Who is Benjamin Larson?
I am a 33 year old nurse, who originally started in medicine as a paramedic at the age of 20. I began working in small town America until 2016, at which point I transferred to Select Specialty’s ICU and eventually worked to becoming an RN. I currently specialize in cardiology as the nurse for two different cardiologists. I hope not only to represent Council Bluffs, but I also hope to inspire others and strike back against what I feel is a generational hopelessness and ennui with the youngest generations.
What is your plan for Council Bluffs?
- Tackle the growing homeless crisis through housing first- giving people small lockable safe spaces and enrolling them into public assistance programs.
- Inspire greater community engagement through leading via example, transparency with open-forum debates, and better systematic access to local resources.
- Keep housing costs and property taxes from increasing further using tools like community benefit agreements.
- Increased local investment and development using dense, mixed-use urbanism.
But why “Housing for All”?
Because more than just the homeless need homes- people nationwide are being driven from their homes and apartments by rising rents and pricing. There simply is not enough. Because, while mental healthcare must be expanded, it won’t matter if the most basic requirements for life aren’t met; how can we tackle the underlying issues of homelessness if these people have no safe place to even start rebuilding their lives?
What views does Benjamin hold?
I’m a progressive man who’s worked through rural America and through the pandemic, I’ve seen firsthand the myriad of ways America’s systems have failed- I worked for companies that bought out 911 services only to leave the towns, had to bury families during the pandemic, and now fight with insurance agencies daily to pay for basic healthcare, all for everyday americans.
