I grew up in Oregon and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after getting a degree in electrical engineering at Oregon State. I’ve lived in the Bay Area all of my working life and in Mountain View since 2002 and I absolutely love what California and our special region in the bay have to offer. After a successful 30 year career in technology, most recently with Apple, I realized that my passion was not in technology, but in helping my coworkers fix problems and teaching them how to do it themselves. With that insight, I decided to take the risky and unusual leap to step away from my job and find a better way to pursue my passion.
As we work to resolve critical issues, we must reject the toxic political tone that has become increasingly harsh in this state and the nation. Californians are fed-up with the constant finger-pointing and labeling that has become the norm. We need to focus on problem-solving, not posturing.
In politics today, each party stakes out its issues and frames them as either/or, all or none. For example, progressives talk DEI (diversity equity and inclusion), voting rights, and immigration reform. Conservatives talk CRT (critical race theory), voting integrity, and secure borders. But both parties need to acknowledge that these issues aren’t binary. They live on a spectrum. Conservatives should support more authentic instruction around our racial history in the US while trying to assure no group is demonized. Progressives should discuss the need for secure borders while looking for sensible ways to address our large undocumented immigrant population. Both parties talk past each other on their ‘winning’ issues without acknowledging the valid points (slivers of truth) of the opposing arguments. We must work together with mutual respect towards sensible solutions.