How I started being interested in running was through the fact that I've always been kind of a community activist and got tired, but not just me, many people were tired, of sitting in front of a board of supervisors. I had sat down too many times in front of the board of supervisors on issues in Encinitas and basically they didn't know who Encinitas was, nor did they care. I saw people actually make decisions based on who had contributed to their campaigns. They made decisions that weren't in the best interest of this community. By the mid-90's, many residents felt they weren't welcome at City Hall because they didn't have a city council that really wanted to hear much of what they had to say. I felt that a government really needs to be of the people- and this sounds corny- of the people, by the people, for the people. I felt like people who'd been elected felt that they were smarter than me and everybody else in the community and that they didn't need to hear from us. We had one particular city council member that actually fell asleep during meetings. There was this time during a meeting that they had a lot of people who were there to talk. One council member didn't realize that his microphone was on and afterwards said, "Boy, I'm sure glad to see the back sides of those people. I hope we don't see them any time soon." I walked up to him and I said, "Council Member Barnes, you may not realize it, but we heard what you said and it is our right. We were exercising our right to give you input on projects that affect us." I was really upset. I said, "How dare you talk to your citizens that way. How dare you discredit us that way. This is guaranteed to us under the law under the Constitution." I didn't feel there were folks in council who were trying to get it changed. We were moving away from our environmental roots. We were in danger, in my opinion, of becoming Anywhere, USA. The heart and soul of this community is precious and keeping people involved is really, really important and that's part of why I ran. Because I thought there was a better way. We've adopted ordinances that guarantee folks' rights in a more formal process to give input on proposed projects in their community. We've done things that have said the community has rights. Everybody that owns property has rights. The community as a community has rights as well, and they have the right to be the community they are and to be what they bought into. They don't have a right to be overrun by special interests, and that's why I ran.

To be honest, I never thought that I would be a government official. I was in student government, though. I ran for office at Long Beach State and everybody said, "You're not in a sorority so you're never going to win." I said, "Yes, I am," and I did. I remember at Long Beach State I was voted the Associated Women's Most Valuable Woman. I don't remember doing anything very special except helping with some of the programs, and the dancing. Then at UCSD in '94, I was selected as the Outstanding Employee of the Year, which out of 19,000 employees is pretty cool recognition. Then I was voted into office and then re-elected in Encinitas. I quite honestly feel that my platform was in synch with folks. I think people appreciate a team-builder, a consensus. I think that's very attractive to people. I think they want people to lead them who have the confidence to make those decisions but also have their ego in check and have a healthy dose of self-doubt so you don't come and opinionate on everything. I think it's very important to show that you do want to make the right decisions. This last election was one of the toughest road blocks I have ever encountered in my life, though. It was very hard. In my childhood household I learned not to lash out my anger, but to quietly accept whatever happened and manage. You just keep going.