NICK ON THE ISSUES
Protecting Our Environment
I believe that every Californian has a fundamental right to clean air, clean water, and to be free from toxic substances. As an Assemblymember, I will be a champion for climate resiliency, carrying on the work of my mentor and predecessor: Laura Friedman.
My Priorities
Across California, we are seeing the real effects of climate change impacting our health and public safety. The 44th Assembly District has witnessed the spread of wildfires, rising temperatures that intensify smog formation in the San Fernando Valley, as well as threats to our clean water supply. We also border, and thus share infrastructure and resources, with historically disadvantaged communities that are even more dramatically impacted.
I am uncompromising in my commitment to halting climate change through mandating increased utilization and development of clean energy, and sustainable methods of transportation of people and goods. We must preserve open space as well as add to our urban forest, as plants clean and cool the air. Its imperative that we invest in water conservation, capture and storage, groundwater basin protection and recharge, and a robust recycled water infrastructure.
Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, as well as public transportation, must also be a priority as we work to enact stronger vehicle emissions standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As an Assemblymember, I will continue the work already started by Laura Friedman to guide and offer resources to local jurisdictions so that we can achieve our ambitious goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, if not much earlier. I will also support legislation that ensures new commercial and residential construction is as energy efficient and green as possible. I am committed to continuing my work towards a more sustainable future at the state level, including:
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Pushing for new critical funding to assist local jurisdictions with meeting the state’s existing and ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets.
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Creating news incentive programs and partnerships with private sector partners to explore and develop new battery storage technologies and new renewable energy sources to meet the challenging needs of our energy grid.
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Ensuring that there are swift and costly consequences for entities and individuals that pollute our air, water, and other natural resources.
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Championing legislation that builds upon our commitment to organics collection from residential and commercial customers, while also diverting single use materials from our landfills.
With regards to water, I believe that our state government must continue to help regions across the state reduce reliance on any one water source and diversify supplies to enable flexibility as conditions change. Diversification may vary from region to region based on available water resources, but doing so will strengthen water security and reduce pressure on river systems across the state.
Our state government must also work to restore the environmental health of many of our river systems in order to sustain fish and wildlife. This entails effective standard setting, continued investments, and more adaptive, holistic environmental management alongside a focus towards increased efficiency.
Additionally, the state must work to improve physical infrastructure to store, move, and share water more flexibly and integrate water management through shared use of science, data, and technology. Lastly, the State Legislature and our state agencies must work proactively to ensure that each region is prepared for new threats, including flash floods, deeper droughts, and hotter temperatures.
Accomplishments
I have a strong track record of introducing ordinances and programs which further the goals stated above. As Mayor and a member of the Burbank City Council, I have worked to commit the City of Burbank to significantly reduce our current greenhouse gas emissions by updating our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan (GGRP) so that we are in compliance with the State of California’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below the 1990 levels by December 31, 2030.
We also hired a full-time Sustainability Coordinator that is responsible for creating annual reports on our city’s progress on GGRP action items and identifying new statewide legislation and/or regulations to include in future GGRP updates.
I have pushed Burbank Water and Power (BWP) to develop a roadmap to get to 100% clean energy by 2030 by investing in an electric grid that affordably and aggressively reduces greenhouse gasses with renewable energy (e.g., solar and wind).
Meanwhile, I am currently leading the fight to ban polystyrene and single use plastics in the City of Burbank by requiring that all takeout food in the City of Burbank be placed in packaging that is either recyclable or biodegradable. Our City Council is also poised to consider an electrification ordinance for all new construction later this year.
COMMUNITY SAFETY & FIXING OUR BROKEN JUSTICE SYSTEM
As a Deputy Attorney General, I’ve been on the frontlines combatting abuses and misuses of authority by public officials. As an Assemblymember, I will pursue legislation that prevents crime, addresses systemic injustices, and promotes rehabilitation and equity in our criminal justice system.
