Did you know that when you run for office in California (as I am) that in order for the candidate to have a blurb (Candidate Statement) under his name in the ballot booklet one must pay $7,000 to the state of California if you just want it in English and $13,000 if you want the statement in English & Spanish. Is this not anti-democratic? Who has an extra $7,000-$13,000 laying around to fork over for what they then limit you to be 250 words? This is a tax and it is meant to keep people out of politics. What if there are good people who want to get involved in public service but can’t afford these taxes. Keep in mind that to run for office, you already have to pay a fee equal to 1% of the first year’s salary. In my case I am running for state assembly which pays $110,000 per year so 1% is $1,110 which is the fee that I as a candidate am asked to pay to run for office. The way this is set up, only the rich or connected can run for office in this Banana Republic! What if you are married and have kids and a mortgage and don’t have extra income sitting around to give away to bureaucrats to waste? If elected, the first bill I will write to propose as legislation to be voted upon by the body politic will be the elimination of taxes like this meant to keep poor people out of politics and public service. This is NOT democratic and it needs to be changed. In my case, I will not have a candidate statement in the ballot booklet because I can’t afford to give away money like that for nothing. I do have a candidate statement though and it is on this URL and it is longer than 250 words and I ask you to read it if you have a minute for it puts forth a vision of where I see District 50 going if we establish big goals and reach for the stars together.