Pescetti hopes experience pays off: State assembly candidate wants to keep higher education costs down

It is all about experience for state assembly candidate Anthony Pescetti, running against legislative staffer Debra Gravert.

Pescetti, a father of two, said his greatest advantage is serving on the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District board of directors since 1992.

"I hold public office, she doesn't," he said.

Pescetti, the Republican candidate, is running against Democrat Gravert and Libertarian Tom Kohlhepp of Lodi for the 10th state assembly district. The district is 80 percent within Sacramento County with the remaining 20 percent in San Joaquin County.

Pescetti's SMUD experience is prominently played in campaign information. First elected to SMUD's board in 1992, he was reelected without opposition in 1996.

"I've been put in positions to vote for our customers," he said. "There's a big difference in pushing the button and being a Monday morning quarterback."

Pescetti has been married 21 years to his wife Kathy and has had two children, Sarina Marie, 20, and Anthony Jr., 17. He said he supports keeping the cost of higher education down, primarily through adoption of a corporate partnership program. Part of that plan is to bring new companies into the Sacramento area.

"We have a unique opportunity, with the quality of graduates at Sac State, to recruit new companies," he said.

Pescetti said he sees most of the growth occuring in the computer sciences. The Sacramento area hosts operations of several Silicon Valley firms, including Intel, Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Packard Bell NEC.

Pescetti also said he wants to reduce costs of education related construction and make the state more business friendly. Pescetti said that cutting the construction review process at the state architect's office would save on construction costs since the state charges for a review of the plans. Having worked in the state architect's office, Pescetti sees the work as duplication and thus an unneeded expense in both time and money.

"You are asking a structural engineer to plan check another structural engineer, " he said. "You're asking a peer to look over your shoulder."

He supports proposition 8 which would solidify class size reductions in between kindergarten and third grades and establish parent and teacher site councils who would help determine the course of policy at public schools.

"It gives parents a chance to be involved with the schools," he said.

Pescetti also works with Women Escaping a Violent Environment and said he plans to write legislation improve domestic violence statues.

"We need to strengthen laws so the abused aren't placed in constant fear of their life," he said.