Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 33

Public Safety:

I am a strong advocate of public safety, and not just because I've spent more than 30 years in the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. I care about public safety because I've raised a family in this district and knowing that my friends, family and neighbors are safe is extremely important. It's the number one factor in determining a better quality of life. Once our residents feel safe, it creates a trickle-down effect that improves our quality of life in all factors exponentially: The economy improves because businesses feel safe to open, kids feel safe to go to school, and good teacher feel safe to come to our district to teach. The list goes on. Unfortunately, Assembly Bill 109 + Ominously dubbed "Public Safety Realignment" + has flooded our district with criminals who should be serving time in prison, but for which the state's prisons have no room for. Studies show that this has substantially increased crime in our communities. This legislation is unacceptable for many reasons. It flooded our county jails with inmates that should be serving time in state prisons. The local overcrowding caused countless criminals to either serve no jail time, or be release extremely early freeing them to reoffend with little fear of consequence.

Originally, prisons we're built for punishment. Now they are no less than fully furnished hotels where guests receive good meals and full benefits. There's no doubt that we need to respect the basic rights of criminals, but the state of California has gone too far, and as a result hundreds of thousands of criminals are free to do as they please knowing there is little to know consequence for their crimes. I will fight to fix the prison-overcrowding problem and make our communities safe again.

Overregulation:

California is suffering from extreme overregulation that is driving businesses and innovators out of our great state. California has the highest income tax rate, the most regulations on business and a chronic budget instability problem.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek there were 1.3 million businesses in California at the end of 2012, 5.2 percent fewer than in the previous year (that's about 73,000 fewer). It's the highest in the nation, and it's unacceptable.

More than 650 CEOs ranked California as the worst state for business in a 2012 Chief Executive poll. As the CEO of CKE restaurants, which owns brands such as Carl's Jr. and Hardee's noted in a 2011 column, a permitting process that can take 8 month or more in California takes only six weeks in Texas.

As a Councilman in Apple Valley, I was integral in reducing regulation in the North Apple Valley Industrial Area allowing business to get through the permitting process in under a month. In Sacramento, we have to convince the state Nannies that the more they charge business to fill their coughers, the faster those businesses will find a new home. We need to teach them this lesson before it's too late. Once these businesses are gone, there is no hope of getting them back. The culture of how we treat business in California needs to change, and it needs to change now.

2nd Amendment:

I'm a true believer in our second amendment. It's one of the amendments that can have a severe effect on our freedom when interpreted wrong and can have a snowball effect that sacrifices parts of our freedoms that we have sacrificed so much to protect. I do not support open carry, but I fully support the citizens' right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, including the right to carry a concealed weapon.

The recent decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a policy in San Diego that requires law-abiding citizens to show "good cause" beyond self-defense to carry a concealed-weapons permit, was an important step to cementing our freedom to protect ourselves and our family should the need arise. This decision also confirmed a landmark case in 2008 in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Washington D.C. handgun ban and decided that law-abiding citizens are allowed to have handguns in their home for self-defense.

There's no question that gun violence is a growing concern in every corner of our nation. I support improved restrictions such as mental health evaluations for certain applicant and mandatory gun safety courses, but the bottom line is that prohibiting good, law-abiding citizens from obtaining firearms for protection will do nothing to take them out of the hands of the criminals who obtain them illegally. Instead it will provide them assurances that they can continue along their criminal path knowing that their innocent victims are defenseless. After all, our prisons don't have room for them.

Water:

The lack of proper planning and distribution of precious water resources, and statewide conservation measures have led to one water debacle after another. At the rate of Sacramento's problem-solving abilities, the last drop of water in California will dry up before a decision is made on how to address the issue surrounding the Bay Delta. In our district, drought is no stranger. We have dealt with it for years, and our water purveyors have done a great job at stretching what we have to ensure water reliability for the next generation. However, much of the rest of the state is far from reaching the level of awareness. After a prolonged drought, Gov. Jerry Brown proclaimed an end to the drought following one single good water year. All he was really looking for was an easy political victory. Nature clearly had other plans and we are not in the midst of the driest winter on record in California's history. Despite the clear evidence, Brown waited two crucial weeks before declaring an official drought. The problem has gotten so bad that congress has stepped in.

The fact is that proper planning and mandatory conservation measures can significantly stretch our resources. Water recycling needs is no longer an option to promote sustainability; it's a necessity to ensure our continued existence. Once we can adapt a new mindset about how we use and treat our water, we need to stop the bickering and decide on a plan that can equally distribute the state's water supply to the regions that need it. I understand the importance of the ecology of our state and its delta system, but in times of dire drought, when thousands of acres of farmland are parched, and dying there needs to be a choice made between fish and people. I choose people. Without water reaching our most populous areas and the farmland that drives a large percentage of our revenue engine, our economy will evaporate faster than what little water we have left.