New Solutions: Steve Glickman










Glickman seeks Democratic nod in the District 24 race

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This is the third of six profiles on candidates for the 24th Assembly District. We will publish stories on all six candidates prior to the March 7 election.--Editor

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By Nathan R. Huff

With extensive experience in the areas of education, technology, medicine and the criminal justice system, District 24 Assembly candidate Steve Glickman believes he has the expertise to deal with the issues West Valley residents find most important, and the willingness to try new solutions.

Glickman, in his third term on the Los Gatos Union School District board and first term on the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization, is seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed Assemblyman Jim Cunneen.

A single parent of two boys, one of whom still lives at home, Glickman considers himself well rounded on all the issues; however his work's focus remains on schools and the juvenile justice system. Despite the good reputations of Saratoga and Los Gatos schools, Glickman points to California's dismal 41 out of 50 state ranking for per pupil expenditures.

"We're not completely insulated--in a countywide sense--from the things urban school systems struggle with," Glickman said. He said Silicon Valley's high cost of living and abundance of jobs is hurting the recruitment of teachers, particularly in the hard sciences.

Glickman advocates compensating teachers through housing subsidies, forgiving student loans, and offering college scholarships for children of teachers. He also said he would be open to trying charter schools on a limited basis, and then evaluating their success.

Glickman's other longstanding community position has been with the Santa Clara County Juvenile Justice Commission, to which he was appointed in 1994. In general, Glickman said he supports keeping anyone who poses a threat to public safety incarcerated; however, he added that too many law enforcement and correction resources are going toward people whose behavior was merely self-punishing. Drug users, for instance, Glickman said, should be viewed as having a medical problem.

With juveniles in particular, Glickman said too often children become embroiled in the justice system over issues that really should be dealt with at a more fundamental level. "In our concern, we've gotten the criminal justice system involved in issues that used to be handled by families," Glickman said. "I think families should be dealing with the problems of their children as the first line of defense."

But when it comes to the traffic and affordable housing issues facing Silicon Valley, Glickman believes the solution needs to come from a larger, regional perspective. Developers, he argues, should have to consider housing and transportation consequences prior to receiving approval for their projects.

"When an area like this is transitioning from a relatively small player to a world capital, issues like [transportation and housing] need to be dealt with on a wider basis than individual towns," Glickman said. "I'm strongly in favor of regional planning."

Glickman said he supports SCA3, a state constitutional amendment that would change the current requirement of a 2/3 vote to pass local transportation related sales taxes to a simple majority, but knows taxpayers will only accept so many new taxes. For that reason, he said he'd rather see voters pass State Proposition 26-- which would institute the same simple majority requirement for local school bonds--and wait on SCA3.

Glickman said the valley's environmental problems relate closely to its relatively poor mass transit systems and dependence on automobiles. He said he is in favor of "strong measures" to preserve the environment, for reasons of principle and economics.

"We have fabulous natural resources that attract people to come here--and these are the best and brightest--and they're not going to come if the place is filthy," Glickman said.

Glickman's work includes teaching and software consulting for medical equipment firms. He said his present involvement in the medical field, combined with past research on nuclear medicine in Geneva, Switzerland, gives him a dual perspective on health care. On one hand, Glickman said he can see the economic constraints facing medical suppliers and practitioners, but at the same time he firmly believes health care should be guaranteed to everyone. Among his cost-cutting suggestions to make universal health care feasible, is putting more responsibility on physician assistants for minor medical problems.

Glickman said he is funding the vast majority of his campaign himself. Breaking down the numbers, he figured he could raise more money by just continuing his work rather than taking time off to look for donations. He added that it has also allowed him time to further research the issues.

The Syracuse University graduate, and active pro-choice advocate, said he would not have entered the race for Assembly had he not thought he could win. "I realized that if I was in a position to succeed in a campaign, and a position where I could do something positive," Glickman said. "There was no reason not to run."

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