I have been fortunate to live, work and raise a family in Santa Clara County. My husband and I are raising five children and they are receiving excellent educations from Santa Clara County public schools. When my youngest child went through two bone marrow transplants, my focus turned from the corporate world to my true passion: the health, education, and overall well-being of our community.

My husband and I were lucky enough to have comprehensive health coverage provided by our employers. Our child's ordeal crystallized how fortunate our family is and gave us renewed compassion for fellow county residents facing similar circumstances without having effective health care.

I am the executive director of a non-profit organization focused on the well-being of our county and on proactive efforts to keep our community healthy. Health is wealth; with access to health care comes entry to our educational system and the ability to earn a livable salary. We must focus on health, the safety of our community, and training to make sure that our workforce is prepared for the careers available in the future.

I bring extensive practical experience to the position of county supervisor. I have twenty years experience in high tech at Applied Materials, eight years in city government, two terms as the mayor of Saratoga, three years leading a countywide health focused non-profit, and twenty years as a parent. I have run businesses, managed city organizations, and led non-profits through tough economic times.

At Applied Materials, I learned the value of persistence and hard work. During my twenty-year tenure, Applied Materials grew from $63 million to almost $10 billion. I was the first female to lead sales organizations at the company and developed the first Corporate Partnership Program. I worked with large multi-national customers in the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Throughout my time in government, I used my business experience to help my city through economic downturns, finding ways to increase revenue by five percent each year while making the tough decisions about cost-cutting measures. The city council and I improved all of our parks, trails, field use for our children, road quality. We also strengthened our sheriff contract, partnered with the county on fire coverage, and started a city foundation. I found government to be as interesting and challenging as business, and that the ability to partner and collaborate is equally important in both. Both require connections to many organizations to be effective; I was a board member of the Cities Association working with 14 mayors within the county to standardize processes among cities (solar panel permitting, emergency preparedness, LEED certification, etc.) and a member of the county VTA PAC, developing trail strategies and bus routes.

My ability to partner and collaborate with diverse organizations has earned me the Assembly member Award for District 24 in 2005, the Community College Distinguished Alumna Award in 2007, the San Jose Business Journal 2010 Women of Influence Award, and the Santa Clara County Medical Association's 2011 Citizen of the Year Award.

My many years of experience in business, the medical environment, and in government along with my firm belief in family values make me an excellent candidate for the District 5 supervisorial position. The County is facing serious problems - the need for services, law enforcement, and health benefits are increasing while funds coming in from taxes and state revenue are decreasing. All my experience will be the key to helping me develop fiscal solutions to tough problems.

With the struggling economy in California and the movement of services from state to local providers, I understand how to create jobs, manage a tough budget, and build support for collaboration between business and government. I am committed to protecting our environment, improving our roads and parks, and managing the well-being of our community and its environment.

I have the most experience dealing with economic change having successfully managed many cycles in the course of my business and government career. I have increased revenue and jobs and managed budgets at Applied Materials, in government, and in non-profits. I will be the most effective candidate; please vote for me in June 2012.