Candidate for
Council Member; City of Daly City

I am presently the Assistant General Counsel of Tomen Agro, Inc., a leading formulator and distributor of crop protection products. The firm does business in over ninety countries worldwide. In that capacity, I am responsible for handling the company's commercial transactions, antitrust and international issues and am responsible for the coordination of all corporate public relations.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from UCLA in 1983 and was one of only a handful of graduating students to receive the University Chancellor's Marshall Honors at graduation. In 1988, I earned my Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco, Kendrick Hall School of Law and was the first graduate to be awarded the Judge Harold J. Haley Award by the faculty for scholastic achievement. I was also honored by being awarded the Student Bar Association Award by my peers for outstanding contributions to the graduating class.

From 1994 to 1997, I hosted "El Amanecer" (Daybreak)a popular talk show on the UPN affiliate, KBHK TV in San Francisco.

In 1996, I became the first Latino to win a seat on the Daly City City Council and in 1999, became the City's first Latino Mayor. As a council member, I sit on various countywide committees that tackle a variety of issues affecting San Mateo County and range from transportation to criminal justice.

On May 1, 2000 I was selected as one of Top 20 Lawyers under the age of 40 in California by the California Law Business, a statewide legal publication.

My wife, Leslie, and I own our home in Daly City where we are raising our 20-month-old daughter, Sofia.