Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide
Name: Jessica Alexander
Current job title: City Councilwoman / center director
Incumbent: Yes
Other political positions held: Temecula City Councilwoman
City where you reside: Temecula
Campaign website or social media: alexander4temecula.com, Alexanander_4_temecula on Instagram and Facebook
How can the city best meet the demand and mandates for more housing, including at lower prices, while also preserving the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents?
Hearing from residents over the years across our city, they oppose the idea of more high-density housing for Temecula. This directly leads to more traffic issues and concerns of our resources such as water, sewage, overcrowding in schools just to name a few issues. As inflation prices have skyrocketed across our nation, especially over the last few years, everyone is feeling the effects due a rise in building costs, fees, interest rates and much more. According to WRCOG, Temecula is doing an outstanding job keeping up with the housing needs in the region, even though we are almost completely built out. As Sacramento forces cities to increase Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers by bullying cities to comply or they will build for us, I find that the mandates hinder the city’s ability to prosper to our full potential. I am a supporter of controlled growth and development. Yet, it must be done correctly having the right infrastructure in place in order for our city to deal with increased population and circulation of traffic. We all want to maintain our quality of life for this is the bedrock as to why people moved here in the first place.
How should the city balance paying off debts, such as pension liabilities, and building reserves all while meeting residents’ needs? Should a solution involve finding new revenue, trimming the budget, or something else entirely?
As has been said before, the city of Temecula was not created by accident. It took hardworking men and women to roll up their sleeves and budget strategically and correctly during the city’s early years. More recently, I have promoted responsible budgets including paying off facility debt and pre-payment of pension obligations (which are 85% funded in Temecula) every year through our pension trust, while lowering fees for our residents. But we can do better, including zero-based budgeting to justify costs, competitive bidding on public contracts, and pension and compensation reform measures as needed to build our reserve and reach the city’s target of 100% debt-free status by or before 2030.
I would also encourage our residents to shop locally, given 80% of operating revenue is funded through sales and property tax. While I do not support tax increases, I believe a robust business environment can enhance our sales tax revenue to fund first responders, parks, landscaping, and infrastructure to keep Temecula safe and prosperous.
In your opinion, what is the biggest need your city faces, and how would you address it?
During my first term as your Temecula City Councilwoman, my constituents have consistently let it be known that their greatest concerns are transient issues (which draws in drugs and crime) and a firm opposition to high-density housing, which leads to more traffic congestion. These are valid concerns; however, the greatest need in our city is to obtain local control. Local control refers to the ability of individuals or communities to make decisions and have influence over matters that affect their own locality. This allows for greater autonomy in addressing local needs and concerns. As a resident who lives and works in this great city, I am consistently communicating and seeing the needs of the people. Sacramento continues to push mandates that go against what is best for the city of Temecula. When re-elected, I will continue to push back against these tyrannical mandates. Sacramento forces local entities to zone for high-density housing and they create laws forcing housing on the city without regard for the consequences or the will and intent of the Temecula City Council. We need to have a council that reflects the spirit of Temecula’s residents and is a voice for the people!
Why would you make a good leader, and how would you represent the diverse communities of your city?
We have three choices in life, lead, follow, or get out of the way. Throughout my life I have learned to do all three when necessary. The U.S. Marine Corps taught me to lead from the front. We executed our leadership through bearing, courage, decisiveness, dependability, endurance, enthusiasm, initiative, integrity, judgment, justice, knowledge, loyalty, tact, and unselfishness. I use these leadership traits today as a center director of a local nonprofit and as a leader on the Temecula City Council. I know that being a leader is not about just one individual. There is always a great group of people serving right next to them! As a councilwoman in Temecula, I have stood for the people when others would not. Every great leader is a great listener and that is vital in understanding how to interact with diverse communities. Unlike my opponent who seeks to divide us while sitting on the Race, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Commission, I prefer to live by one rule. Treat people how you want to be treated. To me what matters is the content of a person’s character, not where they came from nor their socioeconomic status.
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