Primary Election Date: 06/05/2012
General Election Date: 11/06/2012

Who Am I?

My personal biography is one of my most important areas of strength. Nearly every aspect of my life—race-ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class background, etc.— has given me tremendous incentive to champion the rights of others and to insist on accountability from institutions and individuals with the power to make decisions that affect our lives. I know what it is to struggle, to need help, to need a champion. I also know what it is like to benefit from an outstretched hand. This means that Democratic values are real to me and it is not a stretch for me to connect emotionally and intellectually with people about why Democrats – especially this Democrat – need to be elected.
I was raised by my grandmother whose earnings as a domestic worker were supplemented by social services. My class background informed my education, my paid labor, and my commitment to community service. I received a PhD in sociology, with an emphasis on social stratification within the U.S. My dissertation and subsequent academic work at San Diego State University and UC-San Diego dealt with social inequalities in the U.S. and efforts to eradicate those inequalities. My demonstrated commitment to social justice for all and my background in education—including college teaching; volunteer work with various community coalitions on behalf of accessible, equitable & affordable quality K-16 public education; and my current employment with the San Diego Unified School District—are major areas of my strength as a candidate.
I hold a number of leadership positions in the County and State Democratic Party, the NAACP-San Diego Branch, San Diego Democratic Women’s Club, We Advocate Gender Equity (WAGE), Educate for the Future, the Education Consortium, the Middle Class Taxpayers Association, and other organizations. I am also a City Commissioner on the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission. At the State Democratic Party level, I am a Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee and serve on the Affirmative Action Committee for the DEM National Convention; I am also the San Diego Regional Director of the State Party’s African American Caucus, San Diego Region Vice-Chair for the State Party’s FilAm Caucus, Co-Chair of the State Party’s LGBT Caucus, and a member of various other State caucuses, including the Native American Caucus, Women’s Caucus and Progressive Caucus. My leadership in the Democratic Party at the local and State level and, again, my proven ability to work collaboratively in, among, and between various communities are also some of my major areas of strength as a candidate.

Why Am I Running?

I am running for this particular office because the solutions to the challenges faced by many in the communities I serve daily lie with the actions and decisions our electecd representatives make at the State level. Being the Assembly representative for the 79th District is critical to addressing the priorities of all families in this District. I am the most qualified candidate in the race for relentlessly working for every family in this district, regardless of income level or any other consideration.

Hold Me Accountable!

The key issues in my campaign are:
• Expanding living wage jobs and protecting working families;
• Ensuring accessible, equitable & affordable quality K-16 public education to ensure our youth are prepared
for the 21st century workforce;
• Safeguarding vital government services in health, education, public safety, and veterans affairs
(particularly for women veterans); and
• Promoting Marriage Equality.

My DFA values:

Since coming to San Diego in 1996, I have had the honor of working alongside friends and neighbors in the 79th AD to make our communities better places to live. I have worked alongside fellow social and economic justice activists in the Center for Policy Initiatives, the Unity League, and the Labor Movement to protect and increase living wage jobs for local workers. I have worked alongside fellow educators and members of underserved communities to help students and parents have a stronger voice in schools and decisions that impact schools. I have worked alongside members of educational and civil rights organizations to end discriminatory practices in admissions, hiring, and employment at our local universities. I have written letters; signed petitions; participated in marches; and held rallies, speak-outs, and community forums on issues that impact our quality of life and our children’s future. I have served on committees, spoken before commissions, and met with elected leaders on behalf of working families, students, and the most vulnerable members of our communities. I have worked on campaigns against harmful initiatives (e.g., Proposition 54 and Proposition 8) as well as campaigns for strong progressive candidates that I felt would stand up for our communities and fight for our issues. I have devoted countless hours to protect and expand the rights of members of the LGBT Community, the women’s community, and communities of color. I have devoted countless hours also to the local and state Democratic Party, working in close coalition with various affinity groups. Running for elected office is a natural progression of the work I have done to date to address social inequalities. Because many of the injustices we experience locally are the direct result of the failings of a broken system in Sacramento, I want to use the lessons I have learned working in the trenches locally to develop more sensible and responsive policies at the state level.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

My campaign team is overwhelmingly comprised of retired citizens, students, and community activists- some of whom are seasoned campaign volunteers and others who have never worked on a political campaign before. We are training unemployed and young people/students to run for office themselves or to obtain paid positions on this campaign at a later date or to be hired by other campaigns for future elections. We have people who are impacted by the issues that I will address when elected ( especially students and those in need of the social safety net, including guaranteed Social Security, attention to the rising costs of prescription medications for seniors, people who have lost or know someone who has lost a home to foreclosure or are worried about housing, etc.). Our campaign is powered by educators, social justice allies, and community members who want to insure the issues that matter to the people in the 79th and CA more proudly will stay in the forefront of this work.

Much of the materials that have been developed for our campaign has come from the creativity and suggestions of volunteers who meet weekly to help shape and define our campaign and to insure that this is the campaign of the people who live or are connected to people who live in the 79th Assembly District.