California State AssemblyCandidate for District 24

Like many parents, Barry and his wife, Sue, wanted their children to have a good public education, so they decided to move to Cupertino in 1985.  They enrolled their eldest daughter in Sunnymont Preschool and actively participated in their daughter’s classroom.  Eager to be good parents, Sue and Barry also attended parenting classes at De Anza College. 

When their children entered kindergarten, Sue and Barry continued to volunteer in the classroom and at school functions.  They joined Lincoln Elementary School’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and helped raise funds for the school.  One of the few PTA Dads, Barry was in charge of Taco Night, which later evolved into the popular Multi-Cultural Night.  People asked Barry to run for Lincoln School Site Council, so he did and was elected.  While he was on the school site council, he helped to establish the Lincoln Education Endowment Fund for ongoing fundraising efforts for the school.

At the urging of his friends in 1995, Barry ran for and won a seat on the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) Board of Trustees.  Later, he won his re-election bid in 1999—receiving the highest number of votes in that race.  During his eight years on the School Board, Barry made a conscious effort to visit every classroom in the district at least two times a year.  He also made sure there was a healthy reserve in the district’s budget, and fought hard to retain surplus school sites.  By doing so, the district was later able to re-open some of those sites and alleviate school overcrowding.  Barry also emphasized that funding should be spent on students, not the administrator.  Additionally, he initiated and established the popular Cupertino Language Immersion Program (CLIP).  As one of the lowest funded districts in the state, CUSD has a strong track record of superb student academic performance in California.

After being on the CUSD Board, Barry was appointed as a Cupertino Public Safety Commissioner and served four years.  In 2009, Barry ran for Cupertino City Council.  He was elected with the second highest number of votes.  In 2014, Barry was re-elected to the Cupertino City Council with the highest number of votes.  In 2015, he was elected as the Mayor of Cupertino.

Barry has a track record of keeping his campaign promises.  He evaluates the issues with an open and independent mind. He casts his votes based on what is economically sound first.

While many cities have been experiencing financial difficulty in the last few years, Cupertino is doing well with a healthy reserve in its budget.  Recently, Barry played a key role in approving Apple’s Campus 2 Project.  Barry’s leadership skills in these negotiations helped generate more money for the city while keeping Apple in Cupertino.  It is a win-win solution for Cupertino and Apple.

Barry wants to apply his leadership skills to create more jobs for our state, relieve traffic congestion in the region, improve public education, protect the environment, safeguard public health and safety, and hold the government accountable for its fiscal responsibilities.  These are the reasons that Barry is running for State Assembly.  He is the most qualified candidate.  Please vote for him on June 7, 2016.  He gets the job done right!