Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 73

Looking Forward and Planning for the Future

After earning my Associate of Arts degree at Palomar Community College, I attended San Diego State University and received my Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Anthropology. Upon graduation in 1983, I began my college teaching career. In 1989, I graduated from California Western School of Law with my Juris Doctorate, moved to South Orange County to accept a full-time professorship, and gave birth to my daughter. I was admitted to the California Bar in 1990. In addition to teaching Anthropology and raising a daughter as a single mother, I practice constitutional law specializing in the California Open Meeting Act, Public Records Act, First Amendment (Freedom of Speech), and Employment Law. I have successfully litigated numerous lawsuits vindicating important public policies, and fostering open and transparent government. As a career educator and fiscal conservative, I have witnessed first-hand how access to education, including career technical education, provides a skilled workforce and contributes to job creation and economic development. I have worked tirelessly in the classroom for 30 years with my students as well as with state agencies and elected officials to promote academic excellence in order to educate the next generations for the coming economy.

I have served in numerous elected governance positions, including an unprecedented 7 years as President of the college's Faculty Senate. I am known for my exemplary leadership abilities, including the ability to work inclusively, collaboratively, and to develop consensus. I am a strong advocate for transparency in decision-making at all levels. I have the reputation for getting the job done right and am considered by my colleagues to be a natural leader.

I offer the voters a stark choice between typical politicians and a consensus building candidate with the proven ability to work across partisan lines. As a career educator and fiscal conservative, I am running for Assembly because I would like to ensure that our present and future generations have access to quality public education in order to meet the economic development opportunities of the future. I am the only candidate in this race with 30 years experience in the classroom, and the ability to work cooperatively with the Democrats in Sacramento to achieve real educational reform. We must work together to increase per pupil funding while holding the line against spiraling tuition, ever escalating textbook prices, and crippling loan debt. The success of our economy and the democratic process depends on an educated and skilled workforce to meet the challenges of the future.

California is in transition. We need leaders who can responsibly and compassionately guide that transition. We face many opportunities including a changing demographic as well as the opportunity to implement new programs such as educational finance and curriculum reform, the Affordable Health Care Act, and immigration reform. Sacramento needs courageous leaders who are willing to plan for the future, a future that includes fiscal accountability, spending caps, and economic development. I will bring an innovative, positive, and entirely new perspective to Sacramento. Please join me in looking forward, investing in, and working toward the future of California.