Candidate for
Member; California State Assembly; District 67

A lawmaker should be like Pizza Man. You should see that person all the time, and they should deliver.

There are a great many issues facing people on a day-to-day basis in this district that have are not DEMOCRATIC-issues or REPUBLICAN-issues... they are everybody's concern.

• People in WEST ANAHEIM deserve to have a lawmaker who will help bring down significant budget funding to help pay for a new park. A lawmaker can help to convince city officials that they must do a better job for folks in West Anaheim. Only now are sidewalks and lights and curb cuts being planned.... A state lawmaker could play a big role for the people, even on things that are really city concerns. Sometimes it is as simple as a lawmaker or a staffmember getting on the phone (sometimes five times a day) to ask city officials, "This constituent would like to know when their ___ is going to be taken care of...." And sure as heck, an effective lawmaker can jump-start the process for a westside rec center or park, by delivering state major money for the area. And if I go up there, West Anaheim will be at the heart of my agenda.

• Residents in STANTON, GARDEN GROVE and WESTMINSTER also need a state lawmaker who will fight to bring down more state dollars to help with after-school educational and recreational programming, parks, library support, anti-gang programs that engage at-risk youth in productive life-chaning skills-building activities. We cannot give up on our kids, nor can we tolerate letting them live in fear of crime, whether it is on the streets, in the neighborhoods or on school campuses. I'll fight for the towns up the middle, because our lawmaker should be a ten-city Assemblymember, not a one-town-man.

• The people of LA PALMA, CYPRESS, LOS ALAMITOS, ROSSMOOR and SEAL BEACH live along one of our region's great waterways, but the views of these communities seldom is heard on issues pertaining to the SAN GABRIEL RIVER. We live along the river. I will see to it that there is a place at the table. And for ROSSMOOR, I'm talking with members of the State Senate Transportation Committee, asking that the HOV interchange be starved for funding and, if it comes to committee, that members vote to outright kill it. The community already got the short end of the stick and was left chasing after a car that had already driven away. Now, it's time to pull out the plugs to kill that thing, because no one wants it. In this regard, it serves our area to put me in. Being a member of the legislative majority, I will have a far better chance to secure victory in this fight.

• Coastal and river water quality affects everybody, as the region's economy is driven by tourists coming to our beaches to enjoy the water, the shopping and the environment. Our lawmaker needs to work with legislators of both parties to create budget items, legislative appropriations and, if need be, a bond measure that brings down the money needed to fix the source of bacterial pollution along our coast. I advocate a one-third/one-third/one-third approach, where the state, the OC Sanitation District and the cities work to bring our infrastructure up to snuff for the needs of our county. By ending the finger pointing, we can go beyond casting blame and, instead, get something done. If we fail to act, then the record-breaking 51 beach closures that OC experienced in 2001 will be but the beginning.

• People in HUNTINGTON BEACH and across the 67th Assembly District deserve a lawmaker who understands the core values that people -- regardless of party -- share. I am a local. I have lived in this district since first grade. I know what people here think. I support the death penalty. I think there are enough gun laws on the books. (If we want to actually control guns, then we ought to send probation officers out to seize weapons from probationers, who are not allowed to possess a gun anyway, as they are convicted criminals.) I don't think that illegal immigrants should be able to get a drivers license.

I'll be up there working for you. I'll make my own party leaders drink a gallon of Pepto Bismol, because being a Democrat (that's just what I am), my leaders are not going to like my votes on guns or illegal immigrants or the death penalty or crime. They're going to be angry at how conservative my votes will be.

But my "philosophy" says that I am up there representing you. I've got to fight for you, because you're my boss.