Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Azusa Unified School District

I was born in Newport Beach, California. I am the second oldest of four children. I was a USMC Officer's child and grew up in California, North Carolina, and Hawaii. We settled in the Corona/Riverside area when my father resigned his commission and my parents both went back to college. My parents were very active in the community, running the teen post and counseling the teenagers that would attend the activities that were provided. My parents believed that knowledge is power so my brothers and sister were included in the Field Trips and educational programs they provided to the older children. We went to museums, archaeological digs, nature excursions, beach trips, etc.

By 1972 my parents separated and divorced. As they moved on to their new lives, I was responsible for my younger brothers. Eventually it all settled, they both remarried and we went back to a normal life. My father, after finishing his degree, became a Juvenal Probation Officer for the County of San Bernardino. My mother continued her education in Nursing and then getting her teaching credentials, ran group homes for emotionally disturbed teens in Riverside County.

I graduated from Ramona High School in Riverside and went on to Riverside City College for a year and a half. Then, I chose to join the U.S. Army.I was trained as an Aircraft Armament Specialist, repairing the computer systems and fire systems of Cobra and Apache helicopters and was stationed in New Jersey, Virginia, and finally Savannah, Georgia. After I had my first son was born, I chose to be a stay at home mom until my ex-husband processed out of the military. He was an Airborne Ranger and they would be deployed at a drop of a hat, so it was best I was the stable parent at home. I am the proud mother of four children, a boy, a girl, and boy/girl twins and am now a grandmother of two boys and a girl. Two of which have started their first year of public school in Kindergarten this week.

I went back to work when my ex-husband medically retired from the military and worked in an automotive factory for five years as management and Quality Control and was sole support of the family. Eventually we moved to North Dakota to be around his family. I continued to be the sole support of the family on and off for the next 10 years. I worked in retail management, food service management, and banking in Retention. Whatever field I was working in I made sure my schedule was flexible, so that I was able to attend school activities, parent teacher conferences, games, field trips, and PTA activities. My children have gotten their degrees in teaching, nursing, office management and computer programming.

We divorced once the children were in their late teens. When the children all graduated from high school and were off to college, I moved back to California and met my partner, Bruce. We started our own business after two years of being together and have been in business 10 years.

Bruce and I were beginning to get involved with the City of Azusa after two children were struck by an SUV in front of our home in 2005. We lobbied to get more stop signs and cross walks around the schools in our area, and tried to find creative ways to slow down traffic before and after school to prevent anything like that happening in our neighborhood again.

Since then I have been very active in the community. I volunteer my time in different activities and charities throughout the community and am proud to be a sponsor for many children's causes and activities here in the city of Azusa. I was awarded 48th Assembly District Woman of the Year for 2013 and Azusa Woman's Club Woman of the Year 2014, for Community Service in the City of Azusa