Policy
Jobs/Economy
California’s economy is sputtering. Some of our neighbors have lost their jobs, their homes and their way of life. The road to recovery for California is going to require putting people back to work in good paying jobs. We must do more to encourage job growth and business expansion. California’s regulations and taxes are some of the most punitive in the Country forcing small and big businesses alike to flee our State. We can’t allow this to continue. We must take aggressive steps to make California more competitive.
Crime and Guns
Thomas Jefferson once wrote:
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” - (Commonplace Book, Thomas Jefferson)
The 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms. As a profound believer in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, I find that laws that limit the rights of law abiding citizens to bear arms to be both foolish and unconstitutional. Criminals, by their very nature, ignore laws. Creating more gun laws has never and will never reduce crime.
History has proven that in order to reduce crime, lessen violence and increase safety we must aggressively pursue, apprehend and punish criminals. California already has the most restrictive gun laws in the Country and its time that we started enforcing the laws we already have, not writing more. Those who commit acts of violence, regardless of how they do it, should be put in prison, where they belong. We can make our schools, neighborhoods and cities safer by limiting the ability of criminals to commit crime, not by limiting the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens.
Education
I believe every child is entitled to a first rate education, a safe learning environment and the opportunity to succeed academically. Unfortunately, the State of California is failing to meet the needs of many children.
Throughout California voters elect Trustees to their local schools boards. Unfortunately, local school boards often have their hands tied. For too long Sacramento has handcuffed local educators and local school boards in the form of mandates and purse strings that remove the flexibility local educators need to do what is best for their students.
I am committed to returning control to the local level. I believe that local school boards, administrators, educators and most importantly PARENTS know what is best for their children, not bureaucrats in Sacramento. I believe that given the flexibility to determine what is best for their students, local decision makers, those closest to the students, can and will meet the needs of everyone of our children.