My Priorities
I am running to represent Assembly District 44 because I have the knowledge and experience to help make meaningful changes to law enforcement and the criminal justice system in a manner that restores public confidence and trust in these institutions.
Through my experience in the courtroom, I have learned that our system is inherently broken. Every day innocent people get tried for crimes they didn't commit, while too often powerful interests and people get away with their crimes. In the Legislature, I'm ready to get to work to ensure that our justice system is effectively going after those who abuse their power and endanger other's lives and wellbeing, while making sure every individual is given their constitutional right to due process under the law.
Additionally, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) must be funded in a manner that prioritizes the “rehabilitation” component of its name. Often times, those who are convicted and incarcerated are not provided with a sufficient pathway (to achieve true rehabilitation and reintegrate with society. The fact that CDCR’s rehabilitation and education programming only constitutes about 2.7 percent of their $16 billion budget is unacceptable. It is absolutely imperative that those in the custody of CDCR receive education, job skills, and other life-improving training to ensure that they are set up for success in their life after leaving CDCR.
Accomplishments
I am the only candidate in this race who has stood in the courtroom fighting for the rights of victims and the public against powerful individuals and interests. I have also had a “front row seat” to the shortcoming of our criminal justice system.”
As a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, I have worked with local, state, and federal law enforcement in cases involving predatory financial fraud, public corruption, and human/labor trafficking. I have also investigated and prosecuted both police officers and other prosecutors. In my time at the California Department of Justice, I also helped to lead the charge to create the first-of-its-kind Post-Conviction Review Unit at the Department of Justice, which will review claims of innocence and wrongful conviction for any cases handled by the State.
Moreover, I’ve had the opportunity to work on issues of mental health resource allocation since I was elected to the Burbank City Council in 2020. The City of Burbank is proud to be home to a Mental Health Evaluation Team (MHET). The Burbank Police Department and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health developed the MHET as a co-response model comprised of police officers from the Burbank Police Department and a licensed Department of Mental Health clinician. The MHET responds to calls for services or other police contacts that have mental health underpinnings. Importantly, in my very first year on the City Council, my colleagues and I voted to move towards expanding the MHET to offer 24/7 service coverage to our community.
I’ve also had the opportunity to adopt city budgets that appropriately balance the need for reform with the importance of providing competent city services.
In my first year on the City Council, for example, my colleagues and I approved a city budget that moved approximately $2 million out of the Burbank Police Department budget and into the Parks & Recreation Department budget by shifting the responsibility of operation for city services away from law enforcement.
TRANSPORTATION
Our existing transportation infrastructure is woefully inadequate for the needs of the world’s fourth largest economy in the 21st century. I envision a future where the 44th Assembly District is a walkable and bikeable community with housing in close proximity to employment centers and a robust EV charging infrastructure.
My Priorities
The transportation sector is the largest contributor to our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California. This is largely due to the fact that people cannot afford to live near where they work and, consequently, often commute long distances. By encouraging and promoting land use policies and zoning reform to create more opportunities to create transit-oriented housing, infill building, along with eliminating some of the traditional obstacles and costs to housing production, we can add much needed housing to our markets.
Over time, this added housing will meet the high demand that we are currently experiencing, which is leading to unprecedented increases and rental and home ownership costs. When people can afford to live in close proximity to where they work, we will see reductions in GHG emissions from our transportation sector.
As our region continues to grow in terms of housing and job opportunities we will need to make a significant investment to ensure that our transportation infrastructure is equipped to handle the growth. We need to further invest in mass transit options, protected bike lanes, and improved walkability to reduce traffic congestion and create real opportunities to get around the San Fernando Valley without an over reliance on cars. As an Assemblymember I would work to:
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Invest in transportation and mobility projects that will improve mobility for pedestrians, bicyclists, and non-motorists.
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Promote “Vision Zero” policies to eliminate pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.
