Dr. Phil Polakoff, Democratic Candidate for the 14th Assembly District, has spent his life improving our health, protecting our environment, and championing our civil and human rights. As the next step in a lifetime of service and accomplishment, Phil will put his unique life experiences to work for the people of his district, and for all Californians.

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NEWS & EVENTS

In his own words. Hear Dr. Polakoff talk about why he's running for State Assembly.

11/18/07 - Welcome to the site!

On the issues

Promoting our health
Making Our Communities Safer
Affordable and Environmentally-Responsible Housing
Protecting Our Environment
Quality Education

Promoting Our Health

We value our health. All of us want "healthcare reform," and I strongly support the current statewide effort to provide health coverage for all Californians.

But that is not enough. As a physician with specialized training in preventive medicine, I know we must do more. We must enhance our ability to prevent illness - especially for children - and promote practical measures that safeguard our health and help manage the growing burden of chronic conditions.

First, childhood health can be improved significantly by providing comprehensive dental care for all children. This is a low cost investment that will help alleviate much more serious oral health conditions later on. Second, the shocking increase in childhood obesity and diabetes must be addressed in a serious manner. Over 30% of children will be obese or develop diabetes (the two are closely related) in the next decade. As a moral issue and an economic issue, we must address this issue now.

Likewise, we must develop further measures to prevent and treat asthma, heart conditions, obesity and mental illnesses in the adult population. Over three quarters of healthcare spending is now attributed to chronic care conditions. Due to age demographics, this trend will soon overwhelm the healthcare delivery system unless more effective ways are found to better treat our aging population.

And finally, safeguarding our health calls for increased surveillance and intervention of infectious diseases, including potential pandemics that may threaten the State. We must also prevent the import of unsafe food products and toys.

As a member of the California State Assembly, I intend to be your advocate for commonsense approaches to each of these health-related issues.

Making Our Communities Safer

Making our communities safer is one of government's most important responsibilities.

I am a strong supporter of community policing, victims' rights, and zero tolerance for hate crimes. While I support tough punishment for violent crime, I believe we must increase job training, education, and counseling, since those incarcerated in our prisons will eventually be returned to our communities after completing their sentences.

In addition, we need a seamless program of secure residential facilities to reintegrate those leaving prison on parole into society, to help them adjust to life on the outside, while at the same time keeping our communities safe and secure.

Breaking the cycle of crime, drugs and gangs requires that we focus attention on young people, in hopes that we can keep them from committing crimes in the first place. Early childhood education, job training in our high schools - as well as college prep classes - and helping the parents of at-risk-youth are just a few of the programs that I support.

There are also many young offenders who are in need of mental health services, from counseling to residential treatment. I intend to work with the dedicated professionals who deal with our troubled youth, and help ensure that those who would benefit by placement in treatment facilities -rather than the prison system - receive the care they need and are not just warehoused with more troubled and violent young offenders.

While our schools should be safe and secure - so children can learn and teachers can teach - we cannot expect our classroom teachers to be responsible for dealing with kids who suffer from drug or alcohol problems, or mental health disorders. We must provide programs run by trained professionals – mental health, substance abuse, and special education – to help these young people turn their lives around.

Affordable and Environmentally-Responsible Housing

Home ownership is vital to the American Dream. In California, that dream is turning into a nightmare as more homes fall into foreclosure, threatening to cripple our economy and weaken our communities. Nearly 15,000 families in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are expected to lose their homes to foreclosure (Source: Center for Responsible Lending). Oakland has been hit especially hard with one out of every seventy-one homes falling into foreclosure (Source: Wall Street Journal, 1-28-08).

We must confront this growing crisis head-on by working to ensure responsible lending and providing an array of housing choices for those at every income level. In the Assembly I will work to expand housing options for first-time buyers and ensure that our state's housing policies continue to protect seniors, the disabled and those on fixed incomes who deserve safe, clean and affordable places to live.

When developing new housing options, California must continue to be an environmental leader for the world by adopting Green Building standards. Buildings consume more than 40 percent of the world's energy and account for 40 percent of our greenhouse gas pollution. By adopting Green Building standards that promote eco-friendly materials and energy efficient design, we can clean the air we breathe, the water we drink and create healthier communities for all of us.

Protecting Our Environment

California has and must continue to set a standard for the nation.

While the Bush administration recently blocked our efforts, California and 16 other states that passed similar legislation must join together to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Incredible bi-partisan leadership enacted California's AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. Now the task at hand is to turn this into effective regulations and proceed to implement and enforce them once they are promulgated.

Preserving and protecting clean air, open space, and adequate supply of high quality water must also be a top priority. These challenges are more difficult to cure than the "smoke-stack" problems we faced a decade ago. Government must foster a climate of innovation to develop new technologies and encourage all people to be stewards of a clean and healthy environment, from global warming to air and water issues, to open space and sustainable development.

We must work with local communities to protect our environment and reduce the impact of catastrophic climate changes. "Thinking globally and acting locally" has never been more important.

As a lifetime member of the Sierra Club and a former Board member of the League To Save Lake Tahoe, my commitment to environmental protection has been steady and strong. As a doctor and public health expert, I led the fight, starting in the 70's, to address one of the most pressing environmental health issues of its day – asbestos and toxic contamination of local shipyards and buildings in the Bay Area. Together with local unions and community organizations, I formed a non-profit organization that helped thousands of local families.

We must all individually work in our personal lives to reduce our collective impact on a rapidly deteriorating global environment.

Quality Education – Good Jobs – Strong Economy

In today's fast-changing world, a commitment to quality education for every child is more important than ever. Our volatile economy also requires education and training to be a lifelong process that will allow working adults to transition to the well-paying jobs of the future.

I am a strong advocate for early childhood education, increasing financial support for K-12, vocational training and apprenticeships, and community colleges and higher education.

Our commitment must translate into recruiting and retaining top-notch teachers, dynamic administrators, and enough librarians, maintenance and support staff to ensure our classrooms and school complexes can meet the needs and challenges of today's students.

The need for skilled workers is steadily increasing. Strong school-to-work programs enable students of all ages to be life-long learners, and ensure that graduates are prepared with the skills needed to either continue on to college, enter the global workforce, or be re-trained so they can qualify for new and better job opportunities.

I'll work to expand internship and apprenticeship programs, job shadowing, and school- based enterprises that can help students gain real-world experience to supplement what they learn in the classroom.

Given the increasing diversity of our communities, we need programs that help families help their children. School programs must reach out to families and communities to ensure constructive involvement in each child's education. We are privileged to live in a district with such a rich multi-cultural heritage. Yet this diversity presents distinct challenges to policy makers to develop and implement innovative programs that can help parents and families from all backgrounds help their children succeed academically.