October 14, 2004

Almaden Times Weekly endorsements

Assembly District 21 race: Steve Poizner will work to boost California’s economy and improve education

Using our news mission statement to guide our endorsement process, we believe Assembly District 21 needs an intelligent and hard-working candidate who is intensely passionate about the issues that Times Community Newspapers care deeply about.

Steve Poizner is that option. He has the right ideas about how to bring sound economic development to a financially depressed California, is a meticulous planner, believes in open government, cares about diversity and believes in giving the electorate the best educational system in the world.

During an interview at our headquarters, Poizner impressed us with his knowledge of Almaden Valley issues, the makeup of Assembly District 21 and his platform focusing on reforming education, improving the economy and restoring integrity to the political process in Sacramento.

He also gave us hope in moderate Republicanism, which he’s hoping to revitalize when he gets to Sacramento with his pro-choice stance and his support of women’s rights.

He described himself as an Arnold Republican and we like that. He’s also moderate on social views, which we hope will appeal to district voters and our readers. He reminded us of a young Tom Campbell.

He’s not an incumbent or a career politician and we like that, too. He’s also an independent thinker investing his own money, about $4 million, into his campaign while rejecting money from unions, special interest groups and political action committees.

We believe him when he says he will be independent in Sacramento because he doesn’t owe any political favors to anyone, a problem that seems to tie the hands of a broken legislative body. Although we believe the amount of money he’s spent on his campaign is obscene, we also believe he needed to do that to level the playing field in a terribly gerrymandered district that has favored only the Democratic incumbent for many years.

We admire his 25 years of experience in the private and public sector. His business savvy has been demonstrated with the creation of his own companies: Strategic Mapping Inc., a firm that developed software to display geographic data on digital maps for informational analysis; and SnapTrack, a company that integrated global positioning satellite technology with consumers’ cell phones to let emergency responders know where they were located. He sold the latter for a whopping $1 billion. This is a candidate who knows how to do business.

We also believe his service as a White House fellow, which he began a week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, his work with millions of disadvantaged youths in Washington, D.C., and his volunteer teaching at Mount Pleasant High School have all helped to prepare him for the task at hand. This is a candidate who cares deeply about educational reform and is driven to succeed by working hard. And, he has proven that he can work hand in hand with a Democrat (Assemblyman Joe Simitian) when the stakes are high. Together they helped launch a statewide ballot initiative to lower the threshold for voter approval of school-sponsored parcel taxes from 66 to 55 percent.

After reaching the pinnacle of business success, you would think Poizner would want to retire to travel the Virgin Islands or some other sunny exotic paradise to enjoy his new wealth, but we commend his desire to enter the sometimes ugly and tumultuous political arena where the only rewards are sometimes hard to find.

Although the other candidate, Ira Ruskin, is also focused on building the economy and dealing with educational issues we feel that Steve Poizner is the stronger candidate. Ruskin really doesn’t appear to have a finger on the pulse of Almaden Valley at all, much less the Silicon Valley, where the rate of unemployment among high tech workers is still high. He is sorely lacking in information about this area. His focus seems to be on environmentalism and social issues and he has done a great job in those areas. But we feel that building a healthy economy in this state should be at the top of the assemblymember’s to-do list and Poizner has the know-how to do the job.

Assembly District 21 is lucky to have Steve Poizner as a choice on Election Day Nov. 2. We say vote for him.

State Senate District 15 race: Peg Pinard will bring breath of fresh air to Sacramento as a state senator

The decision to endorse a candidate for state Senate District 15 was indeed very difficult. Both of the candidates are impressive. After several hours of one-on-one interviews with both Abel Maldonado and Peg Pinard, we then pored over their achievements, ambitions, and visions for California’s future. Essentially, we found both to be extremely capable and well prepared for the task at hand. But, while looking at the overall picture, along with the current state of affairs and the apparent need to put a derailed economic engine back on its tracks, one stood out as a breath of fresh air.

Maldonado is undoubtedly a rising star in the political arena. His experience in the state Assembly gives him a definite edge when it comes to having a better working knowledge of the legislature and we like the fact that he’s not afraid to vote against his party when he thinks it’s the right thing to do—we need more independent politicians in government.

However, Pinard has shown that she’s not afraid to go after the big boys and make them accountable for the errors of their ways. Born and raised in San Jose, the Santa Maria resident is uniquely suited for this sizable new district, which also encompasses farms, suburbs, and beach communities. Her intimate involvement with education and successful negotiations that led to the largest land-based toxic waste cleanup in California history is impressive. And her ability to cut $3.3 million from the San Luis Obispo City’s budget without raising taxes, sacrificing jobs, or reducing public services is inspiring. California could benefit from her kind of thinking in Sacramento.

Pinard believes in good government and fiscal conservatism—rather than “paying off debt with debt.”

She’s tired of the state balancing its budget on the backs of cities and counties and is confident that “smart planning” will play a key role in turning the budget crisis around by working to eliminate superfluous bureaucracy and make government operate more efficiently—without sacrificing economic growth, better education, small business, environmental concerns, and fiscal responsibility.

She’s energetic, yet direct. Feisty, yet very approachable—and we like that. We have no doubt she’ll be the first to blow the whistle if something doesn’t pass the smell test.

When she says she’ll say what she means and do what she says, we think she’ll do just that. It’s a refreshing attribute that promises to stir up the muddy political waters in Sacramento, which we think could do with a little housecleaning. We support Peg Pinard for the state Senate District 15 seat.