SONOMA COUNTY ? A Sonoma City councilwoman filed to run for 2010 California State Senate district two, which represents Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Humboldt counties and parts of Sonoma and Solano counties.
Joanne Sanders started fundraising, obtaining endorsements and recruiting volunteers for her bid for the Democratic Party nomination in the June 8, 2010 primary election, according to a press release.
Senator Pat Wiggins represents district two and recently announced she won”t run for reelection.
Sanders plans to do a listening tour in Lake County so she can hear the concerns of leaders, citizens and business and organization representatives, she said. She understands the algae in Clear Lake affects tourism and jobs.
“I am running because I want to bring a dose of the citizens” reality to Sacramento,” Sanders said in a press release. “So many people have lost faith in California. They believe it”s not governable. It”s been too easy for some legislators to finger point and say, ?I”m trying ? but we can”t solve the budget problem because of the other party or because of the governor.” So they just let it slide, massage the numbers, steal from the cities and let the next generation of politicians deal with it.”
Citizens elected Sanders to the Sonoma City Council in 2004 and reelected her in 2008, according to the council Web site. She said she helped create jobs in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties as president and founder of BOLT Staffing Service. She graduated from Sonoma State University with a bachelor”s degree in business management.
Sanders thinks she”s a good candidate because she has “two feet firmly planted on the ground,” as a business owner and city government representative, she said.
She thinks the legislature avoids difficult decisions because they”re more interested in reelection than representing the people, she said.
“I want to break through the old stalemates and work to meet the challenges of our economy, our water supply, our jobs and our public safety,” she said. Sanders thinks California has to change the way it does business and stabilize the economy to make progress, she said.
“Everybody knows we have economic cycles,” Sanders said. “A downturn in the economy doesn”t mean we should be cutting education and closing parks. We should have a rainy-day fund.”
Sanders is focused on raising $200,000 and recruiting 500 volunteers by the end of the year, she said.
“I”m very excited about this,” she said. “It”s a giant step for me.”
