Mike Nevin for State Senate, District 8

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name: Mike Nevin for State Senate
Address: 601 Gateway Blvd, #630, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Campaign Phone: 650-794-2000
Campaign Fax: 650-794-2005
Campaign E-mail: mike@mikenevin.com
Campaign Website: www.mikenevin.com

POLITICAL BACKGROUND

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Elective, 1992-2005
- President 1997, 2001
Daly City Council, Elective, 1982-1992
- Mayor 1984, 1988
Transbay Joint Powers Authority Appointive, 2001-2005, Chair
Peninsula Joint Powers Board (Caltrain), Appointive, 1995-2005, Chair
Matropolitan Transportation Commission, Appointive, 1999-2005
Bay Area Toll Authority, Appointive, 1999-2005,Chair
California State Association of Counties, Appointive, 1995-2004, President
San Mateo Transit District Board of Directors, Appointive, 1998-2005, Chair
Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, Appointive, 1997-2001, Chair

If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:

San Francisco Sheriff, 1975
California State Assembly, 1986

YOUTH ISSUES

1. Good schools from pre-K to graduate school require adequate funding and innovative leadership. How would you use your elected office to improve public education and/or make higher education affordable and accessible for young people in our community?

I am currently working with Rob Reiner to help pass the Pre-School for All Initiative on the ballot in June. This initiative would finance universal pre-school to ensure that all of California’s children have equal opportunity to pre-K education.

In addition, I have and will continue to speak out against unfair cuts to our public schools. When voters approved Proposition 98, they mandated certain levels of spending for education, and as a state Senator, I will never short change our children by supporting a budget that allocates anything less.

I also understand that we need to do something about equalizing funding across the state and between school districts. I will advocate for additional funding for districts like San Francisco that are experiencing declining enrollment and I will fight to keep higher education affordable by limiting tuition and fee increases.

2. How will you use your office to combat enduring racial segregation and inequality in our education system?

The resegregation of public schools in San Francisco is alarming. It is illegal in California to use race as the only factor in determining school assignments, but in order for us to ensure equal funding and to avoid discrimination, it is important for us to foster some degree of racial integration in our schools. Of course this goal cannot be independent of the need to ensure that schools in all of our districts, cities and neighborhoods receive competitive and comparable funding. Equality is essential in both diversity and financial terms and I will support efforts to further both goals.

3. There will be one or more constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2006 that will restrict marriage rights in California and attempt to undo existing domestic partnerships laws. How will you use your race and position to defend the human rights of GLBT families and make the defeat of these amendments a state wide priority?

I will maintain my position as an outspoken supporter of equal rights for the GLBT community. I will attend every public event that I possibly can to show my support for this cause, and take every opportunity to express my view that we should not allow unjust discrimination to enter our State Constitution. As a leader in San Mateo County, when the Board of Supervisors was considering denying support for Assemblyman Mark Leno’s same sex marriage bill, I convinced a majority of the Board to support it. As a State Senator, I will be a sure vote for extending equal rights and privileges to every individual regardless of their sexual or gender orientation.

4. Young people face special challenges to obtaining health insurance and many go without. How would you use your office to work towards making health insurance available to all?

In San Mateo County, as Chair of the Health Plan of San Mateo County, I led the effort to create the Children’s Health Initiative of San Mateo County, which provided every San Mateo County resident under the age of 18 with health insurance.

As a state Senator, I will fight to create a universal, single-payer healthcare system in California so that every person, young and old, receives adequate health insurance. I firmly believe that healthcare is a basic human right that should be enjoyed by all citizens, not just a fortunate majority. Until we as a state recognize that right however, I will work tirelessly to implement incremental reforms that make healthcare more accessible and affordable to underserved populations.

5. The war in Iraq has claimed the lives of too many young people from our community. Money spent on the war is needed for healthcare and education programs that young people in our community sorely lack. Nobody wants to cut and run from Iraq. But our country and community needs an exit strategy. How would you use your office to bring our troops home?

I have been outspoken against the war in Iraq from the beginning. I have attended rallies and protests and written newspaper opinion pieces encouraging the President to bring our troops home. It is unacceptable that this administration committed us to a war using false pretenses and now refuses allocate enough resources or work cooperatively to devise a plan for us to withdraw our troops.

Many of the most influential Democrats in the Capitol are supporting my candidacy for state Senate, and I will work with them to continue to exert pressure on the administration to bring an end to the war in Iraq.

6. Women’s right to choose is under attack in our country. Young women suffer especially from curtailed access to reproductive health services. How would you use your office to protect a woman’s right to choose and/or expand access to reproductive health services?

