The Santa Clara County Democratic Club is considering which candidates to endorse and support in the coming March election. Our resources are limited, so we are considering concentrating on just one candidate in just one race. Once chosen, we will strongly encourage all our members to support that candidate by phone banking, precinct walking, and other activities suggested by the campaign organization. To help us make the decision, we are holding a candidates' forum at our meeting at the Cupertino library on January 21. In addition we have a few questions for you. We have intentionally kept the questionnaire very short, covering only the most current and important issues. The questions are given below. Please respond and then click your "reply" button. The responses will come to back me, and I'll forward them to the Club's executive board. Thank you for your cooperation. Herb Engstrom Vice President, Santa Clara County Democratic Club ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Santa Clara County Democratic Club Candidate questionnaire Thank you for offering to serve our community as a publicly elected official. The Santa Clara County Democratic Club is very interested in having your views on a small number of issues that we feel are very important. We intend to focus our resources in terms of money and time on a limited number of candidates that both share our perspective and who are facing tight races. If you would like to seek our support, please fill out the questionnaire and return it to us in one of the following ways: Click on "reply." Your name: Rosemary Stasek Office sought: State Assembly 22nd AD 1. What are the most critical issues for your constituents, and what are your goals for the campaign? Partnering with local communities to make state resources available to help address their affordable housing needs; identifying strategies for funding our state’s backlog of transportation infrastructure needs; and, developing education initiatives that include lifelong education and training programs and bilingual education for a generation of Californians who are competitive in a global economy and citizens of a global society. 2. How much support would you be willing to give to achieve Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform, which means complete public financing of the election of candidates that reject private contributions? That is an extremely personal issues for me, as a candidate who will be outspent 10-1 in this election. I believe that the escalating campaign costs keep good people from running, and good people who run from being supported because they aren’t considered “viable” if they aren’t willing to raise the excessive sums currently considered a requirement in the campaign. I’m frankly more interested in reforming the current system of contributions and spending as an effective way to make campaigns more accessible and honest. I’m not sure how I feel about allocating limited local government resources to campaign financing. I think we still have lots more work to do on contribution reform before looking at that. 3. How much support would you give to a government program to achieve real energy independence of the United States by means of solar energy, wind power generation, biomass, geothermal, and other forms of clean, renewable, domestically produced energy? Would you support government rebates to individuals that install solar panels? What other ideas can you suggest? Energy has exploded onto the consciousness of every Californian in the last year. While California¹s deregulation has become the poster child for disastrous legislation, it has created the perfect atmosphere in which to advance the cause of alternative energy sources. My biggest concern is that we not use the energy shortage as an excuse to relax environmental protections. I believe we have unique opportunities to increase standards that will both reduce our energy dependence and improve our long-term energy stability. For instance, the state could adopt several additional measures to curtail global warming emissions. The state could require higher portions of energy generation to be from renewables such as wind and solar. The state could require all its buildings to comply with Green Building standards, which would reduce energy consumption. It could also require development standards reducing the amount of paved surfaces to reduce the Heat Island effect. I believe the renewables portfolio standard should increase. The percentage of generating capacity which should come from renewables should rise over time. As technologies develop and come to market, the state should embrace them. Currently, the state could reasonably require more than ten percent renewables. An exact figure would depend on detailed analysis. Over time the percentage should continue increasing. This is also an excellent opportunity to increase incentives for residential solar. We have been working in Mountain View to streamline the permit process for residents interested in installing solar panels and I believe this can be a perfect opportunity to capitalize on public support for these energy sources. 4. How much support would you give to the construction of a network of light rail lines for public transportation in Santa Clara County? How much money would you allocate each year toward the cost of construction, and how would you fund it? Mountain View has been a leader in supporting light rail construction, voting for $15 million of city funding to bridge a critical matching fund shortage for the Tasman extension. I was a spokesperson for Measure A which had a comprehensive list of projects for funding, with priority on bringing BART to Silicon Valley. The voters passed this by over 70% and I am committed to making sure that the funding for these projects is protected and lobby for needed funding from state and federal sources. I am also in support of the VTA 2020 plan which was the basis for the measure A projects. I support the funding, projects and timetables for the light rail projects in these measures. 5. A recent news editorial in the Merc indicated that the Santa Clara County Superior Court is withholding records that are by law open to the public. How would you ensure that the public has access to public records and data? I don't think that the legislature has direct legal jurisdiction over the judiciary branches operations. As a councilmember subject to extensive Brown Act scrutiny, I support the current requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and the publics right to access. I think that the media and first amendment groups, with the support of elected officials can bring pressure on the judiciary to adhere to legal disclosure requirements. 6. How much cooperation and under what circumstances would you give to federal authorities, such as the F.B.I, in pursuing investigations of immigrants of Middle Eastern origin as part of the anti-terror campaign? The INS has the legal mandate to investigate potential immigration violations and the FBI has the legal mandate to investigate potential criminal violations with just cause evidence. Simply being an immigrant does not provide sufficient probable cause to warrant law enforcement investigation.