Jim Wood for State Assembly

By Jim Wood

a summary of my background and qualifications

Jim has lived in Northern California and the Assembly District since 1987, when he opened his family dental practice in Cloverdale. Prior to winning a seat on the Healdsburg City Council in 2006, he served on the Healdsburg Planning Commission for four years. He is currently serving in his second term as Mayor of Healdsburg.

Throughout his service in city government as planning commissioner, councilmember, and mayor, Jim has focused on economic development, environmental protection, quality of life issues, and fiscal reform.

As a small business owner, Jim understands the challenges businesses and families face in today's economic environment. On the Healdsburg City Council, Jim supports key initiatives to make government more effective. These include reorganizing city departments for greater efficiency and flexibility, and working with city employees to find solutions to balance the budget and maintain a surplus. Jim also spearheaded a streamlined "one-stop-shop" building permit process. This model is now being considered by the County of Sonoma; with other cities considering adoption. While many California cities continue to struggle financially, Healdsburg has a solid bottom line with fully funded financial reserves.

Deeply committed to environmental causes, Jim co-founded the Healdsburg Green City Committee to implement green building principles, such as restructuring the energy rebate program to encourage solar installations, increasing water conservation standards on new construction and building remodels, and expanding energy efficiency rebate programs. Healdsburg is a member of the Northern California Power Agency and has the highest renewable power of any city in Sonoma County and Jim is committed to helping grow this green power for his community. He is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency focusing on waste diversion and composting. Jim worked with Sonoma County Supervisor Mike McGuire and the Sonoma County Agriculture and Open Space District to preserve 288 acres on Fitch Mountain as public-access open space within city limits.

A practicing family dentist, Jim is also active in state and national health care causes. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Pediatric Dental Initiative, a dental surgery center for children with severe dental problems. He is a nationally recognized expert in forensic dentistry and is the designated forensic dentist for Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin Counties. He co-founded a mass disaster identification team in California and helped pass state legislation to standardize county identification procedures, a model now adopted by other states.

A member of a national emergency response team, he was called to the World Trade Center after 9/11 and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He has received numerous commendations for his work to help identify victims of these national tragedies.

Jim's experience with state and local government, and passion for making positive change for the people he serves, will make him a dedicated and powerful advocate for residents of the 2nd Assembly District.