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Goldberg, Jackie

CANDIDATE DETAILS

Affiliation

Democratic

Name

Jackie Goldberg

Address

Los Angeles, California , United States

None

Website

None

Born

November 18, 1944

Died

Still Living (80 years)

Contributor

Summer Intern

Last Modifed

E Pluribus Unum
Oct 18, 2022 08:08pm

Tags

Democratic Socialists Of America - Lesbian -

Info

Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg has a long and distinguished career as a public advocate.

She began her professional life as a classroom teacher at Centennial and then Dominguez High School in Compton, and worked as a teacher, specializing in reading, for more than 18 years. Her work with her students, many of whom were low-income or spoke English as a second language, inspired her to develop and direct a model cross-disciplinary reading program to strengthen critically important reading skills. She was also an active member of the Compton Federation of Teachers and was a founding member of Coalition of Labor Union Women.

In addition to her work with her students and with the union, Goldberg was a tireless community activist. She helped start a trilingual neighborhood childcare center, an after-school tutoring program, a food cooperative, and helped secure a public pool and library for her community.

Armed with first-hand understanding of the problems and challenges of the Los Angeles public school system, Goldberg ran for and won a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School Board in 1983. Goldberg was elected in an upset victory over the incumbent and served two terms. During her second term, Goldberg served as President of the Board from 1989 through 1991. Her leadership was instrumental in creating on-campus health clinics, improving curriculum in reading, math and science, and leading the development of school-based management, creating accountability and ownership for the teachers and administrators of each school. In addition, Goldberg was able to nearly double the starting salary for new teachers, ensuring that Los Angeles schools were able to attract and retain the best educators possible.

From 1991 to 1993, Goldberg worked for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina as her Children's Services Deputy. She worked actively on issues such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and enforcement of child support. At the same time, Goldberg taught at Grant High School in the San Fernando Valley.

In 1993, Goldberg won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council 13th District, and became the first openly lesbian woman to hold office on the City Council. She was re-elected without opposition in 1997.

Goldberg's Council legacy includes authorship of the "Living Wage" ordinance which guarantees a living wage and benefits to all employees working directly or indirectly for the City of Los Angeles; her work in the economic revitalization of Hollywood, including the successful negotiation with developer TrizecHahn to build a retail entertainment complex in the heart of Hollywood, which will include the future home of the Academy Awards, and to provide a "Living Wage" to all employees of the complex; the creation of model after-school enrichment programs in every middle school in the district; the passage of a citywide ban on the sale of small, cheap handguns known as "Saturday Night Specials"; and development of the extremely successful "Slum Abatement" program which holds landlords accountable to the City for the condition of their properties and provides an effective system of redress to tenants who have complaints.

Assemblymember Goldberg was elected overwhelmingly to her first term in the California State Assembly on November 7, 2000. Her goals this legislative session are to build on her record of effective public service in the areas of education, health care, gun control and working families issues such as Living Wage. Goldberg's frank and honest demeanor, her knowledgeable command of the issues and her emphasis on consensus-building, pragmatism and foresight in creating legislation won her praise and respect from both her constituency and her colleagues at Los Angeles City Hall. Goldberg has brought the same insight, energy and effectiveness to her position in Sacramento.

Over the last three years, Goldberg has introduced legislation covering a variety of issues, including:

� AB 112, which would provide that only serious or violent felony offenses be considered a "strike" for California's Three Strikes and You're Out sentencing. Status: Legislation is pending.

� AB 205, which significantly expands the rights, responsibilities, duties and obligations of registered domestic partners. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 421, Statutes of 2003

� AB 313, which allows participants in the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program to shop at any authorized grocery store rather than one designated store. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 842, Statutes of 2001

� AB 413, which authorizes the State Department of Parks and Recreation to lease land to the City of Los Angeles for the specific purpose of creating a new City of Los Angeles Park in Taylor Yard. The lease will allow Los Angeles to develop and manage a park, which will include organized sports such as soccer and baseball. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 677, Statutes of 2003

� AB 858, which would prohibit public schools (K-12), from using the term "Redskins" as a school or athletic team name, mascot or nickname. Status: Legislation is pending.

� AB 1017, which establishes preferences and minimum proficiency standards in American Sign Language for the hiring of teachers of deaf students. Sponsor: Deaf Children First. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 865, Statutes of 2003

� AB 1307, which prevents a teacher credentialing program from changing the requirements for completion once the individual has started the program. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 565, Statutes of 2001

� AB 1309, which authorizes cities or counties to acquire property for the purpose of developing replacement housing when residential units are taken to build new schools. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 574, Statutes of 2003

� AB 1688, which is an attempt to curb the proliferation of sweatshop-like conditions in the car wash industry. The bill establishes a bonding system to ensure proper payment of wages, requires carwash operators to register with the State Labor Commissioner, and creates a Car Wash Workers Fund made up of registration and penalty fees accessed by car wash workers who are found by the Department of Labor to have been denied their wages. Status: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 825, Statutes of 2003

Goldberg Chairs the Assembly Education Committee and the Select Committee on Challenges Facing Non-English Communities and is a member of the Appropriations; Budget; Public Safety; and Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committees. She was recently appointed to the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission. She is also a member of the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan For Education, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Select Committee on Community Colleges, and sits on the Governing Board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Assemblymember Goldberg resides in Echo Park with her life-partner, poet Sharon Stricker, who is also a teacher and the Executive Director of LACER, a non-profit organization which runs arts and literacy based after school programs in middle schools in LAUSD. Their son, Brian, and daughter-in-law, Carmen, live and work in San Diego. Goldberg holds her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Education from the University of Chicago. She is a Los Angeles native and has been a resident of the District in Echo Park since 1967.

Sources: Candidate campaign website, SmartVoter.org

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