Priorities

Top Three Priorities When Elected To Fullerton City Council

Tony Castro's top three priorities when elected are:

1. End homelessness with Housing First. A program that permanently houses homeless people first then addresses mental health and substance abuse issues.

2. Rent Control to avoid more homelessness, poverty, and crime in Fullerton and surrounding areas.

3. Infrastructure in Fullerton needs to be repaired and updated to advance Fullerton into a smart infrastructure city. It is desperately needed and overdue. The first pipes in Fullerton were built in the early 1900's. Tony Castro has a bold funding mechanism that would bring new revenue to the City of Fullerton. Which does not include increasing property or sales taxes.

Addressing Pensions And Other Post-Employment Benefit Costs

In 2019, Fullerton had a $31,000,000 surplus in the citywide budget. Three years later, In 2022 it plummeted to a whopping $5,000,000 surplus. Some would blame it on the pandemic. What a  convenient way to hide corruption at the local level. The citywide budget is higher today than it was in 2019. So where did the money go? That is something Tony Castro would immediately investigate when elected. Tony Castro would first address rising pensions and other post-employment benefit costs by properly using the current budget and eliminating waste such as slush funds, if the Fullerton City Council does receive slush funds. On top of that, Tony Castro has a bold funding mechanism that would immediately bring new revenue to the City of Fullerton. Tony Castro found active oil wells in Fullerton being pumped by Breitburn Operating LP Corporation. Tony would implement an oil extraction fee on crude oil being pumped out of Fullerton's soil. He would propose a 25% oil extraction fee and restrict thee corporations from passing the cost on to the consumer. This would bring new revenue that some how never got addressed by the Fullerton City Council. How did the Fullerton City Council miss this? Are they receiving oil money contributions for their campaigns? Is it possible they are influenced by corporations through corporate donations to their political campaigns? Since Tony Castro refuses corporate donations, He Is free to fight for the people and best interest of Fullerton. 

The Best Way To Build More Affordable Housing In Fullerton

Fullerton needs Rent Control to address needed housing. Rising rents will only cause more homelessness, poverty and crime in and around Fullerton.

How Fullerton Should Deal With Homelessness

Tony Castro would follow the Housing First model in Utah. It seems to be working efficiently and cost effectively. "Housing First" means permanently housing homeless people first then addressing mental health and substance abuse issues.

Tony Castro Is Not Satisfied With The Level Of Police Accountability In Fullerton

Tony Castro's plan for the Fullerton Police Department is to: demilitarize the police, implement community based policing, and implement a civilian review unit. Demilitarize the police does not mean defund the police. It means they should not have military grade weapons and equipment. Community based policing means to hire police officers that live within and around the community. Take them out of their cars and have them walk around the city and talk to the community and be friends with the community. Fullerton would have to hire people that live in Fullerton to police the city. Fullerton would also need to hire people who live in neighboring cities to reduce corruption within the Police Department. A civilian review unit would be more effective than Internal Affairs. Since Fullerton's Internal Affairs Agency is a sergeant who works for the Fullerton Police Department. The current Fullerton Police Department system has shown us that it cannot be trusted.

Should Fullerton Bring Back Redevelopment Agencies

Community redevelopment agencies may or may not work depending on who is running them. If it is developers running the agency, it will not work. If it is the people running the agency then it might work. Tony Castro's solution is to work with the State Legislature and Congress to bring emergency federal funding from Washington D.C. for urban renewal in Fullerton.

Tony Castro's Campaign Promise That His Opponents Cannot Make

Tony Castro's promise to Fullerton is to never accept money from corporations or special interest lobbyists for his campaign so he can be free to help the people.

Tony Castro Is A Fighter For Social, Economic, Environmental Justice And Human Rights

Qualifications

Tony Castro discovered his strong interest in the study of politics in his introductory American Government class, at Cypress College, in 2004. His enthusiasm for this subject was sparked by a discovery that politics does not have to be about money and power games, but should be about making a positive difference in the world. Since then, he became the treasurer then the president of the associated student body at Cypress College, became the co-coordinator for Rescue Education California and worked for the California Democratic Party in Orange County. He also managed congressional campaigns for candidates who refuse corporate donations, volunteered to teach elementary and junior high kids about leadership in politics and other subjects like digital media. He has been recognized in several media sources including the Orange County Excelsior, Press Telegram, Fox 40, Univision and other local radio, print and T.V. news media sources. During his involvement with Rescue Education California, they successfully contributed in blocking the tuition hike for higher education, in 2005. He worked against the Arnold Schwarzenegger special election in 2005 with (V.E.R.F.) the Voter Education Registration Fund. A satellite operation in Orange County for the California Democratic Party. In 2011, he participated in an oil extraction fee initiative campaign to bring funding for education in California. The state wide Oil Extraction Fee Initiative on crude oil that he was involved with would have brought new revenue to the state of California. Enough revenue to put every college student in California through tuition free college and universities all the way through medical school. He recently managed a non corporate congressional campaign during the 2022 June primary election. He has been politically involved, on the non corporate side of politics, for the last two decades. It is now his time to apply all his experience and knowledge to help get himself elected against a corrupted and corporate influenced city council in Fullerton.

Tony Castro Was Raised In A Union Home, With A Union Family, With Union Values

Tony Castro was a Union Carpenter for the Carpenter's Union Local 803. His Father retired from the Laborer's Union Local 652. Most of Tony Castro's cousins and uncles are union construction members. His grand father, great grand father and great uncle were all union members. A vote for Tony Castro is a vote for Union Values. Tony Castro is the Pro-Union candidate for Fullerton's City Council seat in District 5.