With all of the 28th State Assembly District’s precincts
reporting, Democrat Luis Alejo and Republican Robert Bernosky
easily took the race, pulling out far ahead of their opponents.
With all of the 28th State Assembly District’s precincts reporting, Democrat Luis Alejo and Republican Robert Bernosky easily took the race, pulling out far ahead of their opponents.
The 28th State Assembly District encompasses parts of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties.
In the primary battle for the Assembly seat, Bernosky, a chief financial officer, beat out business owner Allen Barker by a 14.8 percent margin – 5,875 votes to 4,367 – according to the California Secretary of State. On the democratic side, Alejo – Watsonville’s mayor – won by a 17 percent margin ahead of Salinas Councilwoman Janet Barnes and 39.9 percent ahead of Gilroy Unified School District trustee Francisco Dominguez. Alejo garnered 9,726 votes to Barnes’ 6,575 and Dominguez’s 2,314, according to the Secretary of State.
LUIS ALEJO
Watsonville Mayor Luis Alejo’s top three priorities are job creation and preservation, education and neighborhood safety.
Getting local families working again and supporting local businesses will improve the state’s economy while targeting dropouts and making college more affordable to high school graduates will turn around the state’s educational system, Alejo said. The Democratic candidate also aims to keep neighborhoods safe by supporting police and focusing on prevention and intervention programs to “keep youth on the right track.”
Other priorities include balancing the state’s budget, changing the two-thirds requirement to pass the budget, reforming healthcare and solving the state’s water issues.
“I am the only candidate that is working hard, knocking door-to-door and making calls to voters all across the 28th Assembly district,” Alejo wrote in an e-mail. Alejo is also the only candidate to receive endorsement from all six of the Democratic clubs that have backed candidates in the 28th District, including the South County Democratic Club, he said.
“He is by far the best candidate,” said Swanee Edwards, treasurer of the South County Democratic Club. “He’s been in some kind of office almost since he’s been able to vote.”
Alejo also received the endorsement of the California Democratic Party, for which he was recommended last month by 84 percent of the voting delegates.
Born and raised in Watsonville, Alejo returned to live and work in his hometown after earning dual bachelors’ degrees in political science and Chicano studies. He also holds a master’s of education from Harvard University and a law degree from University of California, Davis. He works as a staff attorney for the Monterey County Superior Court.
ALLEN BARKER
Fixing the economy comes first for Republican Allen Barker, a businessman with a background in construction.
“We are so far down the tubes. If the state doesn’t act now, it’s going to have to take Draconian steps,” Barker said.
His first steps include eliminating government committees and programs that perform duplicate duties, securing the retirement program for existing employees and establishing a second-tier program for new state employees – in which employees retire at 60 with benefits that do not exceed 75 percent of their base wage.
In addition, ensuring that expenditures do not exceed revenues is a must, Barker said.
“We should not (spend) money we do not have,” he said.
On the education front, Barker is an advocate for the voucher system, which would allow families to take what money the government would spend on their child for a public education and put that toward private education. The government spends about $11,300 per year per student, according to Barker, and that money could be put to better use if parents were allowed to choose.
“We have to make schools more competitive,” Barker said.
Barker said he opposed the High-Speed Rail project because of its expensive execution.
Originally from Spokane, Wash., Barker is a member of the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 and the Hollister Chamber of Commerce and has worked in the construction industry for 21 years. He has also served as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service and as a member of the National Ski Patrol.
JANET BARNES
Veteran schoolteacher and Salinas City Councilwoman Janet Barnes lists safety, the economy and education at her top priorities. And as a native of Salinas and a sixth grade teacher for 25 years, Barnes is a familiar face for many local residents.
“We need to do everything we can to keep our kids in school,” Barnes said. “We need to keep school interesting, exciting. We can’t just test them to death.”
In addition to revamping the state’s extensive web of standardized tests, Barnes aims to establish more vocational schools to prepare students for life after high school.
When it comes to economic development, “We have to figure out ways to entice businesses,” Barnes said. “We need to look at incentives instead of mandates.”
Although she thinks the High-Speed Rail is “an excellent idea,” Barnes questioned its timing and “exorbitant” cost.
Instead of the two-thirds vote needed to pass the state’s budget, Barnes said she would advocate for a majority vote.
Some of Barnes’ proudest accomplishments include promoting safety and cracking down on gang violence in her community.
“If residents don’t feel safe, there’s not going to be a high quality of life,” Barnes said.
Compared to the 12 homicides that occurred in the first quarter of 2009, one homicide occurred in the first quarter of 2010 – a statistic Barnes credited in part to Operation Ceasefire, an initiative aimed at reducing gang violence.
Barnes has served as a member of the Salinas City Council since 1998.
ROBERT BERNOSKY
If you ask Republican candidate Rob Bernosky, eliminating unnecessary government jobs is the first step in getting California’s budget back on track.
“Government has to shrink,” Bernosky said. “The only way we’re going to get out of the mess we’re in now is through the creation of private sector jobs, not government jobs.”
Success in the classroom and in the business sector comes when control is put back at the local level, Bernosky said.
“There’s no better person in a position to address our students’ needs in the classroom than the teacher,” he said.
As trustee of a school district that was at the bottom of the barrel when he was voted in and since shot to the top of its class, Bernosky believes collaboration is key. By joining with the teachers, administrators and parents of the North County Joint Union School District, the school board did turned the district around, Bernosky said.
If elected, Bernosky hopes to remove uncertainty surrounding public school education from the budget mix, ensuring district superintendents and school boards know what to expect when planning their budget.
Instead of increasing taxes, he would advocate for closing the state’s yawning budget gap by slimming down the governor’s list of appointees.
“Adamantly opposed” to the High-Speed Rail, Bernosky said the bullet train “would be such a boondoggle that nobody would really use.” The state needs to focus its attention on preserving its core agricultural values, which includes getting water to the valley, he said.
A chief financial officer with experience in fields ranging from semiconductors and software to financial services, Bernosky majored in business at the University of Delaware then moved to California. He and his wife, a principal at a San Benito County school, have three children and live in San Benito.
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
Ensuring that California’s students receive a stellar education is one of Democratic candidate Francisco Dominguez’s top priorities. As president of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education, Dominguez said his experience gives him an advantage in terms of familiarity with how the public school system operates.
“We need to make sure that California remains competitive,” Dominguez said.
Restoring funding to public schools after several years of deep budget cuts, reevaluating the state’s student assessment process and scaling back on upper level administrative positions are some of the first steps in overhauling public education, he said.
“I’d like to see more local control,” he said. “Right now the state has a great amount of influence. We also need to take a look at the whole assessment process – that we’re not over-assessing.”
Dominguez pointed out how the state has a secretary of education appointed by the governor as well as a state superintendent of instruction elected by the voters.
“I think we could probably do away with having a secretary of education,” Dominguez said.
If elected, Dominguez said he would also push to change the two-thirds requirement to pass the state budget to a simple majority vote.
A graduate of San Jose State University with a bachelor’s in political science, Dominguez founded DZ Consulting, a public affairs and social marketing-oriented consulting firm. For the past four years, he has worked with the South County Collaborative to address alcohol- and drug-related issues.
The longtime school board member lives in Gilroy with his wife, Vernice. Together, they have five children and two grandchildren.
