Inspiration is as close as your neighbor in San Diego County and our last endorsement meeting of the 2016 election cycle proved it.
An impressive group of 13 eclectic, women candidates were endorsed by Run Women Run members on October 3rd, and they represent vast corners of our County, from inner city to East County, and North County to the coast.
Run Women Run is a non-partisan political action group that inspires, recruits, trains, mentors and supports pro-choice women for both elected and appointed offices.
We wish the following newly endorsed candidates the best in winning their seats on Election Day, November 8th! Be sure to vote!
Kimberly Beatty
BEATTY4PUSD.com
Candidate for: Poway Unified School District, Board of Education
You could call Kimberly Beatty a numbers-nerd with a passion for policy, and both are part of why she is running for re-election in Poway. She brings her world travels, and education in international business management, to the local level as a volunteer and board member to a multitude of educational organizations.
She entered the Poway Unified School Board in 2012, when the Board lacked financial oversight and leadership. She spent 18 months advocating for an overhaul of Board policies that had grown outdated. Her proudest moment was just weeks ago when all new policies were completed and are being implemented.
Her top goals, if re-elected, include hiring a new superintendent and business operations expert, streamlining finances to maximize resources for student programs and services, while reducing class size and closing the achievement gap.
Tasha Boerner Horvath
Tasha4Encinitas.com
Candidate for: Encinitas City Council
Tasha Boerner Horvath may be the only woman running for City Council in Encinitas, but she’s dedicated to bringing more women into the fold of politics in North County. She believes in turning idealism into action, and has the experience to make that a reality.
Not only has her family been rooted in Encinitas for 90 years, but Boerner Horvath has attended all of Run Women Run’s political preparedness trainings, is the current Planning Commissioner for Old Encinitas, and has served on her local PTA Board. She has also consulted with non-profits, for-profits and higher education institutions, ranging from Apple and Google for Deustsche Telekom to the World Health Organization.
Boerner Horvath’s ingenuity is unmistakable on her Tasha4Encinitas.com/roadmap page, which maps how the city of Encinitas’s government is managed, as well as her priorities for this pristine coastal community.
Josie Calderon-Scott
Josie4Water.com
Candidate for: South Bay Irrigation District Division 5
Water is big business, and according to Josie Calderon-Scott, the Irrigation District Board that oversees the Sweetwater Dam in Bonita, is an ‘ole boys club that needs a woman with leadership skills. As a registered lobbyist with decades of experience and service, she’s adept at advocacy and influencing decision making and, if elected, she will focus on Division 5 with no plans for further elected office.
She has decades of experience in business and community planning, including upgrades and protections of parks, biking and horseback riding trails and bridges. However, Calderon-Scott’s main concern for District 5 is the Irrigation Board’s blatant refusal to upgrade the compromised infrastructure of their dam, as required by law. Not doing so makes the dam unsafe and puts nearby residents and property in jeopardy, and the water supply at risk.
Calderon-Scott will push for compliance and protections of safe, available water.
Marggie Castellano
MarggieCastellano.com
Candidate for: Tri-City Healthcare District, Board of Directors
Marggie Castellano is a native to Peru with diverse careers that span from film production and promotions to pharmaceuticals. But, her greatest love is service to the community and she is personally passionate about health, well-being and sports.
The Tri-city Healthcare District covers Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad, has a large Spanish speaking population with no representation on the current Board. There has been very little fiscal transparency, while having a lot of money to manage and several lawsuits and fines to handle.
What separates Castellano from her opponents are her Spanish speaking skills, understanding the need for translators in health care, plus she has a background and education in international studies paired with political science, and small business and computer programming. She’s experienced in managing people, as well as budgets and technology. Though she has never run for office, she’s been a political delegate in Peru and the United States, for Bernie Sanders, and feels her breadth of experience will help clinic doors remain open and open doors of opportunity for the community at large.
