, adjusting the utility taxes in order to fund climate action programs in Albany. The Sierra Club endorsed this Measure. To date, that funding has allowed:
- Free street trees to property owners that request them
- Rebates for heat pump heating/cooling systems
- Soon to come - free permits for any gas to electric conversion projects
- And more
- As an Albany City Council Member, placed the 2018 Measure M on the ballot, a parcel tax funding parks. The Sierra Club endorsed this Measure.
- As an Albany City Council Member, placed the 2016 Measures N1, O1, and P1 on the ballot. Measure N1 removed a previous ballot measure that required that all housing units come with 2 motor vehicle parking spaces. Measure O1 implemented a sugar-sweetened beverage tax. Measure P1 was a parcel tax to raise money to repair City sidewalks. All of these Measures were endorsed by the Sierra Club.
- Board Member of East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) for 4+ years. Voted to make Albany one of the first cities to default to carbon-free energy.
- Other support of Climate Action initiatives while on the Albany City Council, 2014-2020
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