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Support further expansion of public bus and rail services.
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Prioritize road repair projects and invest in timed traffic lights to prevent traffic fatalities and injuries.
I believe we can tackle many of our issues from housing, quality of life, to the environment through thoughtful investments in the transportation sector, particularly in mass transit.
Accomplishments
I have led the charge in improving traffic safety in my community by pushing for the adoption of a “Vision Zero” policy, which will aim to achieve a road system with no traffic or pedestrian fatalities or serious injuries.
I have also worked closely with community organizations like Together We Can Burbank to brainstorm strategies that we can implement to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries in our community including increased educational opportunities and stepped up speed enforcement strategies.
I have also worked with my colleagues to utilize our transportation dollars to increase bikes lanes and pedestrian crosswalks across the City of Burbank. Moreover, I have continued to be a fierce advocate for the interconnectivity of rail and bus lines at the Metrolink Station.
Lastly, I have and will continue to support the California High Speed Rail project as it seeks to integrate with the Burbank Hollywood Airport, which will be celebrating the groundbreaking of a replacement terminal in 2024.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
The housing affordability crisis is one of the greatest threats to our economy. I am ready to take strong and decisive action in the State Assembly to reduce the costs of housing. As Mayor and City Councilmember, I have taken bold steps to address Burbank's housing shortage. I am committed to protecting renters and increasing housing opportunities for all.
My Priorities
In the State of California, we are estimated to be approximately 2 million units short of our needed housing supply, with an anticipated 3.5 million units needed by 2025 to meet the demands of our workforce.
We are facing an unprecedented housing crisis because we have failed to produce sufficient housing supply to meet the needs of our region. I strongly believe that we need to reduce the obstacles and costs to the construction of housing in California. We can accomplish this by creating more by-right opportunities to construct housing through zoning reform and streamlining the entitlement and permitting processes. Doing so will make it easier and cheaper to construct much needed new housing.
As an Assemblymember, I will support legislation that reduces the administrative obstacles and costs to housing production. In particular, I will prioritize legislation that will add more affordable housing for low income families, for those new to the workforce, and for seniors on fixed incomes, as well as housing for people who work in jobs critical to the well-being of our communities.
While I start from the position that we fundamentally need more housing in our community, I also acknowledge that there are unique needs and concerns specific to different neighborhoods. Within existing state law, I have worked with the stakeholders to make lawful policy changes that balance our need to produce more housing with a desire to maintain the high quality of life in our tranquil neighborhoods.
In the meantime, we will need to utilize rent stabilization and enhanced eviction protections to prevent the displacement of tenants.
Housing is a right, not a privilege; yet through decades of classist and racist policies, we have put homeownership and even “just rent” out of the hands of far too many Californians. I am determined to address the housing crisis and implement the strongest tenant protections in the nation in the state legislature, including a right-to-counsel for tenants. While it is important to have protections for tenants codified in law, those protections have limited usefulness if we don’t provide tenants access to quality legal representation.
Accomplishments
I was first elected to the Burbank City Council in 2020, and thereby inherited a 3:1 jobs-to-housing imbalance. In three short years, we have managed to move the city into a pro-housing and pro-renter position. I have worked with my colleagues to entitle more units of housing in my time on the City Council than in the previous decade.
I have also helped lead the charge to enhance out community’s protections and resources for tenants. In 2023, for example, I worked with my colleagues and city staff to create a novel program to allocate over $500,000 in funding to keep tenants housed and provide displacement assistance to tenants facing evictions.
My colleagues and I are currently working on codifying an ordinance that closes the renoviction loop hole in AB 1482 and expands relocation assistance to three months of fair market rent. We’re also right now working with tenant activists, such as our local tenants union, to enact long term solutions to our city’s skyrocketing rents including stabilization, tiered or reduced rent cap, anti-harassment ordinances, and an expanded list of exemptions from no fault evictions.
