Commentary: Curry has the public, private experience to lead in office
The new state representatives we elect this November will have the opportunity to represent Orange County for the next 12 years.
The legislators we elect will have significant impacts on public policy, the future of our party and the future of our state for over a decade. They will be responsible for strengthening the Republican Party and breaking the two-thirds super-majority currently held by legislative Democrats.
Of the two candidates who will appear on the ballot in November, only one has the experience, business acumen and breadth of experience to be an effective representative for our district and our state.
The other candidate has not demonstrated a significant ability to collaborate with others and lacks the real-world experience that is so valuable in any profession and especially in representative government. We need serious candidates with diverse and extensive backgrounds in business, local public service and education. That is why I am asking you to support Keith Curry in his race for state Assembly.
Keith is a longtime Newport Beach businessman, university director and local public servant. His experience reaches all the way back to his work with Paul Gann, in passing the Gann Spending Limit Initiative. Keith worked for President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., was elected to the Newport Beach City Council and served as mayor in 2010 and 2013.
In 2010, in Keith’s first act as mayor, he introduced the Fiscal Sustainability Plan, which led to Newport Beach generating a surplus every year during the recession, including a $12.7 million surplus in 2013. His experience also includes serving as Past President of the Orange County Parks Commission and teaching public policy and government leadership in the Concordia Business School MBA program.
Keith is a successful businessman, with a 25-year career in the private sector.
As someone who has worked passionately for education, I believe Keith is exactly the right person to help get our state education system in order and to improve the schools for all of our kids. That is why the entire Newport-Mesa School District board of trustees has endorsed Keith, along with many other educational leaders.
This record of success is what distinguishes Keith from his opponent and makes him the better choice in the 74th Assembly District. I urge you to support Curry for state Assembly.
MARIAN BERGESON is a former state senator, state education secretary, assemblywoman and county supervisor. She lives in Newport Beach.