Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 20; Democratic Party

One of the ways voters can decide who will do the best job is by looking at candidates' résumés--their records of public service. What else do we have to go by?

Public service and advocacy for people are what my life has been all about. I've worked on many of the pressing questions people worry about in our district.

How can we guarantee women's rights, including equal pay for equal work, protections against discrimination and harassment, and the right to choose?

How does a state as productive as ours provide health care for everyone regardless of financial status--and make sure it is quality care?

How do we get a quality public education for our children? What about making sure higher education remains accessible for all who seek to better themselves?

How do we preserve for our children a decent environment--including open spaces, ridgelines and hillsides--that is their rightful inheritance? And how do we protect the air, water and wildlife?

How can we protect our privacy, ensuring our personal medical and financial data--the most confidential information we have--is kept private in this Internet age?

How do we combat the hate crime and prejudice that target innocent people?

How can government champion the "little guy" and enforce people's rights while working more cooperatively with business to save everyone time and money?

I have real answers to those questions because I've spent three decades working on them.

I labored for years as a non-profit attorney fighting for the little guy in the 1970s and `80s--for employees denied the minimum wage or overtime pay; for women fired because they became pregnant.

As a civil rights attorney in the 1980s I took the administration of Governor George Deukmejian to court to defend the minimum wage, winning a decision before the California Supreme Court affecting hundreds of thousands of working people.

I believe in our country everything is possible because we hold equality and justice dear. So I was part of the legal team that overturned the conviction of a Japanese American wrongfully convicted in 1942 because the U.S. government misled the courts about the danger posed by Japanese Americans. That ruling did more than vindicate one man; it vindicated an entire people whose rights were trampled.

As director of the Office for Civil Rights under President Clinton, in case after case I enforced America's premier civil rights laws against discrimination based on age, sex, disability, race or ethnicity. I helped write federal rules protecting medical privacy and preventing workers from being refused health coverage because of preexisting health conditions. I helped change the law to make it easier for families to adopt children and worked with the President and First Lady to reform our health care system.

As director of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, I fought hate crimes, battled sexual harassment and helped people who were discriminated against because of their age, disability, sex, race and sexual orientation. I also established first-in-the-state public-private partnerships between business and the department using mediation to settle cases and avoid costly and protracted investigations and prosecutions.

Over the course of my life I have managed important state and federal agencies, helped build cooperation between the private sector and government, and initiated or helped enact major legislation and government policies benefiting millions of Americans.

I am running for the Assembly because I want to be an advocate for the people of the 20th Assembly District.

I recently wrote a book to present you with my résumé and give you an indication of my positions on important issues. I hope you have received a copy in the mail. If you haven't received it, please write to me at 40087 Mission Blvd., #363, Fremont, CA 94539 for a copy.

I hope you will consider what I have to give.