Miles Patricola

Criminal Justice / Public Safety Our police can be better equipped with new technology to help them mitigate criminal activity and to monitor known criminals who enter our city by using cameras placed at the city limits to identify the license plates of people who have criminal records. I will fully support our police to keep our city crime free. Our fire fighters save lives that are in danger by putting themselves in harms way. I will vote to make sure our fire departments have all they need to provide healthcare services before and after retirement. I will also work to revitalize our CERT program (Community Emergency Response Teams) to ensure that every neighborhood has a CERT leader who will coordinate with our local Fire Departments in the event of a fire. Environment / Energy Pesticides have dangerous chemicals that are unsafe for children and the presence of pesticides near playgrounds needs to be eliminated. I want parents to know their child will be safe at all the playgrounds in our city. There are safe alternatives to organic and non organic pesticides such as vinegar based sprays, pulling the weeds out by hand or even using simple boiled water. These alternative methods will keep our kids safe from harmful chemicals while also keeping our playgrounds free from weed patches. Our sports fields have the same problem and I will work with the Parks & Facilities Department to employ the same solutions. Abortion / Contraception I support women's rights to reproductive healthcare services. I fundamentally reject the concept of restricting women's rights to bodily autonomy. California is standing on the right side of history, on the side that supports women, and I will continue to be a vocal advocate for women in our state and for women travelling to our state to seek reproductive healthcare services that are restricted in their home state. Abortion services are healthcare services and the ability to afford the right healthcare services should not be a barrier for women. I will support public funding of comprehensive reproductive healthcare for all individuals who rely on the government for their healthcare services. Infrastructure / Transportation I will work with the Aviation Committee to require all airplanes taking off from John Wayne to have a steeper rate of ascension to fly higher and fly slower to minimize the noise pollution for residents who live under the flight path. I will also work to find solutions to the noise created by private jets which are governed by a different set of rules and regulations. Housing We need to do more than simply moving people who are experiencing homelessness over to the Costa Mesa Bridge Shelter. These are all people with unique circumstances and needs so a one size fits all plan is not a solution. In office, I will work with other members of the city council to create individual plans for each person by identifying their set of skills then matching them with jobs that fit their work experience and also create incentive programs for business owners to hire people dealing with housing insecurity. Infrastructure / Transportation Riding around using E-bikes has become more popular in our city for younger teens and they are often sharing the road with cars that are travelling over 50 mph. There have been three fatalities in Orange County this year involving teens on E-Bikes who were in traffic accidents and I'm determined to prevent such a tragedy from happening in our city. The best way to address this issue is by using Geo-Fencing technology to limit the areas where E-Bikes will function and also to impose speed limitations for E-Bikes in high traffic areas around schools and other parts of the city where there are higher numbers of pedestrians. I'm eager to hear more perspectives on this issue from parents with young children and teenagers. Wages / Job Benefits In office, I will vote to ensure that our local labor unions have their representative present during the draft proposal process to provide working class perspectives on all new projects and programs. I will support Community Workforce Agreements to empower workers and our community when a project is proposed. I will work with the California Labor Enforcement Task Force to improve labor law enforcement in the underground economy and I will oppose any efforts to weaken basic worker protections. Environment / Energy To mitigate damage caused by rising sea levels, one possible solution is to start investing in natural infrastructure such as kelp forests and living shorelines with sand dunes which absorb the impact of large waves. Another solution is to invest in man made structures such as Ecoconcrete interlocking blocks, artificial geotextial reefs and harbor channels which will block the momentum of tidal waves before they can reach the shore.