Ami Chen Mills

About Ami

Ami Chen Mills is a 30-year resident of Santa Cruz County, mother of two teens, author, essayist and national non-profit founder/director who launched the National Community Resiliency Project with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in multiple sites across the United States. For six years, she worked for Santa Clara County’s Health and Hospitals System–throughout multiple departments, in the county jail, juvenile hall and youth correctional ranches, and with employees and teams from across the County. She has also worked with several agencies in Santa Cruz County.

She is a global speaker and mental health educator who has engaged with thousands of individuals from all walks of life to improve individual lives, schools, and communities and to increase civic engagement, reduce stress and depression, and reduce crime and school drop out rates. She is also a former investigative journalist, radio show and podcast host, climate and social justice activist and community organizer.

Ami won two First Place awards from the CNPA in Investigative and Environmental Journalism, while based in Santa Cruz, and has written for Inc. Magazine, Mother Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and more. Her two books, for educators and youth: State of Mind in the Classroom and The Spark Inside: A Special Book for Youth are translated into several languages and are in use globally.

Until launching her campaign, Ami co-hosted “Unheard Voices” at KSQD and created “Moment of Truth” with Alvin Dawkins–in Alabama–on national politics, the climate crisis, healing racism and tapping our innate resilience as we navigate troubled times. Her YouTube channel: “Heart of America” looks at issues of income disparity, the climate crisis and cross-divide dialogue.

She helped organize the 2019 Climate Strike (with a broad coalition of groups), the 2017 Tax Day March in Palo Alto, the International Women’s Day March (2017), the 2016 Inauguration Day March, and, in 2019 lobbied Senators and Rep. Jimmy Panetta in DC with Citizens Climate Lobby for a national carbon tax with dividends to citizens. She has helped found local climate activist groups, and continues to work toward divestment from fossil fuels.

NAACP Candidates Forum March 28, 2022 6 pm

with candidates for County Supervisor representing the 3rd district.

1. As a new county supervisor, what would be your top 3 priorities?
   Climate Crisis; Homelessness; Housing

2. Do you support Sheriff's oversight by a trained (e.g. NACOLE) civilian committee, with subpoena power, that will hold public meetings and seek public input? Please provide rationale for your answer.
   Yes. I support quality public oversight of all public entities that are funded by taxpayers and are responsible for the safety and well-being of the community–and particularly if capacity for lethal force is involved.

3. Do you support creating a non-law enforcement team of responders to non-felony calls for service and 911 & 988 calls?
   Yes. Absolutely. While I have yet to speak with Sheriff Hart directly (I have a call set up) and am not yet clear on the Sheriff’s position on this, I believe that having a Cahoots-style program that responds to 911 calls (or 988, but I would prefer 911) would reduce overall costs and free up sheriff’s deputies actually to respond to calls that are truly serious crimes and threats to life and limb. In other cases, unarmed individuals who have mental health and social services training can handle calls with a need for de-escalation and support services. I also think it is is important for one branch of 911 services to be able to call on the other for support–for example, if sheriffs need mental health and “softer” backup to de-escalate or work with a vulnerable person; and vice versa–if mobile unit responders need more “forceful” backup.

4. Do you think that the Sheriff's Office is too militarized? Explain.
   I understand that the Santa Cruz County Sheriff is not participating in the federal DoD’s 1033 program to accept military-style vehicles and equipment. I understand the current inventory and stance is currently under review as I write. I do not know enough about the current inventory to comment well here, but as a Supervisor, I would indeed want to know. I also know that Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller was killed by an individual, a supposed “Boogaloo Boi,” during the time of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. In reviewing equipment, my considerations would be: how do these protect the force vs. how might they harm the public? Generally, I deeply oppose the militarization of police forces and Sheriff’s departments; and the overall gun/weapons culture in the United States.

5. What do you think are the three most important practical actions the County can take to end homelessness in the County?
   Housing, housing and housing. Also: mental health and treatment services; also: transitional housing, managed and agreement camps; opportunities for caring for own residence sites via gardening/farming, etc.; and community education around the issues that various people/families/workers have in the homeless community. Maybe that is too many!

6. How do you envision making a dent in the affordable housing unit problem here in this County?
   We need to utilize County land to maximize affordable housing and spaces for the currently unhoused. I will support and prioritize low income and affordable housing. I would prefer to speak to this in a forum. There are many options here.

7. Do you have ideas on how to increase the impact of Measure J, the affordable housing initiative in Santa Cruz County? https://www.sccoplanning.com/PlanningHome/Housing/MeasureJAffordableHousingProgram.aspx
   Measure J passed several decades ago to designate that some of the housing built in the County be set aside for affordable housing. Given the extreme cost of housing now, the majority if not all new housing units constructed should be affordable to working families.
   The essential piece for me in all these forums is: how have candidates voted on low income and affordable housing, and also on market rate and “luxury” housing; and how do we see these issues going forward? For me, affordable, workforce, low and very low income housing are the highest priority–whether via nonprofit development, use of public lands, recruitment of landlords, Bond measure and/or changes to zoning and density rules. Our overall thrust and voting records or activist records are the issue, I feel. My campaign team is supporting me for reasons of affordable housing, climate, social justice, character, capacity to research and communicate and integrity to my word. I will not betray them.

8. How or what would you do to increase acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers by landlords? What would you do to open up Section 8 available housing units?
   Landlord outreach should be county-wide and a very important part of County communications. State laws, as I understand them, now mandate some amount of Section 8 housing in new developments if these developments receive priorities.

9. To what extent does racial equity factor in the way you make decisions? For example, if you were elected as a Supervisor, how would you operationalize the County’s declaration that “racism is a public health crisis” and what would that look like?
   I would immediately engage with the newly formed BIPOC advisory group to the County, become their Supervisorial sponsor and make sure they are resourced and evaluating Health and all policies across the County. I would champion local and healthy foods and look into a county wide food policy approach. I would engage deeply in the process to make sure the Watsonville Community Hospital is funded and operates with a healthy budget going forward. I would support the Central California Alliance for Health, where I used to work, and nonprofits across the county to provide needed health and prevention services.

10. What is your position on the Greenway initiative and why?
    My campaign is No on Greenway because of how it limits options for rail use possibly forever and is also a threat to firefighting capacities and Roaring Camp operations. I support Rail and Trail and would make it my job to get the facts about the Rail and Trail out to the public in a manner that they can understand, which is one of my “super powers” as a journalist..

11. What do you think is the largest threat posed by climate change to Santa Cruz County and what actions will you take to mitigate that threat?
    Wildfires and drought. Sea level rise. Possible future food shortages–possible future collapse of major systems and infrastructure. I am running with the climate crisis as a priority both as a physical, and mental health issue. I have worked with activists and youth here in the County and the world over, who are in various stages of anxiety and distress regarding climate. We must do our best and involve youth I will focus on water conservation and planning; forest management and wildfire prevention; pilot programs involving regenerative agriculture and rewilding, and a Youth Climate Corp, along with the efforts the County is already making and revising forward in their Climate Adaptation plan (due in December). Climate justice, social justice and the climate crisis have been my whole world for the last five or six years. Please see links to my work and social media on this at www.AmiChenMills.com