I’m not a career politician. I’m an outsider who puts my business experience to work on local priorities: protecting health care, championing affordable housing, developing the renewable energy economy and fixing the Salton Sea.

I’m a cop’s kid from a working-class family, educated in public schools and a state university. I understand what it means to struggle just to make ends meet. I began my career in health care as a community outreach worker for a medical and mental health clinic serving 40,000 patients annually, working my way up to become an executive there. Later, I built a senior living community from the ground up, became certified in senior care in California, and ran my own consulting firm specializing in aging issues to help seniors retire in dignity. Today, I serve as Regional Director of Southern California for an affordable housing developer that has delivered needed services to thousands of low-income individuals and families since 1984, bringing much needed affordable housing to the Coachella Valley.

My partner and I chose to make California, and specifically this District, our home because we love it. From the mountains to the desert to the wine country of Temecula, earth’s great beauty is especially exhilarating here, ever reminding me that it is my duty to serve and protect the environment and our diverse community, and to better the economy with renewable energy jobs. It would be my greatest honor to represent this District and fight to bring vital resources back here to serve our community’s needs.

I am running to bring progressive values and practical solutions to the challenges Riverside County communities face. While some at the top may be doing fine, too many families in this District are struggling to make ends meet. I’ll go to Sacramento to fight for them. 

It’s time for a change. The sudden resignation of our former representative presents a great opportunity. Public spending needs to be focused on the things ordinary people rely on: education, career training, public safety, infrastructure and health care. We need to work to refocus the state budget on those priorities and cut subsidies that only benefit corporations and the rich at the expense of the broader public.

As a State Senator, I will work to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, oppose harmful cuts to health care for seniors, tackle the homeless crisis and provide housing for homeless veterans, crack down on corruption, ban lobbyist gifts, and stand up to Washington’s divisive policies when they hurt our people. I’ll advance practical solutions, not extreme ideologies, to make a real difference for the people of State Senate District 28.

Graduated from nursing school in former Yugoslavia. Left the country at the age of 19 in order to learn and explore the world. Lived in Austria, Switzerland, and Canada. Immigrated to the United States in 1976, arrived in San Francisco. Resident of Coachella Valley since 1999. Registered nurse for over thirty years. Previous owner of temporary nurses employment agency, OAKS Nurses, with over 300 employees. Founder of United Children's Network, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enable students to be drug-free and develop healthy lifestyle habits; inclusive of dangers of alcohol, nicotine, and drug use. Involved with organizations such as CARE, Doctors Without Borders, and other similar organizations concerned with domestic and world issues, such as poverty, hunger, climate change, and human trafficking. Attended numerous conferences throughout the United States and India who are working to improve the health and quality of life for most impoverished people. Attended rallies in Sacramento and Washington DC in order to lobby our government and United Nations representatives to provide more funding for the alleviation of human suffering.

Lifelong activist for the interests of working people, seniors, and children including: universal healthcare, a living wage, nuclear disarmament, education, and criminal justice reform. Fighting against drug company price gouging and profiteering. I believe in investing money in preventative measures because prevention is the only way to reduce more costly intervention such as high school dropout rate, teen pregnancy, disease, premature birth, incarceration rate, homelessness, and opioid crisis. I believe in fiscal responsibility and using our tax dollars for the programs that are working and improving the quality of life for children and adults, eliminate redundant and wasteful programs proven to not be working. We need political, moral, and spiritual awakening as this is the only way to solve the problems in our state, such as income inequality, lack of affordable healthcare coverage, school-to-prison pipeline, and pollution of our environment. Enough is enough, the power is in our hands. When corporate greed and profit are have greater influence on public policy makers, then the government is no longer of, by, and for the people. It is up to us to come together and reclaim our institutions. We should not be influenced to vote based on who is the best funded candidate, we should vote for who is most qualified and aligned with our values.