Candidate for
Mayor; City of Milpitas

I was raised Catholic and educated in Catholic schools. Like all religions, they taught me to be good and do good. And that is what I did during my 20-year career programing computers at Four Phase, CDC, and Amdahl. Believing that better informed people will make better choices, my communications programming (getting one computer to talk to another) helped lay the foundation for the Internet. I was not active in my community during those years. As a single parent during much of that time, I instead contributed financially - to over a dozen charitable organizations working to solve problems nationally and internationally.

Near the end of that career, however, I kept getting the message that to be most effective in solving the big problems, I need to connect with my local community. I had been living in the same Milpitas house since 1977, but barely knew my neighbors. So, in 1992, with some money in the bank, I left corporate America and plugged into the Milpitas community.

During my ten years as a Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Commissioner, I initiated and participated in creating the City's first Trails Master Plan. That plan included the Coyote Creek Trail we enjoy today. I joined the Sunnyhills Neighborhood Association Board of Directors. During my 18 years on the Board, I was instrumental in getting the Hetch-Hetchy linear park developed + all the way from Town Center to the City limits. Although I lost my '94 City Council race, I stayed involved with local politics and City Hall.

In 1996, I started promoting and selling electric bikes and scooters - partly for environmental reasons, and partly because electric bikes make so much sense in suburbs like Milpitas. Over the years, my e-bike website became top-rated in Google. I can only imagine how many people found their way to just the right e-bike by passing through my website.

While working with light electric vehicles, I discovered Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) and other forms of advanced transit. Eventually, I realized how these technologies could help solve some transportation problems in Milpitas. For example, a citywide PRT system could link most residents to the new BART station. Naturally, I shared PRT with Council and staff, and continue to work for a much-needed bicycle and pedestrian crossing of the railroad tracks near the Great Mall.