Jayne Murphy Shapiro Candidate, 41st Assembly District

   Mirror: List, in order of importance, the most significant and serious issues facing this district?
   Shapiro: As a candidate, I have visited, listened and learned about the 41st Assembly District, and the issues and concerns are the same. Our public education system needs a major overhaul, so that principals and teachers are free to innovate, adapt and respond to the needs of our students and communities.
   We must find local solutions to promote meaningful local control, such as more charter schools to create a climate in which individual and community educational innovation and excellence can flourish.
   We need a stronger school curriculum and higher core education standards. California businesses rely on an educated workforce and our children need the tools to succeed in a competitive world.
   It's time to deal with the break-up of LAUSD. Smaller is better. Los Angeles needs its school districts to be in more manageable chunks.
   LAUSD Bureaucracy -- I want to see this issue effectively addressed. The bureaucracy is criminal.
School health and safety issues present challenges. Real strides will mean addressing prevention, tolerance among students and the need for counseling and crisis services -- otherwise, students won't learn.
   Higher education can't be a backseat issue. We must maintain funding, encourage research, and provide apprenticeship opportunities as continuing education for California's young people.
   Transportation. We need a regional transportation solution, and I think we need to pursue it with MTA on the state level, through the legislative process. Otherwise, we'll keep throwing money away.
   The real issues in the district are bottlenecks on freeways and the basic daily gridlock, apart from rush hour. We must address the need for resources and timely attention to road infrastructure and maintenance, opting for buses, not subways.
   Public Safety. Although violent crime is down, we still suffer from neighborhood crimes like vandalism, theft, burglary, fear to walk our streets at night, and other safety concerns. We must remain vigilant and aggressive on behalf of law enforcement, fighting for resources, and encouraging community policing and neighborhood watches. And, I support tough penalties for criminals, full stop!
   Environment. Environmental issues remind me that I am a mom. I want to ensure that the water is clean and there are environmental preserves for our citizens -- children -- to enjoy. The 41st is home to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the California coastline. Too many politicians think we must choose between a clean environment and a strong economy. These are the kind of false choices we should reject. Instead, we need to bring clean industries to the district. The jobs of the future are clean jobs. And yet, when corporations are bad citizens, and pollute our environment, we have to respond with harsh penalties. I will fight for balance on this issue, enhancing our clean air and water laws, and addressing the quality of our groundwater and the steps we must take to keep it clean for our citizens.
   Jobs. A strong economy -- the kind we enjoy today -- is critical to California's continued success. Only a strong and growing economy can provide the public services we all want for our children -- schools, roads, health care, and environmental protection.
   I will work against forces in Sacramento that want to take our economy backwards through over-regulation and over-taxation.
   We also need to continue to deal with issues that impact a business's bottom line: workers' compensation, healthcare costs, labor issues, access to capital and educated work force issues. I support free and open trade. Our unique access to Latin America and the Pacific Rim are a boon to our economy. However, that does not mean that we abdicate our responsibility to California's workers and their families.
   Healthcare. The challenge facing health care is to maintain access, affordability and quality, while monitoring costs so they don't bankrupt government or the private sector. As a Registered Nurse, I am committed to a meaningful Patients Bill of Rights, to set the tone in policy for quality care that puts patients first -- providing healthcare for working Californians; partnering with nonprofits and the healthcare industry to find solutions for others in need of coverage; continuing HMO reforms to ensure that doctors make medical decisions; assuring that doctors can afford to practice medicine. We need to preserve a reasonable MICRA.

Mirror: What will you do at the state level, that will benefit the citizens of Santa Monica?
   As I will do for the rest of the 41st Assembly District, I will fully and aggressively seek to represent Santa Monicans as Californians -- hardworking, responsible and trying to pursue the California dream without government interference and yet, with the support and responsiveness they deserve as taxpayers.
   I am dedicated to seeking additional funding for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. I am committed to reforms and legislation that empower and help fund local government, including state support so that property taxes can be kept to reasonable levels and people aren't required to pay for government two and three times. I also pledge my support to protect and enhance the California coastline, so special to Santa Monica and one of its greatest assets.

Mirror: What in your background and experience qualifies you for this office?
   I'm a long time community activist and a mom to four boys. My husband, a physician, passed away 10 years ago. Professionally, I am a Registered Nurse, Certified Sexual Assault Nurse, with experience in Emergency Room and Cardiac Intensive Care.
   For the past five years, I've been President of a nonprofit organization I founded, KIDS SAFE, to advocate for children's safety, health and education. I started KIDS SAFE after a friend's child was molested by a repeat offender. With the communities' help, we made a difference -- passed Megan's Law in California, promoted Internet safety without censorship and made School Safety a vitally important issue before it was fashionable, and in the press because of senseless tragedies like Columbine.
   I moved to the San Fernando Valley 24 years ago and have always been actively involved in the Jewish community. I am a Riordan appointee to the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women and a Governor's appointee to the California Developmental Disabilities Board. Currently, I serve as Los Angeles Chair of the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
   I'm running for the California Assembly because I know I can make a difference. KIDS SAFE taught me that. Through KIDS SAFE, I found I liked the process of making laws and representing community interests, and that I cared very deeply about making meaningful laws and better laws. I've been an advocate for many years; I am ready and able to take that to the next logical level, policy making. I take pride in that I am pragmatic and extol the commonsense approach in life. Best of all, I have a unique ability to bring people together to solve problems. These would be my goals as an Assembly member.