C.R. Celona

The direction our community is heading in concerns me greatly and if you're reading this, it should be of concern to you too. Are we able to stay here long term? Will my daughter's second-grade teacher still be teaching in a few years, or will she have been forced to move to Palmdale due to the cost of living?

When I take my kids to the park, I find myself questioning: Which park? What time of day? Is it safe?

And like you, I'm furious every time we drive past the same unfixed pothole while City Hall sends out another press release regarding their "comprehensive vision."

Here's what's really happening: Economic opportunity is disappearing from our valley. 

When my neighbors tell me they're thinking about leaving because they can't make it work anymore, that's not a policy failure, that's a community dying. And when a sense of community dies, everything else falls apart.

Our kids' teachers can't afford to live here. The small businesses we love are struggling. We don't feel as safe as we used to. And somehow, we're paying more taxes while getting significantly less in return.

I want my kids to feel safe while they're riding bikes around the block. From my perspective, that means fully staffed police and fire with our local first responders knowing we have their back as much as they have ours.