As an ardent defender of the right to choose I will lobby the governor to only appoint judges who respect the constitutional right to privacy. Furthermore, because a woman’s right to choose is deeply connected to her ability to receive reproductive healthcare, I will work to increase state funding for those programs, and I will advocate for strong legislation to ensure that our hospitals, insurers and clinics provide full access to women’s reproductive rights.

7. Young people entering the workforce need good jobs with fair pay and benefits. Employers like Wal-Mart don’t offer a bright future to young people in search of work. How will you use your office to create good jobs and support young people who want improve their working conditions by forming unions?

Having served on the board of directors of the San Francisco Police Officers Association I know how important a union is to securing decent wages and benefits for its members. Consequently, I have earned the endorsement of numerous unions both in District Eight and throughout the State.

I vehemently opposed the special election initiative to limit the power of unions in our State. As a State Senator I will sponsor and support legislation that protects the rights of young workers to unionize and bargain collectively for fair pay and benefits and I will fight to combat trends toward out-sourcing and contracting out to companies who do not provide fair wages and benefits.

8. How will you use your office to make housing more affordable for low and moderate income young people?

I will develop legislation to create government incentives for offering affordable housing to low and moderate income individuals. I will propose legislation that allows cities to share redevelopment funds to create affordable housing options, and that refines the tax structure to reduce local government dependence on sales tax revenue, curtailing incentives to build big box retail. It is important that we increase the availability of housing, especially near mass transit stations. We must build housing that reduces traffic and discourages sprawl so that future generations may still enjoy the open spaces that define our beautiful state. In addition, I believe that where demand is forcing families and individuals with lower incomes out of the housing market, we need to not only increase housing opportunities targeted at these individuals, but also protect policies like rent control that ensure livable options for all income levels.

9. Identify two challenges to San Francisco’s young people in the context of the position you seek? What specific commitment will you make to address these issues if elected?

First, I believe that education is both the greatest challenge we have when it comes to helping young people and also presents our greatest opportunity. As a State-Senator I will work to expand and equalize funding for all levels education and to enforce the constitutionally mandated levels of funding for education that already exist.

Secondly, San Francisco’s young people have little opportunities in the city’s expensive housing market. California needs to provide more programs that assist first time home buyers and I will work to create and fund these programs.

10. What are the main challenges facing the city of San Francisco in the context of this position? How will you address those issues if elected?

The most important issue facing the city of San Francisco is funding for our schools. I will work to fully fund our education system so that San Francisco schools have adequate resources to meet their growing needs and I will fight for legislation to create additional funding for schools with declining enrollment.

The continually rising cost of housin presents another major problem for our city as many of those who work in San Francisco cannot afford to live there. I believe thatby providing incentives for companies to build and maintain affordable housing that we can once again make it possible for low-income individuals and families to live in the City.

With 40,000 San Franciscans working without health insurance, health care is another major issue affecting the city. Incremental efforts that increase the availability and affordability of health insurance are admirable, but the time has come for a statewide, universal, single-payer healthcare system.

Lastly, as our population grows our mass transit system must also improve dramaticlly. I will work to improve our transportation infrastructure so that workers in and around San Francisco can move quickly and efficiently between their home and work.

11. Have you collaborated with young people in your community work in the past (list specific examples)? What value did you experience in working with young activists? How are young people involved in your campaign?

Ever since I founded the ‘Youth for Jack Shelly’ effort in 1964, I have valued the input and collaboration of young people in both my policy goals and political aspirations. Involved young people have the potential to change the dynamics of what we value as a city, state and country and they can, and have, made some of the most significant contributions to our political dialogue. I not only have youth participating in my campaign as volunteers, they hold paid staff positions as well.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR YOUTH

I founded, organized and staffed the Catholic Youth Organization’s (CYO) peer to peer retreat for underprivileged youth at the Russian River. The program’s success at serving inner-city children made it a model for many others like it around the country.

I also worked with the American Lung association and a coalition to stop teen smoking to increase fines and funding for enforcement of restrictions on selling tobacco to minors.

EXPERIENCE
Please list or describe your current and past activities in the community in which you have acquired skills that relate to the office you seek. Include your role in the activity and the year(s) in which you were involved. Involvement consists of many areas such as family, neighborhood, community, employment, or public life. Please explain how your experience would make you an effective advocate for young people as an office holder.

- Member San Mateo County board of Supervisors 1992-2004 (President 1997, 2001)

- Member Daly City Council 1982-1992

Former President of Board of Directors for Catholic Youth Organization

My extensive experience as an elected official has taught me how to work with others to achieve goals. I’m proud of my record as a Supervisor for Daly City and all of San Mateo County where I developed a reputation for getting things done. I intend to combine this attitude with my knowledge gained as President and member of the board of directors of CYO to respond to the unique needs of youth in the state of California. During my time with CYO I learned a great deal about the needs of young people in California and I will bring that with me to Sacramento.