As your Congresswoman my top priorities will be preserving the environment, improving education, stopping an alarming increase in violent crime, expanding access to affordable, quality health care, and ensuring that America pursues a foreign policy that is sane, just, and maintains our strong support for our allies.

As a former City Councilmember, committed environmentalist, and community advocate, I bring a lifetime of dedication to our community and decades of public service experience building coalitions and creating jobs to the race.

As your Congresswoman my top priorities will be preserving the environment, improving education, stopping an alarming increase in violent crime, expanding access to affordable, quality health care, and ensuring that America pursues a foreign policy that is sane, just, and maintains our strong support for our allies.

As a former City Councilmember, committed environmentalist, and community advocate, I bring a lifetime of dedication to our community and decades of public service experience building coalitions and creating jobs to the race.

Why am I running for California Congress District 37?

Today we are seeing gridlock and inaction in Washington on critical issues like basic voting rights for all Americans. Climate change that has devastated California forests and communities should not have to wait any longer for action in Congress. Young people who feel handicapped at the start of their careers need help finding the American dream —- good jobs, affordable education, affordable housing, equity in access to needed health and mental healthcare, and safety in their homes and offices and schools.

I am ready to go to Washington and use my proven skills to fight for Californians.

The truth is I need for all of you to help me get there. I cannot do this alone. Current Reality is that I need support to fund my campaign in the 37th Congressional District of California. The top two finishers have advanced to the general election. I am one of them. The newly redistricted congressional district has much of my former council district in it. That is good news for my candidacy. I will fight for campaign reform, so that it doesn’t take millions to get your name on the ballot and millions more to run a competitive campaign. Please join me and support Jan Perry for Congress 2022.

Healthcare

Quality healthcare must be available  to all–not a privilege for the affluent. It’s a sad fact that healthcare is still far too expensive and way too complex for those with greatest need to easily access. We can and must do better. We’ve made some progress by passing a law to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap annual prescription drug costs. That’s a great beginning but there is certainly much more work to do. 

Women’s Reproductive Freedoms

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the recent Supreme Court decision eviscerating Roe v. Wade, ended the fifty-year nationwide guarantee of a woman’s right to choose whether or when she will have children. As a result, whether this fundamental right is available to any woman is now a game of chance, depending on the state in which she resides, as well as her socioeconomic status.  This is simply not acceptable. All women should be able to make their own decisions on their reproductive health.

Immigration

I wholeheartedly support comprehensive immigration reform that contains a pathway to citizenship and focuses on family reunification. I will advocate for an approach that doesnt saddle families with exorbitant fees or with the burden of providing documents that are difficult to secure. In other words, the policy shouldn’t be so stringent and expensive that it limits the amount of people who can apply.

Climate Change

We are bearing witness to our country’s—and the world’s—climate  crisis. As one who represented a community that is designated as a “heat island,” I implemented several initiatives to meet the challenge head—on. I am a former board member for the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California, and a leader in building man-made wetlands to reverse the effects of heat islands and protect our aquifers. It is very clear we are in a state of crisis, and time is running out.

Environmental Justice

While climate change is making headlines, we also face assaults on the environment that have presented challenges for decades. One of those challenges arises from extraction of fossil fuels, particularly spent oil wells. In protecting our local communities from the effects of those wells, such as the Inglewood Oilfield, my long-term goal as Congresswoman will be to decommission and repurpose them as open space. 

Inflation Reduction Act

There are many viewpoints regarding the root causes of inflation in this country. As Congresswoman it will be my responsibility to further the federal government’s efforts to reduce inflation. We must make our case to the people while simultaneously using economic data to slow its march toward interest rate increases, recession, and economic stagnation. 

Affordable Housing

Our current housing crisis has been decades in the making, and responding to it has been my top priority. I have aggressively worked with nonprofit housing developers to build housing and to develop policies to expedite construction. If you’re serious about helping people and achieving true social justice we have to meet peoples basic needs.

Planning and Land Use

Having built and defined a path for many communities I know that listening to and interpreting the needs of people creates opportunities for residents and positive outcomes for neighborhoods. The foundation of improving and empowering a community is to recognize this with understanding and sensitivity to history and legacy. Planning is a fluid concept that never stops – planning ahead to take care of people who are aging, young people who need a start in life and everything in between.

Homelessness

For nearly two decades, from inside and outside the system, I’ve continued to push for more housing. I’ve been the voice that said we’ve got to build more, we need to move faster to get people off the street and into emergency, transitional and permanent housing. As councilwoman I built 5,670 units with great urgency. I have the knowledge to continue to respond in the midst of a crisis that is still ongoing. I can do much more.

Social Justice

In our country conversations that we needed to have are finally taking place. There have been many times that I felt as if I was howling in the wind and that no one was listening. This is our time of reckoning and our chance to get it right. If we truly stand for social justice all we need do is grab the very issues that are right in front of us every single day and turn them in a new direction.

Public Service

Residents of the 37th District need affordable health and mental health care to become a priority again in Washington. They need health resources to be there when they need them. With over 30 years experience in the public sector, I know what it takes to serve communities with disparate interests. From 2001 to 2013, I served as a City Councilwoman in Los Angeles. My record still stands as someone who delivered for my constituents. Those 12 years were scandal-free with the focus on growth and services for my council district, along with the significant rebirth of downtown Los Angeles.

Policy Development

The creation of good public policy is a foundation and a place to begin. Nothing gets done in a vacuum. The only way to be relevant is to listen to what people say, understand what they need and make an all out effort to fulfill their dreams. I have the lived experience to bring dreams into reality based on a background of actionin planning and land use, legislative development, community organizing, finance and a deep well of understanding of social issues.

Gun Safety

According to the Gun Violence Archives there have been 356 mass shootings through July 2022 in the United States.  Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need more permanent solutions, not just empty words. 

A history of standing side by side with the people who are making a difference.

Lasting Solutions to Great Challenges

Building New Housing

A need to continuously build housing includes places for people to rent, places for people to age in place, first time home buyers, and saving and preserving the housing that we have. It’s about a range of residents on all income levels and getting homeless people off our streets and into supportive housing. I understand the tools to finance new construction, preserve existing housing and how to keep all doors open so that everyone has a chance at a decent life.

Delivering on Women’s Rights

Focused in the fight to provide special services to homeless women and families I’ve built supportive housing for women including grandparents raising grandchildren andemancipated young women. At a time when women’s reproductive rights are under attack, I worked with a reproductive rights advocacy group to establish full-service clinics to dramatically improve women’s access to health care services.

Creating Good Jobs With Good Wages

Having created more than 90,000 full-time jobs in the greater Los Angeles region I understand it takes bringing business, labor and community leaders together for the greater benefit of all communities. One of the most accepted ways to mobilize training and placement is through a robust workforce development system. I was fortunate enough to be the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department for 5 1/2 years and oversee the growth of a quality job development and training system.

Building Green, Not Just Talking Green

In working to protect the environment I expanded parks and created new green spaces, wildlife habitats and wetlands. In coauthoring Proposition O, a clean water bond, it was designed not only with the intent to protect environments and water source but to rebuild our infrastructure. We need to commit to continually green communities with the greatest need.
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