A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS
Homelessness is the greatest humanitarian crisis unfolding on the streets of metropolitan areas through California. In the State Assembly, I’ll support legislation that creates supportive programming and provides resources for local jurisdictions to enact measures that prioritize outreach, case management, and housing stabilization.
My Priorities
I believe addressing the housing crisis through the lens of housing justice will significantly reduce our homelessness numbers. However, in addition to this work we need to not only increase our investments in homelessness prevention, services, and housing, but we need to ensure local governments are spending the money in effective and equitable ways.
There is no “silver bullet” for homelessness, because the needs of unhoused individuals varies widely from lack of work opportunities, housing costs, domestic challenges, mental health, lack of adequate healthcare, and immigration status. For this reason, I believe the key to addressing homelessness is empowering the community-based and led organizations and nonprofits that are on the frontlines, addressing these very unique needs and would like to see policies that further empower and fund on-the-ground providers.
However, I believe that it’s clear we need more temporary and permanent supportive housing. We also need to make unprecedented investments in mental health and substance use treatment, job training, and employment placement services.
As a legislator, I will support legislation that creates supportive programming and provides resources for local jurisdictions (cities and counties) to enact similar measures that prioritize outreach, case management, and stabilization. We should push for a shelter and wrap-around services in every California community to address this crisis.
Lastly, we must continue to support and invest in rapid rehousing programs, along with rent stabilization, to prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless.
Accomplishments
The City of Burbank has had success in reducing our unhoused population. In 2022, the City of Burbank saw a decrease in homeless numbers as shown in the chart above. Between 2020 and 2022, Burbank’s homeless population decreased by 9.28%, while Los Angeles County as a whole saw numbers increase by 4.08%.
We have invested time and resources in developing proactive outreach teams, diversion & prevention, case management, and stabilization. We created the SAFE Storage and Navigation Center, enhanced our response to mental and behavioral health outpatient care and referrals through the Burbank Mental Health Evaluation Team (MHET), and hired a social worker in our public libraries and park facilities to develop relationships with our unhoused population.
Moving forward, we will be investing in the creation of a shelter and safe overnight parking for our unhoused residents.
INVESTING & SAFEGUARDING PUBLIC EDUCATION
Public education is something to be cherished because it has the potential to transform lives. Sadly, public education has never been more under threat than at this moment right now. As an Assemblymember, I will be unapologetically pro-public education and work to rectify systems issues related to funding, staffing, and a lack of local control.
My Priorities
If elected to the California State Assembly, I would hope to partner with my colleagues, especially those with backgrounds in public education, to introduce legislation to reform how we fund public education in the State of California. Right now, school funding in California is based on student enrollment and reduced by average daily attendance records, an attempt to hold schools accountable for chronic absenteeism.
I appreciate Governor Newsom’s recent proposal to allow districts to base funding on attendance in the current year, prior year or the average of that from three prior years — whichever is greater. However, I feel that the only equitable and sustainable method to fund public education is based upon the total number of enrolled students. This will provide an added measure of financial stability for many school districts.
I’d also be very interested in working with you on exploring how we can get more unrestricted funds to our schools, which will increase the autonomy of schools to best utilize state funding to provide for their students, staff, and teachers.
I’m ready to collaborate with students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and community leaders to ensure that California students have access to a world-class public education, from Pre-K through Higher Education, that will prepare them to live and work in a diverse and interconnected world. I am committed to fully funding public education to address years of insufficient allocations.
Pre-K to 12
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Fight to ensure that all California’s children under the age of five have access to a high-quality preschool while encouraging coordination between early learning programs.
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Advocate for high-quality affordable childcare, preschool and early development centers, and community-based afterschool programs.
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Ensure educators and classified staff receive compensation commensurate with their expertise and responsibility with opportunities for professional growth.
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Improve preparedness for modern jobs in a rapidly changing economy by requiring all school districts to offer science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) with necessary academic support for students.