Nina Deerfield
DeerfieldforPalomarCollege.com
Candidate for: Palomar College Board of Trustees
Nina Deerfield has taught Montessori school in New York and managed one in London, and taught adult education courses through the City of Escondido for over 25 years. Her work in martial arts led her to be inducted into the Martial Arts Masters Hall of Fame in 2006. She’s been a tireless advocate for equal access to education, on all levels, and has several certificates of recognition from leading politicians. This May she won the Making a Difference Award at the San Diego County Roosevelt Dinner.
Among her many accomplishments is her community-based, bilingual newspaper, Alianza North County, which she founded, edits and publishes for progressive news and voter education.
In education, her greatest concern is protecting and growing public schools, while combating the privatization of schools. If elected, she will foster affordable education that helps veterans re-enter the workforce and the homeless achieve self-sufficiency. Deerfield believes that public education is the cornerstone of democracy and the only way to assure well-educated voters for our future.
Georgette Gomez
Gomezd9.com
Candidate for: San Diego City Council, District 9
Georgette Gomez works for the everyday citizen, with everyday needs. Yet, she could make history. If elected, and she has a good chance, she will be the first Latina on our San Diego City Council and the first openly lesbian elected to represent District 9. She is steadfast and cool under pressure and has won awards for her work. She has so many progressive politicians and groups supporting her, she could have her own cheerleading squad!
Gomez was elected to the City Heights Community Planning Group and is the Associate Director of the Environmental Health Coalition, where she led the fight against neighborhood polluters harming residents and brought the Farmer’s Market to her community. She is against a downtown stadium because she knows too many struggling neighborhoods would be wiped out. But, should the stadium deal go through, she’s ready to champion the needs of those affected and to guide the process so jobs and opportunities stay local.
Her chief concerns include, affordable housing, smart growth, better transportation and repair of infrastructure, public safety, environmental health and water and supporting small businesses – the backbone of mid-city, District 9.
Stephanie Harper
VoteSHarper2016.com
Candidate for: El Cajon City Council
Stephanie Harper wants to make the leap from activist who holds her elected officials accountable, to being an elected official who is responsible and transparent. There are 3 seats available on the El Cajon City Council with 10 people running.
As a native of the city, she graduated from El Cajon Valley High School, where her youngest child is now a freshman. She is dedicated to the local community and believes El Cajon has the potential to support and serve its constituents more fully and fairly.
As a progressive thinker in a diverse, but largely conservative thinking El Cajon, Harper feels more can be done to support children, families, the disadvantaged and homeless through common sense decision making, education and arts that benefit the average citizen. As a single mom at 17, she has had her struggles, but with support she continued her education into college and enjoyed several careers from being a mobile DJ to an event coordinator and wedding planner.
Darshana Patel
Patel4PUSD.wordpress.com
Candidate for: Poway Unified School District, Board of Education
Darshana Patel had a trail blazing, feminist mom and a father who uplifted both his wife and daughter, despite the fact they were an arranged marriage from families that didn’t believe in educating women. Patel was born in America, and values education for the opportunities it offers women and families. She has a PhD in biophysics and her first job was supporting UCSD in a mentoring program for young women seeking science careers. And, she has extensive experience on civic boards.
Patel is running for office because the Poway Unified School District is in need of an objective problem solver and consensus builder, skills that will be critical as the Board selects a new superintendent. Her priorities are equal access to education and a curriculum that fosters equity and inclusion, while being fiscally responsible and open to the community about policy, procedure and community participation.
Cori Schumacher
CoriforCarlsbad.com
Candidate for: Carlsbad City Council
Cori Shumacher is a humanitarian with such a captivating journey that she’s featured in several informative movie shorts, including Waves of Disruption, The Cori Schumacher Story (vimeo.com/145680310). As a 3-time world-champion surfer based in North County, she transitioned her focus to world-wide activism over the last decade. She “came out” as an activist and lesbian in 2011 and is now the first Democrat ever to run for Carlsbad City Council.
