My Vision

Eye of the storm

These last few weeks of the primary election have been much like an intense storm--fast-paced, relentless, and full of debris that may threaten our vision or even place us in harm's way. I have tried my best to stay focused and clear, to keep my gaze fixed on the brightest imaginable horizon of our shared future in Johnson County.

And here we are. One day before June 2nd, 2026. I have spoken to thousands of residents in District 4, whether in-person at the Iowa City Farmer's Market, or on their doorstep, or out and about town, about who I am and why they should vote for me. There are concrete things I can point to: my education and experience in watershed planning, economic development, and community organizing and advocacy. But what I want to emphasize today is something more difficult to point to, because it's not how I voted or a program that I launched or supported. It's my vision for Johnson County.

My North Star

Last night, at a meet-and-greet event for me and Supervisor Mandi Remington, a resident asked: "If I asked you to put on your 'future' goggles, to look out decades or generations from now: What's your vision for Johnson County?" Mandi answered beautifully about public safety, noting investments in evidence-based practices and policies that reduce encounters with law enforcement and the need for a carceral system. She acknowledged that it would likely take generations, but that some day, she hoped her descendants would learn in their history classes about a time long ago when the US had the highest incarceration rate in the world.

I share her vision wholeheartedly, and added that I want future generations to know what it means to have everything they need to thrive. Something more than meeting our basic needs for clean water, safer homes, and food security. I want our descendants to know what it means to live beyond capitalist extraction of our time and labor--that we have moved away from defining ourselves by our productivity and have embraced more and fuller options for existing. This is not to say that I don't understand budgets or support providing livable wages! It is simply to say that our sole purpose is not to clock in and out of work, but rather to grow and explore and find meaning in the world. Maybe this is lifetimes away. But in my heart, I simply want everyone to have what they need, to be at peace, and to know love and belonging. It's that simple. And I am willing to fight for it.

For now, I will continue to represent the values I was raised with- honesty, integrity, and care. I want to help and also recognize that how we arrive is also how we lead. I have done a lot of internal work to get to a place where I can listen to harm happening around me and provide the grace and space to navigate through it. I believe in us, and in our ability to do this work together.

So this is my North Star. And this week, my Three with V is focused on simple, concrete steps we can take in the here and now to inch closer to that world here in Johnson County:

1. Invest in purchasing or enacting 50-foot naturalized buffers along our streams and river corridors in Johnson County. We would need a state-led law to get this to the point where we have cleaner water for future generations, but it's one step on that pathway. Also, Chris Jones- I'm looking at you!

   
   

2. A multi-million dollar affordable housing bond. There are examples all across our country of local governments stepping in and making housing not only more affordable, but a source of generational wealth for those that have been left out of that equation. It is Johnson County's time to step up and make a robust and bold move for our future.

   
   

3. Create mentorship structures for rising community leaders with lifelong support that are led by and for Underestimated residents. We need to reckon with the reality that Johnson County is a beacon for progressive values and we need to concretely invest in bringing up our next generation of fierce, sharp, and collective-care driven leaders. This will take time to establish, but I know there are other leaders here who crave this type of mentorship.

If any of this resonated with you, (and I hope it did!) and you haven't decided who you are voting for tomorrow, I humbly ask for your vote. When people ask me whose side I am on, I respond with: "I am on the side of accountability and healing". That's who I am.

Maraming Salamat ('Many Thanks' in Tagalog)

-V