Higher Education
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Fight for tuition-free public college and university systems for all Californians to produce a college-educated workforce without debt.
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Prioritize higher education funding during the state budget process to correct years of underfunding to our higher education institutions.
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Advocate for increased funding for financial aid programs, such as Cal Grant and Pell Grant, to help students cover non-tuition related expenses (e.g., housing and transportation) to eliminate student homelessness and food instability.
Accomplishments
As a member of the Burbank City Council, I have been a proponent of increased collaboration with the Burbank Unified School District (BUSD), including voting to increase support for fundamental health programs in BUSD schools through the Family Service Agency of Burbank. As your Assemblymember, I will push to ensure California is a national leader at all levels of public education and to secure the long-term success of students and educators.
Importantly, I led the charge to re-establish annual joint meeting meetings between the Burbank City Council and the BUSD Board of Education, starting in 2021.
I have also worked with my colleagues to create a joint subcommittee consisting of the leadership of the Burbank City Council and the BUSD Board of Education to address issues of common interest including but not limited to: gun violence prevention, safe routes to school, campus safety, and mental health services.
The Burbank City Council also recently approved the creation of a $10 million reserve account for the Civic Center and Central Library Replacement project, which will include a 65,000 square feet replacement of the Burbank Central Library, as well as three new housing developments totaling 475 units.
ECONOMY, ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY & SMALL BUSINESS
I seek to foster an equitable, inclusive economy. We must address systemic inequities to create a local economy where everyone has the opportunity to find success and thrive. We’ve built back from the pandemic, for the most part, but our economy continues to be riddled with inequities leaving too many people behind. The rising costs of housing are displacing longtime residents of our district. Wages remain stagnant. The dream of homeownership has never been further beyond reach for so many in our community.
I believe through investments in our major industries and small businesses, and through creative policies, we can help our economy flourish.
My Priorities
In my view, we must do more to support small businesses and ensure a entrepreneurially-friendly environment through streamlined permitting processes. In doing so, however, it’s imperative that we prioritize the development of jobs that provide a fair, livable wage with benefits (e.g., healthcare and childcare) and resources to foster the growth of new families in our community.
We also need to talk about the entertainment industry, which is the backbone of our local economy. The California Film & Television Tax Credit (CFTTC) Program was enacted in 2009 as part of an economic stimulus plan to promote production spending, jobs, and increased tax revenues in California. I have kept up with the various versions of the program, especially due to its impact on our region. It’s my understanding that this has been an incredibly effective program that has helped keep our entertainment workers working, studios afloat, and small supporting businesses operating.
The 44th Assembly District is home to most of the major entertainment production studios based in California and, therefore, many of the industry’s entertainment jobs call Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles “home.” My family joins the many above and below the line workers in this district who rely on this program and the health of the industry as a whole to put food on our table.
As our region’s representative in the State Assembly, I will fight to protect the CFTTC, expand program eligibility, and make it a permanent fixture of our economic development strategy for the region. For example, in my reading of the CFTTC Program requirements, I can envision many film or television productions that may fall outside existing requirements (e.g., productions with budgets less than $1 million or greater than $75 million). In my view, we must push to ensure that this program is made a permanent fixture of our state’s economic development strategy.
Importantly, this concept of a competitive tax incentive program can apply similarly to many other industries. One of my thoughts is to create a “targeted jobs incentive fund,” which would offer a performance-based financial incentive for new or growing businesses in California once it has met all of its job creation projections, average salary commitment, capital investment commitments, and all other requirements of the program.
Accomplishments
I was elected to the Burbank City Council at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The pandemic presented us with unprecedented challenges. Businesses were shutting their doors for good. Many of our residents were out of work. Our city had a structural recurring deficit with no end in sight. It marked the beginning of a challenging, yet transformative journey for our community. Yet, united in purpose, our city has revived our local economy and balanced our budget. This resilience underscores the strength and potential of Burbank.
