Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of Los Angeles; Assembly District 42

During the 2002 Presidential Election, my activism was focused on getting John Kerry elected to office. I co-hosted meetups once a month up to the election, secured a location and manned a voter registration table, volunteered with letter writing at the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley headquarters. I agreed to take on becoming the Precinct Captain in my area. Giving consideration to the fact I would be at my polling place during the day, I took the Poll Monitor training session and was the monitor as well.

A highlight of my participation on the DP/SFV Political Action Committee was the "Generations United For Social Security". I recruited people of different age groups for a photo op, worked on some of the logistics, acquired a huge, beautiful color banner from Powerhouse Electronic Imaging at no cost to DP/SFV. To put a human face on the ramifications of social security under siege, I agreed to be one of the panelists. I also recruited a friend of mine whose story was also moving.

On the Executive Board of Valley Democrats United, I serve as membership Chair. On occasion I work on securing a Speaker and I get to do my inspirational brand of introduction. Even when I make an announcement, club members have told me that it was done with heart.

I am one who people will approach with their problem. I was told of a community in Los Angeles that did not have a polling place. I proceeded to contact the Voter Registrar's office, inform them of what I was told. It was true. The Community was too small. I asked if it would work for them if I was able to set it up a polling place and get the people to train and work on election day. I was told that it would. That is exactly what I did. As a result, the poll worker approximated that there were 60 people in that community who voted that day.

Along the way, there have been other situations I noticed that I took upon my self to get fixed. Any possibility of voters being informed of the issues and candidates was one such instance. One day I noticed a stack of what turned out to be voter information guides addressed to the voter and placed into the junk mail bins which are emptied by the cleaning people in apartment buildings. I took out mine, took it to my apartment and went for a walk. When I came back, they had been tossed by the cleaning crew. Realizing that all the buildings in the area had the same mail carrier, I contacted my Post Office with zero results. I then called Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. I was informed that they knew of other areas where this had happened and asked if I suspected intentional wrong doing. I acknowledged that I didn't know but that the political climate in the nation, induces suspicion in all that comes out of government. Next I contacted the U.S.Post Office in Washington D.C who in turn called my Post Office and they in turn called me to find out why I didn't handle this with them. I replied that I did Indeed contact them and they would not listen. I hung notices up in all the buildings in this area, informing them of the situation and urging them to call the registrar's office, as per their suggestion, and another voter information guide along with sample ballot would be sent.

These are just a sampling of my ongoing activism.