Voter Guide: Portola Valley, Woodside now part of state Senate District 8 Voter Guide: Portola Valley, Woodside now part of state Senate District 8 (October 23, 2002)

With the redistricting that went into effect in January, state Senate District 8, which spans the southern part of San Francisco and much of San Mateo County, now includes Portola Valley and Woodside. The two towns were part of District 11, which is represented by state Sen. Byron Sher.

Two candidates are running against incumbent state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, -- Republican Dennis Zell and Libertarian Robert Fliegler.

Mr. Zell, an attorney who lives and works in Burlingame, said he became politically active during George W. Bush's presidential campaign. He is a member of the San Mateo County Republican party's central committee and describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate. His platform issues include reforming the public school system, limiting class sizes to 25 and raising teachers' annual salaries to $50,000 to $80,000, all without raising taxes. He also proposes a "one-strike" law to put child molesters in prison for life.

Sen. Speier, who won the March primary election handily, has said she is no stranger to the concerns of Woodside and Portola Valley residents, having represented the towns as a San Mateo County supervisor from 1980 to 1986. She served five terms in the state Assembly, and if re-elected, this will be her second and final term in the state Senate, due to term limits. Her platform issues include protecting Californians' financial privacy from marketers and identity thieves, and seeing the Hetch-Hetchy water system repaired.

Twenty-three of Ms. Speier's bills were signed into law during the 2001 legislative session, and she was recently named "Legislator of the Year," by the League of California Cities.

Mr. Fliegler, a network architect who lives in Daly City, did not respond to requests for information by the Almanac's deadline.