Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 40

With a broad background and experience in the financial services industry and an active community volunteer, Dennis DeYoung is uniquely qualified to serve as the next State Assemblymember to represent the 40th District in the western San Fernando Valley. He is a stockbroker, Certified Financial Planner™, Tax Preparer, Real Estate Broker , small business owner, former Neighborhood Council President and the only candidate that is actually born and raised in the 40th Assembly District. Dennis has a genuine concern for the future of California and a sincere desire to work with both sides of the aisle in Sacramento to move this great state to a solid financial footing and will avoid the petty politics, gridlock, and will not promote absurd and irrelevant bills that characterize the legislature today.

Born January 11th, 1964 in North Hills (formerly Sepulveda), Dennis DeYoung grew up in a Valley that was an agricultural suburb of Los Angeles characterized by citrus groves and ranches. Dennis raised livestock and grew vegetables in the backyard and was active in the local 4-H club, as were his parents when they were growing up in the San Fernando Valley. Over the years, much of the land was bulldozed into homes, offices, stores and mini malls and the Valley became the urban sprawl it is today.

Dennis attended Langdon Ave. Elementary and Village Christian Schools in Sun Valley and in his senior year he was the Student Body President, Head Director of 4-H Summer Camp and a Statewide Ambassador for the 4-H Youth Program. Dennis attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara and then transferred to Cal State Northridge where he was active in student government and graduated with a degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance and Real Estate.

In high school, Dennis wanted to be a stockbroker and was already working for a brokerage firm when he graduated from college in 1987. He also received his real estate brokers and insurance agent license in the same year and received the Certified Financial Planner™ designation from the College of Financial Planning in 1992. In addition, he is a licensed tax preparer, Notary Public and a Branch Manager of Financial West Group and supervises several stockbrokers and sales assistants.

Dennis has built a large and successful practice catering to individuals and corporations providing tax and investment advice and tailoring the right mix for an investment portfolio. He specializes in mutual funds, retirement plans, municipal bonds and college planning. In his 23 years as a stockbroker, he has developed a loyal clientele of over 200 clients and manages $75 million in assets.

Last year, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal named Dennis as one of the Top 50 Wealth Managers and Dennis is on the Board of Directors and Vice President of the Financial Planning Association and a Director of the Asian Pacific Revolving Loan Fund. He has been quoted numerous times in various financial publications and magazines and authored several articles. Dennis was the youngest member ever elected to the Board of Directors of the Matadors Community Credit Union and served over twenty years on that Board in various capacities as the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chair and Chair of the Finance Committee.

When Dennis was twelve, he met his future wife, Carrie, at 4-H Summer Camp. They married in 1991 and have two daughters, Hannah and Sallie. Carrie also grew up in the San Fernando Valley where she developed a passion for working with dogs by enrolling in a 4-H project whereby families raise puppies and acclimate them for working as service dogs for the visually impaired. Carrie has worked for Proctor & Gamble, UCLA and was at the Walt Disney Company for over a decade. For the past eleven years she has been employed by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as a Senior Field Representative with the canine agility program and travels extensively to attend various dog shows, judges training seminars and national and international competitions.

Dennis has attended 4-H Camp every year for the past 36 years and Dennis is Chairman of the Camp Committee and Vice President of the Los Angeles County 4-H Youth Program. In 1995, Dennis and Carrie co-founded the Robert P. Amman Memorial Campership Fund and they have distributed over $80,000 in camperships for some 500 children to attend a weeklong summer camp program in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Their daughters, Hannah (16) and Sallie (12) are active as third generation 4-H members and Hannah is an LA County All-Star this year and a high school junior and Sallie is in the 7th grade and both have played on the school softball and volleyball teams.

Community Service

Dennis' parents were instrumental in showing their four sons the importance of getting involved and giving back to the local community. Taking time and contributing resources is necessary and vital to adding to the quality of life in a community. Los Angeles County is home to over 10 million residents and volunteering in a community contributes to a better, safer and more livable neighborhood. Over the years, Dennis has become very active in his community with a variety of organizations for the betterment of Northridge and the Valley.

