SPOTLIGHT

MAYORAL CANDIDATE SPOTLIGHT

LEE THOMAS,

MAYORAL CANDIDATE, SAN LEANDRO

Lee Thomas has dedicated years serving San Leandro residents in multiple capacity, from government to volunteering on non-profit boards. These positions include serving as a Vice Mayor/City Council Member, Human Service Commissioner, Board of Zoning Member, Police Chief Advisory Board Member, Floresta Home Owners President, San Leandro Education Foundation Board Member, San Leandro Rotary Member and as a Board Member for the San Leandro Scholarship Foundation.

There is a new movement toward leading with empathy and compassion, what do you think about that? I think we’re in a state right now where you have to lead with empathy and compassion – at least when looking at the homeless. You have to lead with empathy and compassion to understand the root causes and how you as a leader are going to be willing to tackle it. You need to be empathic to understand correlation or root causes; what has gotten a person into a situation? Then you need to be empathetic to it. As a leader, what do you do to use empathy in leadership to find resolutions or answers to what you’re being called to do?

What is your point-of-view on the rental property owner industry? We had a housing element study done. Forty-four percent of the San Leandro housing market are rentals. We hear from folks who talk about rent increases, rent stabilization or rent control that they feel needs to come in. What I don’t hear people talking about are the facts and data that tells us why. Whenever decisions are made in government, they should be done using facts and data.

I look at providers in San Leandro, and I look at them like a company with employees. Companies have good or bad employees. One bad employee doesn’t mean the entire company is bad. Using that same lens in housing, you may have a bad housing provider, but it doesn’t mean all providers are bad.

You’ve got advocates advocating for renters or property owners, but they lump everybody into one group – and it’s not fair. If we’re going to resolve our housing problem, we can’t assume or lump everybody into one group or do something that won’t support people and keep them in housing. I’ve spoken to property owners who tell me their rents are way below market, but it’s okay with them. They have a good renter who pays on time – and that right there is a symbiotic, positive relationship. Yet leaders still want to put restrictions and parameters when they’re a good housing provider.

What would you like to see happen when it comes to homelessness in the city? We know it’s based on resources and money. We already have a housing crisis with people employed and working with different income levels, and they’re looking for housing. We’re already struggling to build housing for everyday people. So, it’s difficult to provide housing for the homeless. We have to be able to expedite the process to build homes and shelters faster to move people from streets to shelters to homes. We need to develop a strategy and offer help for homeless people sleeping in the streets, walkways, or in front of businesses. We need empathy and compassion while also having zero tolerance. My job as an elected leader is to support businesses, because business brings tax revenue. I can’t recruit businesses without considering the impact of homelessness around those businesses. If I don’t, I’m putting business in jeopardy in San Leandro. I need to understand impacts to run and manage a city and count on tax revenue.