Assemblywoman Garcia Brings A Record Of Boldly Fighting Corruption To Her Campaign For Reelection

by: Leo Briones

Downey, CA– Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has officially launched her campaign for reelection. Since being elected in November of 2012, Cristina has served as a strong advocate for the residents of the 58th Assembly District.

Cristina swept into office as an anti-corruption activist having led the high-profile reform efforts in the City of Bell. The organization, she co-founded, BASTA partnered with the local community to rid their city of institutional corruption and elect a new city council, which in turn implemented a series of ethical and governmental best practices reforms.

Cristina’s underdog election in which she was out spent by a more than 5-1 margin upset the traditional political power structure both locally and in the State Capitol. Her election symbolized a new generation of ethical and progressive leadership. Cristina’s most formidable opponent was former Assemblyman Tom Calderon ($2.5 million pro-Calderon spending).  Mr. Calderon has since served a 24-month sentence on federal bribery conviction. His brother former Senator Ron Calderon has also since served a 24-month sentence on federal corruption charges.

To continue her commitment to advocating for the tax payers of her district by ridding her community of corruption, Cristina called for audits of the Central Basin Water Board (Central Basin) and the Montebello Unified School District (MUSD). The Central Basin Audit recommendations led to the expansion of the Central Basin board to seven members, including three appointed members, which has increased fiscal accountability. The audit of the MUSD is partially complete but currently the district is restricted from spending tax payer money unless those expenditures are first approved by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Since arriving in Sacramento, Cristina has worked diligently to make her reform efforts in to state laws that benefit every California taxpayer. In 2014, she introduced the Political Conduct, Ethics and Public Trust Acts. The package of political reform measures was meant to increase accountability and promote transparency and trust in state and local government.

These are the bills of the Political Conduct, Ethics and Public Trust Acts that are now state law:

AB 1673 – Eliminating Influence Peddling

Prevents lobbyists from hosting unreported political fundraisers at their homes and offices.

AB 1666 – Penalties – Bribes

Doubles the existing restitution amounts and prohibits the use of campaign funds to pay a restitution fine under this section.

AB 1692 – Personal Use of Campaign Funds

Prevents campaign funds from being used to pay for fines that result from abuse of campaign funds for personal use.

AB 2040 – Detailed Disclosure of Government Compensation

Expands the details of what a state or local government agency must publicly disclose concerning governmental salaries, benefits and per diem.

AB 1728 – Conflicts Stemming from Contributions

Prevents appointed members of water boards who are running as candidates from making decisions that affect contributors or potential contributors who appear before them in a proceeding involving a license, permit or entitlement for use.

AB 1596 – Vote by Mail

Requires all vote-by-mail applications, when completed, to be mailed directly to the county registrar’s office and not to middlemen or political campaign organizations.

“Yes, my anti-corruption efforts have been a benefit to my local community. But despite the stereotype–political corruption is not the exclusive to working communities. I am proud that my efforts to clean up political corruption are a benefit to all Californians. I hope that as individuals seek elected office they understand how important best practices, transparency, and ethics are to serving California tax payers,” concluded Assemblywoman Garcia.

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