(Woo-hoo! Say hello to restored sanity in the desert! : ) – promoted by atdleft)

Manuel Pérez is a hands-on, no bs, Harvard-educated community organizer from the heart of the Coachella Valley.  You want direct, unapologetic progressives with experience in building a just and healthy society?  I’ve got one right here.

Here’s where he’s been:  Escuelas Si Pintas No, Youth in Focus, CVUSD.  Here’s what he’ll do as a legislator for California.  Manuel Pérez represents the very best of our community, and I’m honored to be volunteering for his campaign for the California State Assembly seat representing the 80th District.

Crossposted from Daily Kos

I knew I’d like this candidate as soon as I heard that JC Sanchez was supporting him, and Amalia DeAztlan was his campaign manager.  But as Joshua Grossman of Progressive Punch reminded me, the issues come first.  So Pérez is smart, effective, a local hero, and trusted by those I trust.  But where is he on the issues?

Pro-choice?  Yes, and so much more.  This man is bringing women’s health to the forefront of social welfare.  Environmentalist?  He was formerly in the Green Party.  Education credentials – he brought the first ethnic studies curriculum to the Coachella Valley as a teacher.  Law and order views?  Pérez fights crime at its major source:  poverty.  I have over a year to address these things in an orderly and logical way, so I won’t try to tell it all with this first posting.  Here’s what Manuel Pérez has to say for himself:

Manuel Pérez
Candidate for the California State Assembly 80th District
“Crunch-time” in America

After much deliberation and critical self-examination I have decided to seek a seat in the California State Assembly representing the 80th Assembly District. I do so with a deep sense of obligation to serve the people and best interests of my District and my beloved country.

We are a prosperous country and a prosperous District, but we have become a divided people. We have become a divided people because we have lost touch with the human ideals of equality that first shaped our republic and that bind us together. We have lost our senses of caring and sharing; of equity and common interests; of a greater good; of shared values and personal dignity; of humanity. 

In short, we have placed narrow, short-term economic interests above our longer term goals of helping others excel, unifying our diverse populations, and elevating the lives of all. Too many of our current leaders seem to believe that technology and “the market place” will solve all problems, despite rapidly- growing evidence to the contrary.

The key to problem-solving is “problem definition” and we continue to try to solve new problems with old definitions and tired beliefs. We need a new breed of leadership: someone who can bring new visions to complex matters. We need a leader who recognizes that the whole purpose of our democratic enterprise is the enrichment of the human condition. We need a thoughtful person who understands that our constitution is not only a recipe for political stability and human advancement but a tool for economic stability and progress.

In the course of my campaign I will discuss several important issues in more detail. For now I will simply mention two of our highest priorities. First, we must invest much more in the talents and well-being of our people; and we must become much more insistent upon better returns from those investments. Second, our sluggish institutions must respond more quickly and more adeptly to change — the one constant in life is change. We now live in a time where change occurs more rapidly and with farther-reaching consequences; but our institutional responses are too late and too lame.

I could go on, but my main point is this: we need new approaches for solving today’s problems in fresh but practical ways. I promise to you that I refuse to indulge in any “blame games.” We are all in this together. I welcome all those of goodwill who share my concerns for the future health, safety and well being of our communities, our District and our nation to join with me in the search for better solutions — solutions which embody our ideals and our beliefs in the noble experiment that we call the United States of America.

Please help us put Manuel Pérez in the State Assembly!  Contribute via ActBlue here.