As Executive Director of the Inspire Initiative, Schumacher helps gather and preserve both the history of women in surfing and the context in which competition and the industry are shaped in the global media. Her local work took the behind-the-scenes bias toward rapid development of Carlsbad in the No on Measure A issue into the limelight of citizen based decision making. The success of her No on Measure A work fueled her desire to run for office.
Schumacher’s political platform prioritizes transparency in government, responsible land use, sustainability and respecting the will of the people of Carlsbad.
Patricia Sinay
ReElectSinay.com
Encinitas Union School District, Board Member
Born in Mexico to a Peruvian mother and Argentine father, Patricia Sinay is proud to be the first Latina appointed to the Encinitas Union School District, which also covers South Carlsbad. Happy with her performance in this role, the community has asked her to continue serving, so she is running for re-election.
As a renowned nonprofit expert, Sinay has guided hundreds of leaders on the how-tos of organizing and maximizing the efficiency and impact of nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society. She has also taught at UCSD for over 10 years and is a founding member of Women Give, San Diego (womengivesd.org).
While an Encinitas Board Member, she’s helped the District gain recognition for its academic achievements and innovative programs, while effectively planning a budget that prioritize her students and their safety. Sinay is the type of leader who fosters inclusivity, for her community, staff, teachers, students and with her children.
Alejandra Sotelo-Solis
VoteAlejandra.com
Candidate for: National City Council
Alejandra Sotelo-Solis has a history of public service on local community boards, working for the California State Assembly and as a National City Council Member for the last 8 years. When she ran for re-election to the Council in 2012, she received the highest number of votes of all the precincts. She is running for re-election again, because she wants to see more of her efforts carried through to completion.
These efforts include using the approved 1 cent sales tax to repave streets, add amenities to parks and recreation spaces, including the Bay Front, and in balancing the budget – which assures improvements are maintained.
Also, Sotelo-Solis helped create the “Squad Concept,” which goes into effect next year. Since most emergencies in the city are medical, Squad Concept will allow smaller groups of first responders, 2-3 firefighters with 1 paramedic, to use smaller, more efficient vehicles to reach emergencies more quickly.
Eventually, Sotelo-Solis hopes to culminate her National City successes by fulfilling her childhood dream of being its Mayor.
Glendora Tremper
Glendora4Kids.com
Candidate for: Chula Vista Elementary School District, Board Member
Dr. Glendora Tremper has lived across the United States and the globe. She is bi-cultural, fluent in Spanish, works as a Lead Language-Speech and Hearing Specialist/Special Education Coordinator and was appointed to the Chula Vista Elementary School Board of Education in spring of 2012. She won her election bid that winter and is running for re-election this November 8.
Tremper is inspired by the accomplishments of her District’s students, teachers, staff and administers as they move forward as a model district. She wants to continue to increase teacher and parent collaborations and involvement, expand the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculums and foster even greater proficiency of the diverse cultural aspects of those they serve in order to optimize learning on all fronts.
Her work speaks for itself. Innovation Station is a program partnership she helped create with Qualcomm, the city and the school district which introduces students to potential careers in technology, science, math and engineering. The Mi Escuelita program provides support to pre-schoolers who are survivors of domestic violence. Tremper also helped create a performing arts program and her efforts to reduce obesity in students have proven successful.
Rimga Viskanta
VoteForViskanta.com
Candidate for: Encinitas Union School District
Rimga Viskanta is as proud of the award winning schools in her district as she is of her own degrees and know-how. She knows how to work within the system to create change. She has a Master’s in Public Administration, a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science and work experience as a management analyst on military bases, accounting and finance management for real estate investments and various state agencies and non-profits.
She’s currently the PTA President at Ocean Knoll Elementary and on the Prop AA Oversight Committee for the San Dieguito Union High School District.
Viskanta is loyal to the diversity of students her district educates and believes all their needs can be met, from high achievers to special needs, from English language learners to English speakers. Lithuanian by heritage, she has worked and lived in many communities. Viskanta values collaboration and constructive criticism, and always seeks different points of view.
