Hello {{ FirstName | default: 'Friend' }},
Every other Sunday we do a longer volunteer meeting to work on issues identified by canvassers AND to actively practice the collaborative decision making and dialogue techniques that I, together with my colleagues at our nonprofit organization, have been facilitating and training on for the last 20 years.
This Sunday we asked folks what they need from their council member. The message was clear: transparency with real plans and goals (not vague promises), communication that runs both directions, less bureaucracy, and someone who brings groups together instead of letting silos calcify.
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We got to work on power mapping all the potential collaborators for a transparency initiative we are rolling up using publicly available data. We surfaced questions that we need to investigate further. This work continues to evolve with the active participation of Oceansiders who share an interest in transparency and accountabilty. We are moving this initiative along as both a model of how I will lead and as a framework that all community leaders can use.
It is an entirely different paradigm to be transparent and non-hierarchical within a campaign. To be fully inclusive across experience and skills to the decision making that happens inside a campaign is rarely how things operate and I have always thought that was a mistake. As word gets out, our volunteer team just keeps growing and that vote of confidence keeps me fired up and ready to go! Not to mention, this diverse group is coming up with solutions that no one of us could come up with on our own. This is the real promise of DEI that the extreme right loves to villfy. It works and we are working it. Thank you 💙
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CAMPAIGN UPDATES 🗳️ : by the numbers
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We started this campaign early so we wouldn't have to rush and those steady and consistent efforts have been paying off. We have reached every single one of the voters we are hoping will vote for me at least 3x (we want to contact them 7-9 times). We are close to 2/3rds of the way to our total voter contact goal. We have raised just over half of our fundraising goal. We have a roster of 136 eager volunteers. And we still need your support. Overcoming an incumbent is always an uphill battle. Unseating one with double the cash on had that we have is also tough.
We have gotten volunteer labor and inkind donations of so much and we are deeply grateful for every bit of support. We still need to have more materials printed and mailed, and we hope to run ads on social media. Sadly, there is no way of sourcing those other than money.
Would you consider making a donation to help us make it to November?
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THE WEEKLY BEAT 🏘️ : College Bridge
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Let's talk about the College Avenue bridge. This isn't new: I started emailing city staff back in March, after the bike lane and sidewalk had been closed for months with no completion date in sight. Five months later, kids and parents are still crossing an active construction zone every school day, with no ADA-compliant path and no one supervising it, because the city says it won't staff the crossing itself. They think the signs are enough.
Allies and stakeholders keep showing up with us to amplify this. Neighbors have been coordinating morning coverage themselves out of the Dollar Tree parking lot. Here's the leverage point: this project was a condition of the approval of the controversial North River Farms project. Lennar, the developer responsible, has a Subdivision Improvement Agreement with the city that set a completion date of December 19, 2025. That date came and went months ago, which means Lennar is in default on the agreement it signed, all while posting $7.9 billion in quarterly revenue. Lennar runs an "Investor Marketplace" that sells completed homes in Oceanside to landlords instead of the families who'd actually live in them. Our ask isn't complicated. We just want some supervision: someone at that crossing until it's finished, and someone holding Lennar accountable to the agreement it's already broken.
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What's Up This Week for D2 Monday, August 17 – Sunday, August 23, 2026
A roundup of what's happening on the campaign trail and in Oceanside's District 2.
