Ami Chen Mills

 

Educator
Email: amichenmills@gmail.com
Website: www.amichenmills.com
Phone: 831-431-6721

I am a mother, journalist, and educator who has called Santa Cruz home for 30 years, and who raised my daughters here in public schools. I have a record of making our city a better place, having served on the Westlake School Site Council and the City Homelessness Committee, and as a tireless advocate for the environment, social justice and civil rights. I am also an elected member of a party central committee for District 3, where I serve as co-chair of communications.

As Mayor, I will protect and promote Santa Cruz's unique character and human-scale neighborhoods, while prioritizing affordable housing for residents.

I will bring transparency, fairness, and open dialogue about development plans and all city matters to my constituents.

I will meet with residents on Mondays before council meetings to discuss the coming agenda. We should have monthly or bi-monthly town halls in every district to listen to and communicate with constituents.

Along with the housing crisis, we face an ecological crisis. I will fight for environmental protections wherever possible, as I did for re-wilding the Benchlands and Indigenous stewardship there.. I want to see salmon back in the San Lorenzo River.

Our city must build resiliency during uncertain times. We need infrastructure, like neighborhood hubs for off-grid power and alternative communications. And we need human connection–neighborhood networks to build trust, collaboration and democratic participation.

As founder of the Get the Flock Out campaign, I organized to convince the city council to cancel our invasive, automated license plate reader contract. We must protect residents from data theft, unlawful deportation and Constitutional violations.

Local elections now reflect statewide elections, with money pouring in for some candidates. I am not accepting big money, corporate donations. I will fight surveillance tech and no-cash systems. Compromising with authoritarian, “Big Tech” is not acceptable for those of us who understand the threats we face from the federal government–as women, as People of Color, as immigrants, as LGBTQ+ persons and as persons with disabilities.

I am the daughter of an immigrant, married to an immigrant and will fight to protect immigrants in our community. While I fight for what I believe in, I do not hold grudges and am ready to work with each person on the council to get good things done for the city.

I am ready to bring collaborative leadership to Santa Cruz. I'd be honored to have your support.