Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party Central Committee; County of Alameda; Assembly District 16

My political beliefs stem partly from my upbringing in a single parent household that sometimes found itself below the poverty line, and partly from my education and military service. I have come to believe that there is a moral and ethical duty to stand up for those at a disadvantage and to promote the democratic dream outlined by our constitution.

I believe in a Pro-Choice position. If a person cannot control what happens to her own body, what real freedoms exist for her?

Society has an obligation to help those at any disadvantage. Food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care should all be considered human rights and not commodities. These are the basics required for the human condition to rise above one of pure survival. If we desire to advance the human society, there is no stronger position to take than to promote human rights both domestically and internationally.

I believe in full equality before the law and in all matters of access while realizing that the individual talents and characteristics we each possess create an environment of inequality. This is why race, ethnicity, gender, creed, sexual orientation, et al, have no place in determining how we order our society. An individual's personal characteristics and the positive qualities of our various communities should be celebrated as our greatest gift, not as a reason to separate and classify. If we are not in this life together, what future can we really hope for?

In relations from the personal to the international, we deserve no less than a rational view that leads to goals designed to do the least harm while promoting the greatest good knowing that a variety of the combination of the two are the likely outcomes. We must always reach out to achieve the best compromise, the strongest coalition, the most serving result, in order to progress.

Government should be considered our tool set to be used to achieve the things i have discussed above. We need to instill in ourselves the idea that power for power's sake is of the gravest moral transgression. People should step forward to contribute what they will, according to their ability, without thoughts of personal gain at the forefront.

This letter outlines the basics of my political belief system. If we were to all adopt these basic principals, I believe that we could make the attempt to achieve the possibilities outlined by our constitution.