Not Politics as Usual - Dr. Ong for Assembly 2012

I'm not the most political guy around, but I pay attention if I actually meet someone who's running for office. One of those people is Dr. Jennifer Ong, a beautiful and accomplished Bay Area optometrist who wants to do more for people than simply improve their vision.

Her vision, to use the same word, is to run for the California Assembly in 2012 to give back to the country she came to from the Phillipines as a child. And she has ideas.

Dr. Ong's priorities are to balance the budget without cutting police or schools. She wants to create more jobs, so fewer people need to rely on the government. She is concerned about conservation and recycling and has worked with local community groups to make efforts in that direction. As Commissioner/Secretary of the Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women, she is interested in helping women from underrepresented communities begin to believe that they can run for office too and make a difference.

Dr. Ong is concerned about the high percentage of Hepatitis B in the Asian community and wants to make sure more people are contacted and tested.

I enjoyed seeing her and meeting supporters at a luncheon yesterday. Among the speakers was current Assemblyperson Fiona Ma, who gave a short, rousing talk. Other speakers showed how community efforts are always going on and how taking action means focusing on important issues, taking a stand, and, sometimes, putting yourself at a little risk too.

The election is in November of 2012 but it's never too early to start running.

I'm glad there are some people in this world who are not just in it for their own personal interests and actually want to go out and make a difference for other people. Dr. Ong seems like that kind of candidate.