Voter Guide: Assembly race attracts a crowd of Democrats Voter Guide: Assembly race attracts a crowd of Democrats (February 18, 2004)

** The winner may face stiff competition in the fall from Republican Steve Poizner.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

The Democratic primary in the state Assembly's 21st district has gotten mighty crowded, with four elected officials from two city councils, one school board and one sanitary district board battling it out.

But the March contest for the two-year Assembly term is by no means the end of the campaign trail.

In the past, Democratic candidates in this district often defeated their Republican opponents in the November general election by large margins. This time, the Republican candidate, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Poizner, is looming as a monied threat in November. He's already given himself two loans of $500,000 each and is racking up donations from business people in the area, according to the state Secretary of State's office.

The 21st district, which includes parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, including Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside, has been represented for the last two terms by Joe Simitian. With Mr. Simitian running for the state Senate, the race is on for his seat, and the only thing hanging over the candidates' heads that's bigger than Mr. Poizner is the cash-strapped state budget.

Ideas for repairing the ailing budget differ. All four -- Palo Alto Unified School District board member John Barton, West Bay Sanitary District board president John Carcione, Monte Sereno City Councilwoman Barbara Nesbet, and Redwood City Councilman Ira Ruskin -- support restoring the annual license fee for vehicle owners to its 1998 level, which is about three times higher than it is now.

All four also support state Proposition 56 on the March ballot, which would allow the Legislature to pass the budget and related tax bills with a 55 percent vote instead of a two-thirds vote.

They split, however, on Proposition 57, which provides for the state to borrow $15 billion through the sale of bonds to help cover California's deficit. Mr. Barton and Mr. Carcione oppose the bond measure, while Ms. Nesbet and Mr. Ruskin support it.
John Barton

In his seventh year as a school board member, Mr. Barton says he's worked to keep his district financially sound by pushing for healthy budget reserves and a multi-year budgeting process.

How would he help make the state financially sound? Like all of his Democratic opponents in the race, Mr. Barton supports raising income taxes on California's wealthiest residents. He would also like to see a higher sales tax as an interim measure, and an effort to reduce loopholes that allow California businesses to move to offshore locations.

In addition, he supports spending cuts, including slowing the rate of prison construction and reducing the amount of mandatory testing in schools.

Mr. Barton is in favor of easing the term limits that only allow legislators to serve eight years in the state Senate and six in the Assembly, saying legislators need more time to garner experience to better serve. He'd like to see limits of 12 years for each house instead.

Another issue he's interested in is construction defect litigation, which he says is so rampant that it discourages developers from building more badly needed housing.

"The system makes it far too easy to sue," said Mr. Barton, who is an architect. "Obviously people who do shoddy construction should pay, but teachers should be able to stay in the county."

Some of Mr. Barton's major endorsers are the California Teachers Association, the Democratic Forum of the Silicon Valley, and Delaine Eastin, former state superintendent of public instruction.
John Carcione

A red apple adorns John Carcione's campaign lawn signs, in reference to his late grandfather Joe Carcione, who appeared on television as the "Greengrocer."

The younger Carcione says his grandfather advocated for consumer rights and that he also has worked in the public interest in his role as a board member for the West Bay Sanitary District, helping in reform efforts after the district's manager was sentenced on embezzlement charges.

Along with restoring the higher vehicle license fee and raising taxes on the wealthy, Mr. Carcione said he'd work to ease the budget crunch by instituting a fee for corporations that extract oil from the state. He also said he'd favor a "modest" property tax increase on commercial property owners.

The $15 billion state bond measure, he said, would be more harmful than helpful. "The state's low (bond) rating makes California pay more in the long run," he said.

If he's elected, Mr. Carcione says, he'd like to expand the Healthy Families program, which provides low-cost health insurance for children without coverage. He said he'd also like to see more class-size reductions in schools.

An attorney, Mr. Carcione serves as a court-appointed child advocate to help foster kids go through the system.

Some of his major endorsers are the California League of Conservation Voters, San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon, and former U.S. Congressman Pete McCloskey.
Barbara Nesbet

As an attorney, Barbara Nesbet has experience both as a high-tech lawyer in Silicon Valley and as deputy city attorney for Santa Cruz and Capitola. Now she's on the council in the small Santa Clara County city of Monte Sereno.

"I've dealt with small-city issues, battling bigger cities," she said. So naturally one of her priorities is to keep the state from taking funding away from local governments. For example, she'd like to make libraries exempt from property tax take-aways by the state.

When it comes to healing the state's budget woes, Ms. Nesbet would like to look into raising the cigarette tax, along with having higher taxes on the wealthy and restoring the higher vehicle license fee.

Like Mr. Barton, Ms. Nesbet thinks the current term limits for state legislators are too rigid and should be expanded to allow 12 years in both the state Senate and Assembly.

"Sher was termed out and he could have served more. He's done so well," she said, referring to state Sen. Byron Sher, D-Palo Alto, who is termed out of the 11th district this year. "There are complicated issues that need experience."

Some of Ms. Nesbet's major endorsers are the California Democratic Legislative Women's Caucus, the Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriffs' Association, and state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont.
Ira Ruskin

Since his election to the Redwood City Council in 1995, Ira Ruskin has made water one of his key issues.

Concerned that a major earthquake could severely damage the aging Hetch Hetchy water system, Mr. Ruskin said he helped in the successful push for state legislation mandating the state to make upgrades. He now serves as chair of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, which represents the cities and water districts that buy water from the San Francisco water system.

If elected, he says, he'd like to see more state legislation to protect streams and rivers, "to make timber companies more accountable for the damage they do."

Mr. Ruskin is also interested in streamlining bureaucratic procedures such as those governing the state's Medi-Cal system. Along with closing corporate tax loopholes, that would do a great deal in easing the state's budget problems, he said.

For now, though, he said he has no choice but to support the $15 billion bond measure.

"Without it, fire stations, libraries and parks will close," he said, "but I want to make sure that if we pass this bond that this never happens again."

Some of Mr. Ruskin's major endorsers are the Sierra Club, the state AFL-CIO, and San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley.

THE CANDIDATES:
John Barton

Residence: Palo Alto Education: Bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture, University of California at Berkeley Occupation: Architect, designer, teacher Experience: Board member, Palo Alto Unified School District, since 1997; visiting scholar/lecturer, urban studies, Stanford University; former assistant professor, interior design, Canada College.
John Carcione

Residence: Menlo Park Education: Graduate of Georgetown University and the University of California Hastings College of the Law Occupation: Attorney Experience: President of the West Bay Sanitary District board (elected to board in 1997), court-appointed child advocate for San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Barbara Nesbet

Residence: Monte Sereno Education: Bachelor's degree, Harvard University; master's in business administration and law degree, University of California at Davis. Occupation: Attorney (currently working fulltime on campaign and council duties) Experience: City Council member, Monte Sereno, since 1998; board member, Santa Clara County Library JPA.
Ira Ruskin

Residence: Redwood City Education: Bachelor's degree in history, University of California at Berkeley; master's degree in communications, Stanford University Occupation: Communications consultant (taking a year off to focus on campaign and council duties) Experience: City Council member, Redwood City, since 1995; Chair, Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency

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