Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below.

Name: Shana Charles

Age: 50

Current job title: Associate Professor and Councilmember

Incumbent: Yes

Other political positions held: Councilmember, Fullerton, District 3 (2022-present); Chair and Committee Member, Community Development Citizens’ Committee, Fullerton (2019-2020)

City where you reside: Fullerton

Campaign website or social media: Www.shana4fullerton.com

How can the city best meet the demand and mandates for more housing, including at lower price points, while also preserving local control and the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

I’ve been encouraging housing growth in all areas, supporting all building projects that have come before Council. I also have supported building new affordable housing in our city and at Cal State Fullerton (which is in my district), and have linked renters to resources to improve their current housing situations, whether financial or code enforcement. We have an obligation to fulfill our housing goals, and I believe we need a balance of apartment rentals, affordable multi-family residences, and single-family homes to have a vibrant and thriving city.

How should the city balance rising costs, paying off debts, such as pension liabilities, and building reserves, all while meeting residents’ needs? Should a solution involve finding new revenue, economic development, trimming the budget, or something else entirely? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

In 2024, I led the creation of a Fiscal Sustainability Committee to examine our budget and recommend options to fund the city we want to live in. We have to provide good living wages for our city staff, and our residents expect us to be a full-service city, with a vibrant Parks and Recreation department, a responsive Community and Economic Development Department and a responsive Public Works department. They also strongly favor keeping our own independent Fire and Police departments. Additionally, Fullerton has the only remaining municipal airport in Orange County. And on top of that, we also have a huge backlog of road repairs — over $200 million that would take 10 years to fully address. So we need economic development, but as the Fiscal Sustainability Committee determined, we also need a dedicated sales tax to finally fix our roads. In the future, we could also use a sales tax revenue stream for our public safety departments as well, as the Committee also suggested. The bottom line is that we need to fund the city we want to live in.

The public expects transparency from public leaders in spending and governance. How can this be achieved? How can the city do better in this area? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

Transparency begins with being accessible and accountable to the public. I am the only Councilmember who holds weekly open office hours, and I also publish a regular newsletter to keep constituents informed about Council, my activities, and important public events and information. I also make sure to explain my reasoning for votes from the dais, and to fully explore the issues in public so that residents know why I voted and not just how I voted. The Fiscal Sustainability Committee that I pushed for held all of its meetings in public forums, as well. I’m continuously pressing for more disclosure, more transparency in decision making, and more accountability for our actions both individually and as a Council.

In your opinion, what is the biggest need your city faces, and how would you address it? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

Roads and infrastructure repair and safety, increasing green space and sustainable active transportation, homelessness and affordable housing, and community cohesion, including supporting our neighbors being targeted by ICE, all of these are critical issues facing Fullerton right now. But with the worst roads in the county for decades now, it’s past time to get serious about how we are going to tackle the over $200 million of backlogged road repairs that are needed to bring us up to par. Since the mid-1990s, we have tried again and again to cut services, to reallocate funds, to bring in grants, to identify other funding sources to fix our roads. And other cities have passed a small sales tax and fixed their roads. It’s time for Fullerton to get serious about fixing our roads with a dedicated half-cent sales tax, with 100% going to roads. I will pursue that along with increasing county funding so that by the end of my second term, Fullertonians will see real, visible, tangible progress.

Why would you make a good leader, and how would you represent the diverse communities of your city? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

I am running to ensure Fullerton is healthy, heard, and heading in the right direction, and that means listening to constituents from every corner of the city. It also means uplifting diverse voices in city government. When I first made commission appointments in 2023, I appointed, at the time, the only female planning commissioner. I was careful to appoint a diverse group who represented many age, racial/ethnic, and income groups, making sure that everyone from college students to lifetime elderly residents were represented. I successfully led an effort to have Fullerton join the lawsuit against ICE with an amicus brief. Finally, I am the only Councilmember who holds weekly open office hours so that I am accessible to the public, and I also publish a regular newsletter to keep constituents informed. A good leader builds bridges among different segments of the community, and I strive to live by that creed.