Candidate for
Director; West Contra Costa Healthcare District; 2 Year Short Term

Born in Rome, Italy, of Brazilian and Italian parents, I fist emigrated to England with my mother, brother and sister, where I received a wonderful education from the sisters of the Holy Family. In 1959 we emigrated to California. My mother was a nurse is now 92 years old and lives in Richmond. I am the mother of 4 children: Francesco who is an anesthesiologist at Highland Hospital, married to Tasha Maougian and the father of two daughters, Arianna and Alessia; Antonio who is an ER physician at John Muir Hospital, Doctors Medical Center San Pablo and Alameda Community Hospital; Alessandro who is a lawyer and worked for the DA.'s office in San Mateo before founding Ebates.com; and Tamina who is a medical student at Tuoro University, Vallejo. We are all Cal grads and Bear fans!

I am proudest of my children, their accomplishments and their commitment to others. As for myself, I have taught at Saint Mary's College since 1977, have worked on television, and am fluent in Spanish as well as Italian and French. As an expert on Italian emigration to California and Guatemala, have publshed several articles and books and have been featured in several television programs. I have worked in the highlands of Guatemala and was involved there in helping set up a medical clinic for residents of two villages.

My life was saved at Doctors Hospital some years ago when I was rushed to the Emergency room with a ruptured appendix that had been undiagnosed for some time. It is that experience that brought home to me how important it is to have an excellent hospital in our community. It is this that drove me to work on the Measure D campaign, appearing on television, talking on the radio, phone banking and going door to door and being in charge of two precincts. It is the wonderful people I met in this campaign that urged me to run for this office.