By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Cindy Pocius may be soft-spoken, but she carries a big agenda.
The Sunnyvale resident aims to trim bureaucracy and improve public schools if she is elected as a Republican assemblywoman in California's 22nd Assembly District.
"Education is my passion," she said. Pocius champions other issues, too, including tort reform, tax reform, government regulation and property rights.
Pocius is optimistic about her chances because there is no incumbent running for this seat. She expressed little concern about competition with her opponent, Karin Dowdy of Saratoga.
"I'm doing what I'm doing because I feel a calling to do it. Win, lose or draw, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing," she said.
Alma Steinberg, a Boulder Creek resident who has volunteered on various school committees with Pocius for nine years, said she is determined, honest and does her homework.
"She doesn't open her mouth until she knows what she's saying. She is passionate about her beliefs and follows through with what she starts. If something is wrong, she won't let it go unchanged because that's the way it's always been," she said.
Steinberg said Pocius would be open to what constituents want and will strive for their goals rather than her own. If Pocius has an Achilles heel, it would be that her family comes before everything else.
"I don't know if that's a weakness or not," she said.
Pocius, who has served on several school-related commissions and committees outside Sunnyvale, said she would like to see more efficient funding and fewer bureaucrats. She said that in California there are 13 bureaucrats for every 10 who deal directly with children, a figure she described as outrageous.
"Funding would be more efficient if we didn't have to give 50 cents on the dollar toward bureaucracy rather than children. More funding needs to be funneled to kids," she said.
Pocius, 48, attended public schools and has always been interested in education. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from San Jose State University.
She said she became more intimately involved with education when her daughter, Deborah, began attending school in the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District.
"I think I only missed one school board meeting. As a good parent, it's important to be involved, and as a good citizen you should become a community activist," said Pocius, who has been active in her community for two decades.
She attended a few Sunnyvale Elementary School District board meetings while Deborah attended Sunnyvale Middle School, and did home schooling because her daughter missed six months of school, which gave Pocius a chance to see the system from another perspective.
Deborah is now a freshman at Homestead High School. Cindy's husband, Doug, is an engineer at Hewlett-Packard.
Pocius' community and political interests range further than education. Pocius has served as president of the San Jose Republican Women's Federated, a volunteer group geared toward educating the public about Republican ideology. Pocius led the club to win a national award.
She said the most difficult aspect of being a candidate is "tooting her own horn. It's hard for me. What I do comes from my heart, not just to move ahead politically," she said.
Pocius spent time working with Valley Churches United preparing and distributing emergency food after she was evacuated from her home for four days during the storm of 1986.
Chuck Wojslaw, a Republican candidate for the 16 Congressional District seat now held by Zoe Lofgren, said Pocius would not sell her values to get elected to political office. Wojslaw has known Pocius for just a year, but in the short time, he said has learned that she will take her beliefs to the electorate and get elected if they agree with her.
"If elected, she would enact laws that would benefit her district rather than cater to special interest groups," he said.
Wojslaw said Pocius is soft-spoken, but has a way of capturing her listeners' attention. "It's not only the politicians who rant and rave who have leadership qualities. She has an air about her that makes you feel comfortable," he said.
While Pocius' supporters can find little fault with her abilities, some Republicans have said there is little doubt that Karin Dowdy of Saratoga will win the race.
"[Dowdy] has good name recognition because she ran for office before and she is a strong candidate," said Jim Roberts, a Sunnyvale City Council member who is active in the Republican Party although city politics are nonpartisan.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 24, 1996
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.