Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 80

Having begun his career as a City of San Diego police officer, Castaneda has made public safety his highest priority. As a councilmember, he created and chaired the Public Safety committee of the Chula Vista City Council, where he oversaw the city's police, fire and paramedic services. He has been a fighter against domestic violence, maintaining staff levels and implementing efficiencies to improve services which garnered him the support of police and firefighter associations in each of his campaigns. He chaired the San Diego County Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board, a police conduct oversight committee for 8 years. Steve believes that the state must support local communities in their efforts to improve public safety services.

Castaneda has been honored by the California Endowment, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for his work to improve and protect the health of our nation's children. As a father of two boys, Steve Castaneda feels a personal responsibility to help fight the childhood obesity epidemic and substance abuse that have robbed our youth of their futures. He has taken, head-on the dangers facing our kids and our families and has been invited to speak at dozens of universities, hospitals and government associations throughout the U.S. on local government's role in stemming this epidemic. He has also sponsored ordinances restricting tobacco use near restaurant entrances and patios, requiring healthy snacks in city vending machines and limited alcohol use in local parks, to improve the quality of life for our community's children. Steve believes that the state has a critical role to play in ensuring the safety of our children, a quality education and opportunities to succeed.

Understanding that the emergence of clean and renewable energy is a key factor in California's economic revival Councilmember Castaneda zeroed in on policies making it easier and cheaper to develop new generation facilities. He chaired the City Council's committee on energy that wrote new policies and created financial and regulatory incentives for businesses and residents. The committee was also instrumental in persuading state regulators to retire a 50 year old obsolete and inefficient power plant and bury overhead power lines along the city's waterfront. Regionally, he represented South San Diego on SANDAG's Energy Working Group, where he fought for state legislation to remove bureaucracy and unneeded cost for generation projects on public land. Steve believes that clean energy projects can help our state attract investment and create jobs. Reducing bureaucracy and limiting unnecessary and expensive litigation can help our state remain competitive in the new energy market.

Councilmember Castaneda began his career as a Policy Advisor to the San Diego City Council, advancing to Legislative Specialist for the City. He is the owner of PRM Consulting, Inc. a small, family+owned firm specializing in market research for transportation, land use and energy projects. Understanding the need to support local businesses, Steve developed a small business-contracting program for the City of San Diego that earned a U.S. Small Business Administration "Program of the Year" honor. Steve believes that the state of California must be a beneficial partner to business and work together to get our economy moving again.

Steve has had substantial success at the local level in making Chula Vista streets safer, protecting youth and making the city's finances and economy stronger. He pledges to take that success and background to Sacramento to help our state overcome the challenges that could cripple California.