Barbara with her grandson Beckett. Barbara believes the only way to get California back on track is to invest in our future.

Bringing Real-Life Experience and Common Sense to Sacramento

Working for Health Care for Every Californian

We need long-overdue health care reform that will bring financial relief to California families and help California business compete. That’s why Barbara will work to make sure that all Californians are covered – lowering overall health care costs and making health care affordable for everyone.

California is the seventh largest economy in the world. We spend 30% to 100% more on health care than any other industrialized nation – a full 16% of GDP – yet one in five Californians remain uninsured. All other industrialized countries insure virtually everyone, resulting in lower infant mortality rates and greater life expectancies. It’s time for California to set an example for the nation and implement health care for all.

When everyone has access to health care, families will be more secure – no one will live in fear of changing jobs, losing jobs, having inadequate coverage or not being able to afford a hospital visit when they, or a family member, is sick.

We need high-wage jobs of the future – the kind of jobs Barbara helped create as a co-founder of a successful small business. Her company, Mountaingate Engineering, developed and patented a novel and energy-efficient technology that allowed metal can manufacturers to meet stringent Clean Air Act requirements using less energy and space than was possible with any other available equipment. Barbara grew the business to compete internationally, expanding sales to Asia, Europe and Latin America.

California can lead the nation in developing green technology industries. Barbara has demonstrated just that by building a company that developed innovative equipment for meeting the Clean Air Act and by building family-friendly homes using state-of-the-art energy-efficiency and affordable, sustainable green techniques.

Ensuring Excellence in Education for Every Child

We need the world’s best public schools so our kids can thrive in the economy of the future. Yet our class sizes are among the highest and our investment per student is less than the U.S. average. Less and less money is available for art, music, books, hands-on courses and differentiated and enriched studies – the tools to help our children become the entrepreneurs, doctors, builders and artists we need to be competitive in the 21st century.

We need standards to ensure our children are getting what they need, not standardization to fit them into identical boxes.

As an elected trustee for eight years on the San Lorenzo Valley School Board, Barbara worked to make the promise of an excellent education a reality. At the end of Barbara’s term in 2006, the budget was stable, test scores were among the highest in the county, staff and board relationships were strong and almost all of the district's schools had been honored by the state as “Distinguished Schools.” Enrollment decline is decreasing, a new middle school has opened and major construction and renovations are nearing completion – on time and on budget.

Protecting Our Environment

We need to make our environment our very highest priority – and that’s just what Barbara did when she worked with others to organize Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW) in Felton to take on a multinational corporation and win the fight to protect our local water supply.

Drawing on the common sense and real life experiences of hundreds of neighbors, FLOW created a workable solution to protect our environment and our economy. This successful effort is exactly the kind of positive action we need in Sacramento as we work together to restore our fragile environment and create secure futures for our families.

Protecting our seas, forests, drinking water and air for ourselves and future generations is a trust that we must fulfill.

Civil rights/gay and lesbian rights

The rights to marry the person of one’s choice, to adopt as a parent not just as a step-parent, to inherit and to be at the bedside of a loved one without complicated, cumbersome and heart-rending requirements – these are basic civil rights and responsibilities that should belong to everyone in our community.  I unequivocally and completely support these as inalienable rights and will do everything in my power as a legislator and as a human being to fight for them.

My family – as most families – has GLBTIQ members, and I will fight whole heartedly and unabashedly for the rights of all GLBTIQ people. I will be proud to author or co-sponsor legislation – and actively fight for legislation – to ensure that everyone can marry the person of his or her choice without regard for sexual orientation or gender identity, and to end discrimination in the adoption and foster care of children.

Choice

A woman’s right to reproductive choice -- to make decisions over her own body without government interference -- is fundamental. And under attack. My support for Choice is unequivocal. Whether we are facing parental notification laws, restrictions on specific procedures, increased documentation requirements, or required scare tactics in information prior to abortions, I will be vigilant in working to stop any infringement on a woman’s right to make her own decisions over her body.

But we can’t stop there. There is economic pressure to control a woman’s reproductive choices. We must remain vigilant in ensuring that poorer women have the same choices as others, that medical coverage is provided for reproductive and abortion services through MediCal – and at a rate that means services truly are available.