Calendar Key 🗳️ Campaign, endorsement & political events 🏛️ City & government meetings (commissions, committees, forums, public comment) ✊ Protests, rallies, direct action 🤝 Networking, mixers, coalition meetings 📚 Library, education, training & workshops 🌊 Environment, coastal & conservation 🏘️ Housing & tenant rights 🧹 Volunteer opportunities (cleanups, food drives, citizen science) 🌱 Food & gardening (crop swaps, community gardens, farm stands) 🎨 Arts, culture & festivals 🏃 Community walks, fitness & recreation ⚖️ Immigration & civil rights
Monday, August 17
- ⚖️ College Bridge Action - 6:30 AM
- 🤝 Libby Lake Center Community Meeting
- 🧹 Fireside Park Dinners for Homeless (C4C) — 4:00–5:00 PM, Fireside Park
- 📚 Cafecito (English Conversation Group) — 5:30–6:30 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🗳️Working Families Party – Endorsement Interview — 6:35–7:15 PM, Virtual (Zoom)
Tuesday, August 18 - ⚖️ HRCO Patrol — 6:00–10:00 AM
- ⚖️ College Bridge Action - 7 AM
- 📚 NCRC Tenant Connection Workshop — 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
- 🗳️ Canvassing Ride About — 1:30–3:30 PM
Wednesday, August 19 - ⚖️ College Bridge Action - 7 AM
- 🏃 Yoga por Todos — 9:00–10:00 AM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🏛️ Oceanside Bike & Ped Committee Meeting — 9:00–11:00 AM, King Community Room
- 🧹 Humanity Showers — 7:00–11:00 AM, 208 S Clementine St
- 📚 Senior Transportation Resource Fair — 10:00 AM–12:30 PM, El Corazon Senior Center
- ⚖️ CRLA Free Legal Assistance — 11:00 AM–2:00 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🎨 NCLGBTQ+ Resource Center Portrait Gallery Opening — 12:00–5:00 PM
- 🗳️ Canvassing
- 📚 Resident Leadership Academy — 5:30–7:00 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- ✊🏘️ Fight for Housing! Protest at City Hall — 6:00–8:00 PM, Oceanside City Hall
- 🏛️ City Council Meeting — 6:00–8:00 PM
- 🤝 HRCO General Body Meeting — 6:30–8:30 PM, O'side Bakery
- 🤝 Dream Team Meeting — 7:00–8:00 PM, virtual
Thursday, August 20 - ⚖️ College Bridge Action - 7 AM
- 🤝 CSA San Diego County – Office Hours (fair housing counseling) — 8:30 AM–4:00 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🗳️ Canvassing Ride About— 1:30–3:30 PM
- 🌱 Green Paradise Farms – Open to Public — 9:30–11:30 AM
- 🧹 Brighter Bites Food Distribution — 3:15–4:00 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🏛️ Manufactured Home Fair Practices Commission — 6:00–8:30 PM
- 🤝 NAACP General Membership Meeting — 6:30–8:00 PM
Friday–Sunday, August 21–23 - ⚖️ College Bridge Action - Fri 7 AM
- 🏃 Tai Chi Class — Fri 8/21, 5:00–6:00 PM, Libby Lake Community Resource Center
- 🎨🏃 Super Girl Surf Festival — all weekend
- ⚖️ HRCO Patrol — Sat 8/22, 6:00–10:00 AM
- 🤝 DEMCCO Meeting: Effective Collaboration Presentation — Sat 8/22, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, Harding Community Center (Carlsbad) / Zoom hybrid
- 🧹 Community Cleanup – Libby Lake Park — Sat 8/22, 9:00–11:00 AM
- 📚 Tagalog Language Program — Sat 8/22, 4:00–8:00 PM, Mission Branch Library (weekly)
- 🎨 A Very Laufey Day – Limited-Edition Library Card — Sun 8/23, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM, Mission Branch Library
- 🗳️ Canvassing Huddle — Sun 8/23, 10:00–10:45 AM
Looking Ahead... - 🏛️📌 Planning Commission: 8/24, 6:00–10:00 PM, Council Chambers, City Hall
- 🏛️ Library Board of Trustees & Housing Commission: 8/25, Council Chambers, City Hall
- 🏛️ County SD Virtual Forum: 8/25
- 🤝📌 Libby Lake Monthly Community Meeting: 8/25, now 4:30–6:00 PM
- 🏃 Ladies of North SD County Walk: 8/25
- 🗳️ Carlsbad Dems: 8/26
- 🤝 Live Well benefits enrollment: 8/26, Libby Lake
- 🤝📌 Libby Lake Comm Ctr Open House: 8/27
- 🗳️ YIMBY Dems Candidate Mixer: 8/27
- 🗳️📌 Joey Pearson School Board Campaign Kickoff: 8/27
- 🌱Green Paradise Farms: 8/27
- 📚 Tagalog Language Program & 🌱 Oceanside Crop Swap: 8/29
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Whether you have one hour or several, your help makes a difference.
Beyond canvassing and community care, our volunteer team is also planning events, shaping strategy, and building the kind of durable, people-powered campaign this district deserves. If you're interested in learning about campaigns, have special skills to share, or are simply looking for a community of value-aligned neighbors to do good work with, we want you here.
👉 Sign up to volunteer with us:
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Your ideas and feedback shape this campaign, so please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always listening.
In community,
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You are receiving this email because I've added you to a list of folks who've expressed interest in staying in touch regarding this campaign. If I've screwed that up, I am so sorry. I don't mean to spam - I'm just a regular human trying to stay connected to a growing community of awesome people I am meeting.
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GONZALES FOR OCEANSIDE COUNCIL D2 2026, FPPC #1485330, Oceanside, CA 92057, United States, (760) 385-8275
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