I was born and raised in Carson, California. That's been my home for 16 years and I've seen a lot of things that should be improved. I have made sure that I am involved in my community so I can make a difference. In this essay you will read some of the things I would change in my city if I became Mayor.

I live in North Carson where there is only one grocery store. The city has only provided their citizens with a Neighborhood Walmart which does not have a good variety like other grocery stores. A year ago there was a Ralph’s and Henry’s Market in addition to the Walmart but they were taken down and turned Ralph’s into a 99 cent store. And down the street, Henry’s Market became Dollar Tree. As of now there are two 99 cent stores and also a Dollar Tree in North Carson with one grocery store. On the other side of Carson, there are two Albertsons, one Ralph’s, and multiple Asian markets. To get to the other side of Carson from North Carson is a 10-minute drive. I would like to see that change in my city by adding another grocery store so that the residents won’t have to go across town if something is not provided in their one grocery store.

There are twelve parks in the City of Carson and they all have a similar issue which is drugs and alcohol on the park. Most of the parks are located next to high schools so they get a lot of students that visit after school. They also have the students that ditch school to hang out at the park. Students who ditch go to the park, they usually do drugs and cops are called multiple times during the week. This puts the children that are on the park in jeopardy. The parks also host adults sports every Thursday. It is an adult league that plays baseball at night on the park’s field. The staff began to notice that the adults were bringing alcohol in their coolers and drinking in the dugouts. Every time someone is caught with alcohol or drugs, the police are called but there is still no improvement of substance use on the park.

I have noticed that in the neighborhoods, there is a lot of trash on the streets. The reasoning for that is because schools are placed in the middle of neighborhoods. When the students get out of school, they litter their trash all the way home. This makes the neighborhoods look unkept. This is an issue to me because maintenance tends to clean the main streets very often but neglect the neighborhood streets which are also a main attraction. There is a street sweeper that comes around once a week. If someone is parked on the wrong side of the street, the street sweeper does not clean the streets for that week. For some reason, there is always someone that causes the street sweepers to pass up a couple blocks.

Outside of almost each liquor store or gas station, there are people loittering. Del’s Liquor Store is the hangout spot for old men to sit and watch females walk in and out of the store. This makes me not want to go inside because of the people  standing outside. I have walked through the liquor store multiple times and it really makes you feel very uncomfortable. Either someone is trying to sell you something or trying to give you a car wash. But there are also people who just stand outside of the store to catcall women. I think the city should be stricter on the no loitering rule because there is a sign in every window, yet people still don't abide by it. Some stores have those people who sit outside and ask for change, even if they are not homeless. This can cause our city to look unapproachable.
      

The last thing I would like the change in my city is homelessness. We have a lot of transits that make their home the streets of our community. I would like to build a shelter and a food bank right in our city so we can encourage people to get off the streets. I know some of them get messed with by the kids walking by. And some of them get blessed with money from the people coming out the grocery store. But I would like to see every person that does not have a home off the streets and under a roof.
     

The things I talked about in this essay are some things that I see on the everyday basis in the city of Carson. If I was to become Mayor, these are the things that I would like to change. The future is unlimited is Carson’s saying and i’d like to keep it that way.