PLATFORM | Vote for Amie

Amie Shepard for Hawthorne City Council

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"I come from a proud family that has been involved in community service for as long as I can remember. I want to work for you. We need to create more living wage jobs, improve our schools, and make public safety a top priority. With nearly a decade of small business experience, I know what it takes to find solutions, navigate complicated agencies, and get things done."

LIST OF ISSUES

STOP THE CITY CHARTER

Say NO to $75,700 Salaries for Council Members!

The current City Council has created a City Charter to enhance their salaries to $75,700 per year. Under the guise of becoming a Charter City instead of General Law City, they have used this opportunity to draw attention the Land Use protections while failing to clearly explain lavish salaries. I say NO to this pork-barrel legislation! We have higher priorities than bloated salaries.

Earlier this year, the City Council voted to double their existing salaries...but it wasn't enough! Instead of focusing on our homeless crisis, increasing crime and illegal dumping, they paid themselves.

There is still time for voters to say NO in November. Read the rebuttal in the 2022 Voter Guide.

READ THE CHARTER TEXT HERE. - City Council Compensation

"Measure I is a proposed charter adoption that would allow the city to obtain maximum authority over City affairs, allow all Council members to appoint member to City commissions subject to approval of the council, uphold the authority of the City Attorney to prosecute misdemeanors and set annual compensation for Council members at the 2021 HUD low-income level for a family of two ($75,700) with any future salary adjustments subject to general law. ."

LIMIT CAMPAIGN DONATION LIMITS

After the 2020 Elections, Hawthorne City Council members voted to establish Campaign Contribution Limits to $100,000. This is unacceptable and creates a Pay-To-Play environment with Special Interests.

I believe Campaign Contribution Limits should be set at $2500 to ensure that residents and small businesses get their voices heard!

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

As a council member, I resolve to continue working with the Mayor and City Manager to maintain a balance between our bread-and-butter small businesses and large corporations. Shuttered storefronts are not acceptable!

As part of my robust Economic Redevelopment Plan, I would engage a Business Incubator. These positions have ranged across the country from a single Economic Development Director, to an entire Economic Task Force whose sole priority is to recruit top-notch businesses of all sizes. This Incubator would be responsible for creating a public relations campaign to draw business into Hawthorne.

Because my policies are "revenue-driven," the creation of this Incubator is paid for entirely through commission derived from Business Tax revenue. Not a dollar needs to come from the General Fund to pay for this!

I am committed to "Shop Small," a movement to encourage local, small business shopping in our communities. As a council member, I am dedicated to helping small businesses flourish. By creating tax-based incentives, generating a pipeline of micro-investors & raising the economic spending power of our neighborhood, we can create job growth & prosperity for our residents and business owners.

BAN FIREWORKS PERMANENTLY

Once again, current elected officials profit from the FIREWORKS stands in Hawthorne. It’s unconscionable that so many residents complain and utilize police resources to mitigate the damage these fireworks have in our community, and we get ignored by our electeds. Shame on City Council for doing nothing but profit!

As a Council Member, I will PERMANENTLY BAN all fireworks within the City of Hawthorne.
I will hold the Hawthorne Police Department accountable for issuing citations.
I will vote to INCREASE FINES to $5000 for persons caught lighting illegal fireworks.

HAWTHORNE MALL PROJECT

Multiple administrations have tried, and failed to develop the mall. With my unique experience in real estate, I have the business experience needed to bring the developers back to the table.

The City of Hawthorne is a crowned jewel in the South Bay economic arena, home to major corporations like SpaceX, Tesla, and Amazon. We are on the precipice of a business renaissance and the former mall site is a diamond in the rough. For decades, our defunct mall has been an embarrassing blight to the City and a drain on our resources. I am motivated to work with the developer to bring a quality project to our neighborhood, worthy of a home in our City.

The Downtown Hawthorne Specific Plan was a community-driven urban renewal plan that our elected officials campaigned on. Not ONE SINGLE element of the plan has been implemented. As a council member, I resolve to get this project back on track. I will work diligently to ensure an ethical, transparent project that involves the community at every level possible. It is my goal to preserve the integrity of existing businesses along Hawthorne Boulevard, while progressing the City forward with new development.

As a Council Member, I will move to abandon the fruitless lawsuit and get back to the negotiating table with a prosperous plan for City and Developer. I will fight for LOCAL CONTROL of our urban planning and OPPOSE AB2011 which gives Developers the ability to develop abandoned and blighted commercial property for HIGH-DENISTY housing with little City oversight.

For current information on the Downtown Hawthorne Specific Plan & proposed mall project, please link to my social media page here.

HOUSE THE HOMELESS

A 2018 landmark federal court decision in Martin v. Boise ruled that cities could not legally enforce anti-camping ordinances without first providing shelter for their unhoused populations — citing the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment guarantee of protection from cruel and unusual punishment. --Daily Breeze, July 2022

As a result, surrounding cities like Redondo Beach and Torrance have implemented temporary housing solutions for their homeless populations. These pilot projects have been equipped with showers and bathrooms, security staff, housing experts and mental health professionals. Since their inception, both cities have been able to enforce laws banning people from camping out in public cities and dismantle tent cities.

Hawthorne has remained stagnant on the issue, despite CalTrans offering key locations on for Hawthorne to implement a program of its own for $1. These locations are ideally located away from residential neighborhoods, in abandoned parking lots and industrial/commercial sectors. With the money our City Council is budgeting for excessive salaries, we could pay for a successful program like our Beach Cities neighbors without raising taxes.

Once elected, I will move expeditiously to approve and start construction on a temporary pallet homes, with the goal of permanently banning public sleeping. I believe that compassionate care of our unhoused neighbors includes mental health services, housing experts and security teams. We can do better!