Term limits, redistricting and the June primaries produced an unlikely race for the Nov. 6 election: incumbent Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski versus ArLyne Diamond, a management consultant who never held office before.
"I'm the unknown long shot," the 75-year-old Diamond said.
In June, Milpitas Vice Mayor Pete "Primo" McHugh was favored to beat out Diamond and go head-to-head with Wieckowski. Instead Diamond garnered 30 percent of the votes to McHugh's 28 percent. Wieckowski led all with more than 40 percent.
"I think this time I will do even better," Diamond said.
The top issues in the district, Diamond said, are "jobs, jobs and jobs."
Diamond's job creation plan includes expediting building permits and eliminating regulations she believes are unnecessary. She favored preventing a minimum-wage increase and changing tax rates to make California more competitive. And she opposed Proposition 30, the state sales and upper-income tax increase that would help fund education. If voters reject the measure, Gov. Jerry Brown is threatening "trigger" cuts that won't necessarily reduce the excessive expenditures in government, Diamond said. "How about not spending on things like the high-speed rail?"
Diamond said she would improve education by pushing more money from administration to classrooms. She would make it easier to hold bad teachers accountable and reward high-performing teachers.
She favors giving parents the choice
of private school vouchers and charter schools.
Diamond is, however, a Republican in a district that is still dominated by Democrats.
She is going after the Republican and Libertarian vote, as well as Democrats willing to vote for her instead of the incumbent because they are anxious and angry over decisions made by Democrats in the state capital.
She has a psychology doctorate but works as a management and professional development consultant.
The state revoked her psychology license in 1989. Diamond said the revocation was retaliation for trying to stop false child-abuse allegations and said the past has nothing to do with her political aspirations.
Records show that the Psychology Examining Committee of the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance found Diamond improperly used her influence as a therapist to secure a $30,000 loan from a patient's mother. Diamond said California enacted rules about dual personal and professional relationships with patients and their families after the loan. She said she has about 75 reference letters attesting to her competence and ethics. The state board countered that the ethics code of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy applied at the time.
In 1992, the state Board of Psychology denied her request for license reinstatement, a refusal Diamond attributed to an ongoing backlash for her whistle-blowing.
Coordinating the unwieldy new 25th District is going to be "a challenge," Wieckowski said.
It's not even the district the 57-year-old former bankruptcy lawyer was originally elected in 2010 to represent.
Redistricting turned District 20 into District 25 and pushed the boundaries farther south into Santa Clara County from his stronghold of Fremont, where he served for six years as a city council member.
Like Diamond, Wieckowski singled out the importance of education, saying he wants "see all public schools improve" by bringing in resources and elevating the standards from the bottom up.
But he focused his first-term efforts in Sacramento on other issues, including requiring disclosure of chemicals used in "fracking," the common reference to controversial drilling process of hydraulic fracturing to free oil and gas trapped in rock.
He supported a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.
He passed bills to level the advertising playing field for local florists and help out the Fremont-based Tesla automotive company. Another bill required faster recording of titles after foreclosure sales.
He also introduced a bill that raised the amount workers who owe debt can earn before creditors are allowed to garnish their wages.
The new threshold does not make the debt go away, Wieckowski said. "But it's a big deal for the working poor."
STATE Assembly District 25
ArLyne Diamond
Age: 75
Party: Republican
Occupation: Business owner, management consultant
Professional: Public speaker and published author. Taught at DeVry University
Personal background: Single
Education: Doctorate in psychology from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
Website: www.DiamondforAssembly.com
Bob Wieckowski
Age: 57
Party: Democrat
Occupation: District 25 assemblyman
Professional/elected history: Admitted to State Bar of California in 1987. Served on city of Fremont Recreation Commission and Fremont Planning Commission. City Council 2004-2010. Elected to Assembly District 20 2010, which became District 25 after redistricting.
Personal: Domestic partner
Education: B.A. UC Berkeley; J.D. Santa Clara University
Website: www.bobwieckowski.com
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