The Burbank Small Business Assistance Program successfully offered approximately one million dollars in forgivable small business loans to businesses impacted by COVID-19. Self-employed individuals and microenterprises received up to $10,000 under the program, while small businesses of fewer than 200 employees received up to $20,000.
The Burbank Rent Assistance Program was also created to help stabilize the housing market and prevent the displacement of tenants from their homes. The program offered up to $1,000 per month for up to three (3) months, which was eligible to be used to pay for past due or future rent. The program funds also applied to past due utilities owed to Burbank Water and Power.
WORKERS' RIGHTS
I firmly believe that every person who calls California home should be able to pay the rent/mortgage, put food on the table, and be able to provide for themselves and their families. I believe that unions play an important role in ensuring that the hard-fought safeguards for working people and families are preserved and expanded. I have and will always stand with labor.
My Priorities
This will be a historic election that presents an opportunity for a new generation of leadership and a fresh perspective to lead our communities toward equitable solutions on economic recovery, workers’ rights, and so much more. The 44th Assembly District has a history of strong leadership and representation. I'm proud to have worked on our city's most pressing challenges - and I'm ready to further my service at the state level.
As a member of the Burbank City Council, and hopefully as a member of the California State Assembly, I have and will continue to fight for the following priorities for workers: (1) increased wages and benefits; (2) workplace safety protections; and (3) affordable housing for our frontline workers.
I am a proud union member. I was raised by a single mother and my maternal grandparents. My grandpa was a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. I know firsthand the importance of a living wage, workplace protections, and a retirement pension. I will always fight for the right of working Californians to organize, unionize, and engage in collective bargaining to secure these benefits for their membership.
I believe that the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining are fundamental to the empowerment of workers. If elected, I would oppose any efforts to curtail these rights for workers. As an elected official, I have fought to safeguard this important right of organized labor and collaborated with our labor partners to raise wages and benefits for our workforce.
I oppose right-to-work laws, which allow some workers to receive the benefits of a union contract without paying the cost necessary to secure those benefits. I believe that unions generate greater political participation and serve as an extremely effective voice for workers. Weakening unions in this manner will only hinder their ability to effectively advocate for policies important to working families and campaign for those politicians who support them.
In the State Assembly, I will also work to raise wages, address deep poverty, encourage investment in emerging technology, support organized labor, and explore new incentives for entrepreneurship. In doing so, however, we must always keep our sights fixed on creating and retaining union jobs throughout the State of California.
I also believe apprenticeship programs are essential to developing a strong workforce and providing opportunities to all Californians.
As a legislator, I would look for more/new avenues to incorporate apprenticeship program opportunities in our K-12 public schools.
Accomplishments
I was elected to the Burbank City Council during the height of the pandemic. As a Burbank City Councilmember, I’ve been a strong ally of working people in our district. I’ve stood with our nurses at St. Josephs during their contract fight with the hospital; voted to increase the pay and benefits of our public sector workers, including our city employees and firefighters; and I have fought for hazard pay to our frontline grocery store workers.
I’m the only candidate in the race who has a proven track record of taking on tough battles for working people. As a Councilmember, I’ve fought corporate interests to ensure our workers had hero pay, have pushed to further PLAs, and have made investments in the city’s labor force with new contracts for our police, fire, and city employees.
HEALTHCARE FOR ALL
Every Californian has a fundamental right to healthcare, and it is my mission to create a system that supports this right effectively and equitably. No person should ever have to make the impossible choice of whether or not to seek healthcare based upon cost. California must lead the way in creating a universal healthcare system that will set the standard for the country.
My Priorities
I will fight for a world class healthcare system for all Californians. As a member of the California State Assembly, I would champion and support legislation that will ensure health care coverage and access to every person residing in our state. Specifically, I will support legislation to create a single-payer healthcare system in the State of California.
