U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) Senator Feinstein became the Mayor of San Francisco in 1978 following the infamous assassination of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Prior to that she was on the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors serving two terms as Board President. In her two full terms as Mayor she balanced the budget nine times in a row and was named the country’s “Most Effectiive Mayor” in 1987. Feinstein has been the U.S. Senator from California since 1992. She is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which is charged with the oversight of 16 military and civilian departments that comprise the U.S. Intelligence Community. In adddition Feinstein is on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on the Judiciary and Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. (Feinstein, 2015)
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D)
Senator Boxer spent six years on the Marin County (North Bay area) Board of Supervisors followed by 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives then, in 2010, was elected to her fourth term as U.S. Senator. She is the ranking member on the Committee on Environment and Public Works where she helped pass a transportation bill saving and/or creating almost three million jobs. Boxer is a among the Democratic leadership serving as Chief Deputy Whip and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Select Committee on Ethics. She wrote legislation that funds after-school programs, ended taxpayer funded Wall Street bailouts and established the Senate Military Family Caucus. Boxer has received many awards acknowledging her work to clean the environment and for her continued commitment to deal with the risks associated with global climate change (Boxer, 2015)
U.S. Representative (30th District) Brad Sherman (D)
Representative Sherman was born and raised in Southern California and now lives in Sherman Oaks. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California later graduating from Harvard Law School Magna Cum Laude. He is a tax law specialist and worked for one of the country’s largest CPA firms prior to his election to congress. He served on the California State Board of Equalization for five years prior to his election to the House in 1997 representing the San Fernando Valley. A consumer rights advocate, Sherman serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He also is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Nonproliferation and Trade. In addition, he is on the Financial Services Committee. (Sherman, 2015)
State Senate (District 27) Fran Pavley (D)
Senator Pavley has lived her entire life in the Los Angeles area, married to a teacher and raises guide dogs. She graduated with a master’s degree from California State and taught school for 28 years. Pavley was elected mayor after serving four terms on the Agoura Hills’ city council then, beginning in 2000, served three terms in the California State Assembly. She became a State Senator in 2008. She chairs the Select Committee on Climate Change and Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. In addition she is a member of Environmental Quality, Budget and Fiscal Review, Governance and Finance; and Legislative Ethics, Energy, Utilities, and Communications committees. She is also the chairperson of the Assembly Bill 32 Implementation committee. (Pavley, 2015).
State Assembly (District 45) Matthew Dababneh (D)
Assemblyman Dababneh was Representative Brad Sherman’s Chief of Staff prior to his own November 2013 election to the State Assembly. Dababneh became Assistant Majority Whip in 2014 then Chairman of the Banking and Finance Committee in 2015. In this position he intends to concentrate on increasing access to resources for previously underserved communities, helping youths to understand finances, strengthening consumer protections and fighting predatory lending. Dababneh also serves on the Privacy and Consumer Protection, Revenue and Taxation and Insurance Committees. He also volunteers his time for many community organizations such as the Valley Cultural Center, House of Hope, Phoenix House Juvenile Drug Rehabilitation Academy and Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission. (Dababneh, 2015).
County Supervisor (District 3) Sheila Kuehl (D)
Baby boomers might recognize Supervisor Kuehl as Zelda Gilroy, the plain looking, intelligent and lovesick teenager on the Many Loves of Dobie Gilles, a television series that ran from 1959 to 1963. She also appeared in many other shows mainly during the 1960’s. (Nahmod, 2013). Kuehl also held many government positions prior to her election as County Supervisor in 2014. She spent six years as a State Assemblyman and eight years as a State Senator. A graduate of Harvard Law, Kuehl was a law professor at OSC, UCLA and Loyola then co-founded the California Women’s Law Center and was its managing attorney. She was the Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College’s Founding Director and UCLA’s Regents’ Professor in Public Policy in 2012. While an attorney, she drafted and advocated for laws to protect women and children from family violence. She was California’s Assembly’s first Speaker Pro Tempore and the first person who was openly gay or lesbian elected to the Legislature where she was chair of the Natural Resources and Water Committee, Judiciary Committee and Budget Subcommittee on Water. While in the Senate she served on the Health and Human Services Committee. Kuehl sponsored more than 170 bills that became law including legislation that instituted nurse to patient ratios for hospitals, paid family leave in addition to laws that protected the Santa Monica Mountains and banned workplace gender and disability discrimination in the workplace. She was also on the forefront of establishing universal health care in the State. (Kuehl, 2015)
City Council (District 12) Mitchell Englander (D)
Councilman Englander is a two-term councilmember who owned a small business prior to his entry in public service. This experience has benefited local businesses. He has fought against overdevelopment while guiding community campaigns for sensible zoning regulations. Englander has also worked to prevent the closing of many of Fire Stations throughout the County. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley he was the unanimous choice among his council colleagues to be President Pro Tempore in 2013. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair of the Public Safety Committee and is a member of the Executive Employee Relations and Planning and Land Use Management Committees. Englander also serves as a member of the National League of Cities Public Safety Steering Committee California Contract Cities Association, Independent Cities Association and is on the San Fernando Valley Coalition of Governments. Among his many accomplishments and duties, Englander won re-election with 100 percent of the votes this year and was National Father’s Day Council’s 2006 Father of the Year. (Englander, 2015).
Mayor Eric Garcetti (D)
Mayor Garcetti, served on the city council from 2001 until he has elected Los Angeles’ 42nd mayor in 2013. He was a four-term Los Angeles City Council President from 2006 to 2012. Garcetti’s “back to basic’s” approach to government focuses on solving the fundamental problems for residents. His term in the city council saw dramatic revitalizing programs launched for the 13th District, an agenda which he is taking city-wide as mayor. He spent his childhood in the San Fernando Valley area then earned both his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Columbia University. His Rhodes scholarship allowed him to study at Oxford’s London School of Economics then he came back to Los Angeles to teach at USC and Occidental College. Garcetti is a U.S. Navy Lieutenant reservist. His hobbies include photography and jazz piano. (Garcetti, 2015).
- Boxer, Barbara. Senate.gov. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://www.boxer.senate.gov/about/biography.html
- Dababneh, Matt. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://asmdc.org/members/a45/about/biography
- Englander, Mitch. LA City Council Member 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://cd12.lacity.org/AboutMitch/AbouttheCouncilman/index.htm
- Feinstein, Dianne. “Biography.” Senate.gov. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/biography
- Garcetti, Eric. Los Angeles Mayor. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://www.lamayor.org/bio
- Kuehl, Sheila. County of Los Angeles. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://file.lacounty.gov/lac/cms1_223918.pdf
- Nahmod, David-Elijah. “Sheila Kuehl: Classic sitcom star becomes LGBT champion.” Windy City Times. July, 2013. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Sheila-Kuehl-Classic-sitcom-star-becomes-LGBT-champion/43745.html
- Pavley, Fran. Senate.ca.gov. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://sd27.senate.ca.gov/biography
- Sherman, Brad. House.gov. 2015. Web. Sept. 17, 2015. http://sherman.house.gov/about-brad/congressman-brad-sherman
