Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 10

Assemblymember Michael Allen is running for re-election to the California State Assembly in AD 10 to continue using his considerable experience to protect open space, improve our air quality, and create sustainable, green jobs for the North Bay.

A community leader for over 30 years, Michael has a record of activism and extensive legislative experience that makes him uniquely qualified to tackle the diverse issues facing our neighborhoods and our state. Michael has had an extensive career as a registered nurse, lawyer and then labor leader right here in the North Bay. He raised his five children here and was proud to see them go on to graduate college and become successful in their own right.

Michael was born and raised in Los Angeles by his Latina mother who immigrated to the United States after she married an American mining company attorney. When his mother was widowed when he was just 6 years old, Michael learned first-hand the value of hard work as his mother raised him on her own and worked as a seamstress to support them. He began his career as a psychiatric nurse for the Sonoma County Crisis Clinic. Michael put himself through law school and joined the Sierra Club Legal Defense Team on the Warm Springs Dam initiative before ultimately finding his calling as a negotiator, mediator, and consensus builder at the Sonoma County Organization of Public Employees. As Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union Local 707, Michael worked to resolve labor disputes, create local jobs, and protect working families. Michael is also a respected labor attorney and served nine terms as the President of the North Bay Labor Council. In 2007, State Senator Patricia Wiggins asked Michael to accept the position of District Director for her five regional offices that serve over 880,000 constituents.

Michael's work in the community is just as extensive as his professional work. In the 1980s, Michael helped establish the Sonoma County Day Care Center, which still serves the community today. In 1992, Michael negotiated an innovative and groundbreaking housing benefit for Sonoma County workers that helped hundreds of North Bay families to realize their housing dreams. Michael previously served on the Santa Rosa Planning Commission and as Chair of the SMART Train Citizens Oversight Committee, working to create a more sustainable economy through this groundbreaking project. Michael is also a founding member of Solar Sonoma, a coalition of community leaders and private sector organizations that promotes development of alternative energy sources and reductions in fossil fuel dependency and green house gas emissions. Allen continues to advocate for green job creation as a creative means to jumpstart California's economy.

Elected to the State Assembly in November 2010, Michael was appointed to serve as the Assistant Majority Leader shortly thereafter. Since then, he has worked to improve safety at our state hospitals, help working families, and create local jobs. He was recently appointed to the joint legislative committee on pensions, where he has worked to advance critical solutions to the pension issues facing our state. Michael's legislative priorities also include increasing access to quality healthcare in the state and improving education through increased funding.