Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Duarte

My family has lived in Duarte for over 40 years, and we have 4 generations living here presently that call Duarte home. My husband and I have been married for over 37 years and we have 5 children, who all have graduated form Duarte public schools. Several are currently living in the community, having returned to do a medical residency and PhD at the City of Hope and another returning to do his graduate work at UCLA.

I have been a member of the Duarte City Council for over 20 years and during that time, significant improvements have been made in our city. I voted for a Teen Center, Senior Center, increase in the number of parks in our city, new car dealerships, open space on our hillsides, and many other improvements, while actively pursuing what I consider one of the most important services a city has to offer - public safety. Our Part One crime statistics have fallen dramatically over the past 20 years but we always have more to do if there is even one crime committed in our city.

Given the many successes that we have enjoyed in our city, there is still much to be done. Dial-a-Ride is of great importance to our Seniors, so that option needs to be pursued while still keeping our fixed-route transit system fully functioning. We also have to clean up the corner of Buena Vista and Huntington Drive and develop it with quality businesses that attract a regional population. Furthermore, we need to continue to be aggressive with crime, so that the release of prisoners by the state in our communities does not create a spike in our crime statistics.