I believe single payer is the most effective, humane, logical healthcare system that has worked in nations around the world who have lower GDP’s than our state. I think the time to act is now, and I would proudly work with my colleagues and our nurses to establish a system in our state and would take any action necessary to receive the federal waivers and approval from Congress we need to do so.
One of the other key issues we need to tackle is the relationship between healthcare workers and their employers.I have had countless conversations about the mistreatment and systemic failures of healthcare facilities across Los Angeles County. We need to crack down on anti-worker practices such as hiring subcontractors, interfering with organizing, and inadequate staffing ratios.
In California, we are currently experiencing a healthcare crisis, which underscores the urgent need for substantial public investment in our workforce. This is particularly true in low-income and rural areas where healthcare services are less accessible.
One of my key advocacy points is improving the working conditions for our healthcare professionals. We can achieve this through mandates on nurse-to-patient ratios, bolstering transparency with public reporting on healthcare quality data, and regulating early patient discharges. Safeguards and regulations are necessary to prevent any compromise on the quality of patient care.
It’s essential that medical facilities be required to maintain an adequate stockpile of PPE, testing materials, and other supplies to ensure the safety and well-being of both medical providers and patients.
Moreover, it’s imperative that healthcare workers have access to sufficient paid time off for sick leave to ensure that they are taking care of their mental and physical health.
Additionally, from the State’s perspective, we need to be ready for the next major outbreak or pandemic. If we learned anything from COVID, it’s that there wasn’t a single government entity or agency that was truly ready to handle a public health crisis of its magnitude. I would strongly advocate for real public health emergency planning, including requiring health care facilities to ensure they have the resources and equipment needed to address a public health crisis and keep their staff and patients as safe as possible.
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION & SAFETY
Every resident or business owner in the 44th Assembly District should have confidence in knowing that emergency services will be fully staffed, adequately trained, and responsive to the public’s request for services. I will ensure that our state government maintains public safety by also cracking down on the proliferation of illegal firearms and embracing common-sense gun violence prevention measures.
My Priorities
Our dedicated public servants in law enforcement, fire mitigation, and emergency medical services leave their families and go to work each day to ensure that our community remains safe. They put their lives on the line, if necessary, to safeguard our personal safety and well-being. As such, it is critical that our firefighters and peace officers be provided with the training, funding, and equipment required to do their jobs safely and return home to their families each night.
Additionally, we all know Burbank is not immune to any number of natural disasters that pose a risk to our way of life. We have all witnessed the increase in wildfires that have plagued Southern California over the last few years. COVID-19 has further exposed our lack of preparedness for disasters that directly affect the supply chain, such as a pandemic or for our next natural disaster.
Gun violence continues to be a prolific problem across the nation. As an Assemblymember, Nick will be a strong vote against the gun lobby and for common-sense gun safety measures, including supporting an excise tax on ammunition, implementing stronger waiting periods for the sale of firearms and ammunition, and requiring firearms use new technologies to lock the use of a firearm to only its registered owner.
Accomplishments
Burbank has one of the nations highest per capita gun stores to residents ratios in the nation. A truth that has deeply troubled members of the community. As Mayor and Councilmember, I’ve worked with my colleagues to take on the city’s gun stores and to crack down on the proliferation of guns throughout the community.
I helped to pass the first ever city-wide moratorium on new gun stores in Burbank. I am currently working with city staff to determine the measure’s longevity. I’ve also proposed bold solutions, including new local legislation banning ghost guns, implementing “buffer zones” in the city’s updated zoning code, and codifying building security and liability insurance requirements in the municipal code, coupled with the creation of a local inspection program administered by the Burbank Police Department.
As a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, and previously as a Deputy District Attorney, I have seen firsthand the devastation that firearms cause in our communities, particularly the risk they pose to our most vulnerable. I will always be fully committed to do everything in my power to ensure all Californians are safe from the dangers of firearms on our streets.