Below are my positions on some of the major issues in California.  I encourage you to visit the organizations linked to each entry.

 

 

Ecological Wisdom

 

Our state needs to develop and practice sustainable farming, with a reduced reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides and more support for organic methods of growing food.  Food should be grown for local consumption wherever possible to reduce transportation related fossil fuel use and pollution.

 

I support tighter controls on fuel efficiency for cars manufactured and sold in California.

 

I oppose oil drilling along California's coastline.

 

I supported Prop. 2 in the last election, and I would support even stronger laws for the humane treatment of farm animals.

 

Commuters need much more funding for public transportation instead of spending billions to widen freeways.  I deplore the recent cuts made to bus service by OCTA.

 

I oppose the proposed Peripheral Canal.  Conservation should be the centerpiece of any state water plan.  Limit crops to those appropriate for California's climate while eliminating water intensive ones like cotton and rice.  Desalination plants, dams and a Peripheral Canal for imported water are energy inefficient, environmentally harmful and are not sustainable.   Bonds for them are fiscally irresponsible.

 

 

Social Justice

 

I support a Single Payer universal healthcare system for the state of California.  With the insurance company profit margins out the way we can provide coverage for everyone.

 

Prop. 8 took away rights guaranteed by our state constitution.  I would support a new initiative or legislation to restore marriage equality for gay and straight people. 

 

A woman's right to choose must be preserved.  Safe and legal abortions should be available to all women.

 

Our prisons are overcrowded with low level personal drug use offenders.  Amend the Three Strikes Law to apply only to violent criminals, freeing up money for education that would otherwise be used for prison construction.

 

Livable wages for working people in Californian are necessary for a fair economy.

 

Renegotiate NAFTA and CAFTA to eliminate the lopsided economic conditions that result in desperate undocumented immigration.

 

Decriminalize marijuana for personal use.  Jails are meant for people who are a threat to our safety and well being.

 

 

Grassroots Democracy

 

California Redevelopment Law and practice need to be reexamined to prevent the establishment of additional questionable districts by municipalities and to address the siphoning of funding from public education.

 

Campaign Finance Reform is essential to a fair playing field in our electoral process.  Lobbyist money currently drives the legislative agenda in our Assembly, harming our democracy.  I will not accept campaign contributions from lobbyist organizations.

 

Adopt ranked ballot voting methods like Instant Runoff Voting or Single Transferable Voting to save money and better reflect the preferences of voters, eliminating the "spoiler effect" and obviating the need for special runoff elections.

 

 

Nonviolence

 

Abolish the death penalty.  It is cruel, inhumane, archaic, arbitrarily applied, and unworthy of a civilized nation.