Somewhere to Love Living

Big Bear is easy to love.

But Big Bear cannot simply be somewhere wonderful to visit, or retire.

It must be somewhere to love LIVING.

That means doing more for locals—the people who open the shops, teach our children, care for our neighbors, clear our roads, maintain our homes, protect our community, and keep Big Bear running every day.

Sometimes, it’s the locals who take the backseat.

It’s time we ride shotgun.

We Actually LIVE Here

A thriving tourist town begins with a thriving local COMMUNITY.

We need to make decisions by asking a simple question: Does this make life better for the people who actually live here?

Can a child experience a joyful childhood here?

Can a young person imagine building a future here?

Can a local business survive beyond the busiest weekends?

Can residents make a difference and feel heard?

The health of our community cannot be measured by visitor numbers alone. It must also be measured by the quality of everyday life.

Opportunity: Can People Build a Good Life in Big Bear?

Big Bear needs more than housing people can afford. We need an economy that gives them the opportunity to thrive.

Too many local families depend on seasonal work, juggle multiple jobs, or commute off the mountain to make ends meet. Our businesses struggle to retain employees during slower months, while rising costs for insurance, utilities, transportation, childcare, and everyday necessities place additional pressure on household budgets.

We need practical solutions built for Big Bear—not one-size-fits-all policies borrowed from somewhere else.

That means supporting locally owned businesses, attracting services our community needs, and expanding careers in healthcare, education, public safety, skilled trades, recreation, forest management, and other mountain-centered industries. It means reliable high-speed internet for remote workers and homegrown entrepreneurs. It means helping young people gain the skills, apprenticeships, and connections they need to build careers without having to leave the mountain.

We can also make it more affordable to live here by improving childcare, transportation, healthcare access, energy efficiency, and local shopping options. Housing remains an important part of the equation, but a home is only sustainable when residents also have dependable income and a community that supports daily life.

Big Bear should not be a place where people merely scrape by between busy weekends. It should be a place where workers can build careers, businesses can succeed in every season, and families can plan for the future.

Small Business: Can Someone Still Build Something Here?

Our locally owned businesses give Big Bear its character.

They are the places where neighbors know one another, where first jobs begin, and where someone’s idea can become a livelihood. But running a business in a seasonal mountain economy is not easy. Owners face fluctuating demand, rising costs, staffing shortages, complicated regulations, limited commercial space, and the uncertainty that comes with weather and tourism.

City government should be a partner—not another obstacle.

We should make permits and processes easier to understand, communicate requirements clearly, reduce unnecessary delays, and give small businesses a fair chance to succeed. We should support year-round economic activity, encourage residents to shop locally, and create opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to invest their energy and creativity right here.

Essential Services: One Mountain, One Community

Living in Big Bear means depending on one another.

Healthcare, fire protection, emergency response, and a safe, reliable water supply are not optional for people who call Big Bear HOME. They are the essential services that protect our families, sustain our neighborhoods, and make it possible to live on this mountain.

Providing those services is a shared responsibility. Many independent agencies, districts, healthcare providers, nonprofits, and community organizations serve the Big Bear Valley. Each plays a different role, but the people who rely on them do not experience our mountain as a collection of jurisdictions. They experience it as one community.

We need leaders who will build relationships across boundaries, communicate openly, and bring organizations together around our shared needs. That means coordinating emergency planning, supporting our firefighters and healthcare workers, protecting our water resources, identifying gaps in service, and advocating together for the funding and resources our mountain deserves.

No single city, agency, or organization can do this work alone. Our challenges do not stop at jurisdictional lines—and neither should our cooperation.

We are one mountain. By planning together and supporting one another, we can make sure every resident has access to the essential services they need to live safely and thrive.

Parks and Recreation: A Community Is More Than a Destination

Our parks, trails, recreation programs, cultural spaces, and gathering places are not extras. They are part of what makes a community healthy, creative, and connected.

Children need safe places to play. Teenagers need places where they feel welcome. Adults need opportunities to stay active and meet their neighbors. Seniors need accessible programs and public spaces. Families deserve affordable things to do throughout the year—not only attractions priced and designed for visitors.

And our community wants a skatepark.

We have talked about it. The need is clear. Now we must make it happen. Our youth should not have to keep waiting for something so meaningful and achievable.

We must also support the arts and theater. They enrich our community, create opportunities for young people, bring generations together, and give local talent a place to grow. That includes making the Performing Arts Center more affordable and accessible to nonprofit organizations and schools—as Mr. Hofert intended it to be used. A public cultural space should serve the community, not be priced beyond the reach of the groups it was meant to welcome.

We should take good care of the facilities we already have while thoughtfully expanding opportunities for recreation, arts, culture, and community events. Our public spaces should serve locals in every season and at every stage of life.

City Hall: Government You Can Trust

You should be able to trust the people you elect to make decisions that reflect your values and protect the community you love.

You should not have to attend every meeting, read hundreds of pages of agenda materials, or double-check every line of the city budget just to feel confident that City Hall is doing the right thing.

Residents should know that their elected officials and city staff are acting with integrity, using good judgment, and keeping the best interests of the people who LIVE here at the center of every decision.

That trust must be earned through honesty, transparency, accountability, and consistent action.

There should be no hidden agendas and no politics placed ahead of the community.

Decisions should be guided by what is right for BIG BEAR—not by personal interests, outside pressure, or political ambition.

We all love Big Bear, and we want to keep it Big Bear. We want to protect its character, preserve what makes it special, and make it an even better place for the people who call it home. We need to trust that our city shares that vision.

It begins with electing people who share our values, listen to our community, and understand that public office is a responsibility—not a privilege.

Good government should not require constant supervision. It should give people confidence that, even when they are not in the room, someone they trust is standing up for them.

A Big Bear Where People Can Thrive

I believe in a Big Bear where children can grow up and imagine staying.

Where working people can afford a home.

Where entrepreneurs can take a chance.

Where neighborhoods feel respected.

Where visitors are welcomed without residents becoming an afterthought.

I believe we can protect what makes Big Bear special while making it work better for the people who LIVE here. This is not about loving tourism less, it is about loving our COMMUNITY.

Big Bear should be somewhere to visit, somewhere to explore, and somewhere to remember. But above all, for the people who have chosen to make their lives here, it should be Somewhere to Love Living.