Jack Ding

Infrastructure / Transportation Protecting the environment, agriculture and open space is essential to preserving the rural quality of life we enjoy in Sonoma and Sonoma Valley. The renewal of the UGB accomplishes this, plus providing additional land dedicated to the development of Affordable Housing, if needed. Taxes / Budget The past fires and the current Pandemic have forced the city to use a substantial portion of its financial reserves. It will take careful planning and many years to rebuild the city’s financial strength. As an Enrolled Agent, Jack has the financial knowledge and skills to understand the city budget and develop short and long range plans to insure Sonoma’s financial health. Immigration Jack understands both the challenges and contributions of immigrants in all sectors of civic life, and he’s committed to more inclusive local government. Housing Already, our city has an affordable housing trust fund that takes Transient Occupancy Tax (also known as TOT tax or the hotel tax) and earmarks it for the creation of local affordable housing. Between the recent wildfires and our current pandemic, however, we have used much of this money to provide rental assistance to our residents. Jack wants to prioritize replenishing this fund so we can create affordable housing opportunities for the future. Economy Reliance on tourism alone places the city in a vulnerable position, economically. Efforts must be made to diversify our local economy to lessen our reliance on tourist dollars. Strengthening the community’s technology to make at-home work easier and more reliable is essential, as is attracting non-tourism based businesses.