For example, Dennis was involved with the committee to organize and certify the Northridge West Neighborhood Council in 2004-2005 and has been an elected Board Member for the past 4 years and served as the Council's President and Vice President. Dennis has been at the forefront of many challenges involving Neighborhood Councils and the City of Los Angeles and the Council has been key to providing funds and support for many schools, organizations and community events in the area.

In 2001, Dennis was a member of the Finance Committee for San Fernando Valley secession and was encouraged to see that initiative pass in the Valley despite being outspent 10 to 1 by the former Mayor Hahn and his allies. However, a backroom deal in Sacramento mandated that the residents south of Mulholland were allowed vote against Valley Secession which ultimately sealed its fate. Dennis feels that the Valley residents are subsidizing the rest of the city of Los Angeles and the Valley will be a better place to live when it is a separate and more efficient city.

Dennis is a firm believer that there is hope for the next generation and that a good education is an important necessity for success. In the Valley, our public schools are perpetuating poor performance and that the success of charter schools needs to be encouraged and promoted throughout the City. As the son of an LAUSD teacher and School Principal, Dennis is adamant that the systematic problems and failures with the school district can only be resolved by fundamental change. Breaking up the 750,000 LAUSD students into a more manageable school district is just another important reason for the Valley to become the sixth largest city in the nation.

In 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Dennis to the board of the 51st District Agricultural Association which plans and organizes the Valley Fair. In 2009, Dennis was reappointed to the Fair Board and feels strongly that a community fair is an important and vital event. Ironically, it was at the San Fernando Valley Fair at Devonshire Downs where Dennis' parents, Burt and Bonnie met as teenagers. Also, for the past five years, Dennis has volunteered with the Los Angeles Police Department's Volunteer Surveillance Team (VST) at the LAPD Devonshire Division. The VST has a perfect safety record over the past eighteen years and provides valuable support to the police department in various crime suppression activities.

California State University, Northridge is located in the 40th Assembly District and is one of the top 20 schools in the country ranked by enrollment and it is where Dennis and his wife both attended and graduated. Carrie was elected Chair of the University Student Union Board of Directors in 1985 and Dennis served as USU Board Chair the following year. He has served as Chair of the USU Audit Committee for four years and is on the Board of Directors of the CSUN Alumni Association and serves as Vice President. Dennis' office is located just two blocks from the University and Dennis is a school donor, member of the Matador Athletic Association and a season ticket holder for their basketball and volleyball programs. He has served on various campus committees to select the Presidential and Legacy scholarships, recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards and inductees to the Matador Athletic Hall of Fame.

Another benefactor of Dennis' volunteer efforts is the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce. Dennis was elected to their Board five years ago and is still on the Board today. He has served as Vice Chair and chaired several committees including Bylaws and the Finance Committee. Dennis also serves on the NE/W Vision Committee whose mission is to oversee and implement a long range plan for the Reseda Blvd. corridor in Northridge between Roscoe Blvd. and Devonshire Street.

Also, earlier this year, Councilman Greig Smith appointed Dennis to serve on a blue ribbon panel called the Oakridge House Park Advisory Board to oversee restoration and public use of the recently acquired Oakridge Residence on Devonshire just west of Reseda Blvd. The Oakie house is a 6,000 sq. foot home designed by Paul Revere Williams on ten acres that was originally built by actress Barbara Stanwyck in 1930 and is one of the original homes in the community of Northridge.

In the primary election held in June, 2008, Dennis and eleven others entered the race to serve on the County Central Committee (CCC) to represent the Republican Party in the 40th State Assembly District. This was the first time Dennis ran for a political office and he won by a landslide, receiving 4,886 votes + 33% more than any other candidate. Dennis currently serves as Treasurer of the County Central Committee which promotes the Republican Party, endorses candidates and encourages voter registration throughout the District.

Leadership, experience, community involvement and a genuine interest to help others are hallmarks which characterize Dennis DeYoung. In Sacramento, Dennis will be armed with an intimate knowledge of the 40th Assembly District and the needs and concerns of the residents and constituents of the western San Fernando Valley. In over thirty years of serving on boards, committees, organizations, etc. Dennis has never lost an election to any office which he sought.