Candidate for
County Supervisor; Sonoma County; Supervisorial District 5

I have three top priorities for the County if elected as Supervisor.

1) One of my most important priorities will be to leverage my personal professional experience as a healthcare provider for most of two decades and policy experience in the Legislature to at least maintain and, more importantly, improve the access people throughout the county, and particularly in rural areas, have to local healthcare. This will include pursuing the possibility of implementing a county wide health care system as San Francisco County has done. I will be able to bring substantial experience to bear as we address countywide healthcare issues as well as implement future statewide programs.

Currently approximately 64,000 people in Sonoma, including 3,000 children (those under age 18) do not have health insurance. I am strongly in favor of a single payer health care system on a national basis. However, in the absence of this happening on a federal level, Senator Sheila Keuhl introduced it on the state level. I have worked with Sen. Keuhl and her staff to bring awareness of this issue and support for SB 840 to Sonoma County and surrounding areas. I am most honored that Senator Kuehl has wholeheartedly endorsed my candidacy and is a major contributor to my campaign.

It was incredibly exciting when SB 840 passed both houses, however while the Governor's veto was not surprising, it was a very sad day when that happened. I have been looking closely at the Universal Health Access plan San Francisco has instituted and would like to explore if such a plan would make sense in Sonoma County. San Francisco County + while providing a plan that will only cover people in the immediate area + has been able to implement a program which has helped provide insurance to a number of people who would not otherwise have been covered.

All of that said, I believe Universal Single Payer Healthcare is one of our most urgent issues of the day. Health insurance rates as well as healthcare costs continue to rise at a much higher rate than do wages. Half of bankruptcies are due to healthcare bills. As a nation our healthcare ranks at the bottom of all industrialized countries. There are a myriad of problems SB 840 would have tackled. Aside from the fact that everyone would be covered at a reasonable cost while also maintaining the freedom to choose healthcare professionals, many issues regarding Workers' Compensation would be dealt with since injuries and illness would be treated regardless of whether they were related to employment. A "medical home" would be a more likely outcome for individuals and families as less people would be using emergency rooms for primary care. I will continue to be a strong supporter of Universal Single Payer Healthcare on whatever level we can achieve it.

2) Address and make significant progress on our most pressing environmental challenges. This includes taking action to:

• Protect and preserve the Russian River, Laguna de Santa Rosa, our local watersheds and our scenic coastal ridgelines;
• Implement, enhance and strengthen the County's plan to reduce Green House Gas emissions; and,
• Implement proactive principles and policies that promote smart, sustainable development, which is near essential services and transit. I also believe that the County must implement a mandatory Green building program that adheres to LEED building principles. As we have seen in other cases, building standards that aren't declared mandatory will simply be ignored and we must lead the way in progressive, sustainable approaches to local building and growth.

Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together and making sure they happen will require that the Board and I have a strategic plan to successfully accomplish the goals mentioned above. The Board of Supervisors must do better in long range, proactive planning with a clear mission and timeline to accomplish the issues at hand. I truly believe this will help make the Board of Supervisors more accountable to the public and more successful overall. I believe I am the most qualified candidate to do this because of the diversity of my background and experience and my longstanding relationships on the county, state, and federal level.