Democrat hopes to unseat Gallegly

Jill Martinez Presbyterian minister Jill Martinez is confident she'll have the support of local voters in her attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks), who's represented the 24th Congressional District in Washington since 1986.

The district encompasses most of Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County. It has 14 jurisdictions and about 660,000 residents.

The Rev. Martinez, 56, was ordained in 1984. She set aside her ministry on Jan. 1 this year to run for political office. "I don't want any confusion between the understanding of the separation of church and state," she said.

Martinez's top priorities include ending the war in Iraq, funding quality education and achieving universal access to affordable healthcare and housing.

Gallegly, who initially announced he would retire over concerns about his health, decided to run for an 11th term only because he faced pressure to do so from the White House and Republican leaders, Martinez said. "But he really doesn't want the job. "He's not engaged anywhere with anyone," she said.

The Republican congressman votes in step with the administration, and people aren't happy with that kind of voting record, she said.

According to the candidate, the American dream needs to be revitalized because democracy no longer lies in the hands of people. Martinez said she'd fight for fiscal, social and foreign policy reforms.

The country is currently on the wrong track and the leadership is out of touch with the needs of people, she said.

"We need a nation that provides opportunities for everyone and creates the conditions that allow hardworking people to succeed," said Martinez, who served as deputy director for the Ventura County Area Housing Authority in the mid 1990s and has been involved with affordable-housing organizations ever since.

The region's high real estate prices make homes out of reach for working families, so legislators must work together to provide workforce housing, she said.

The Democrat says she's pro business and intends to help small businesses develop in the region.

She also hopes to offer healthcare for everyone. "Affordable healthcare is on everybody's mind," she said. The issue of health coverage affects businesses because offering benefits to employees is so costly.

"We need to develop a plan to work with businesses and with existing healthcare providers so no one suffers the huge burden," she said.

Individual families also need help as many live paycheck-topaycheck, Martinez said. A chronic illness could quickly put such a family into bankruptcy, she added.

Through her career in the ministry, Martinez has visited many countries and has learned much about people and public policies in the process.

"We (the U.S.) act as if we can do it all alone rather than developing strong international partnerships," she said.

Martinez believes the war in Iraq can only be resolved through solutions supported by the international community to help Iraqis stabilize the situation in their own country. "The war is misled and mismanaged and it sent us into financial deficit," she said.

In dealing with immigration concerns, Martinez said, a path should be set to enable the immigrants who are already here to come forward so they can be registered and given the opportunity to become citizens.

Hard-working immigrants who've been here for years have businesses, own homes and pay taxes. They contribute much to the economy and it would be prohibitively costly to send them back, according to Martinez, adding that these immigrants come from every corner of the world, not just Mexico.

To prevent further problems, Martinez said, borders must be secured and laws enforced. This could be done with increased technology and personnel at the borders and ports of entry, but a wall isn't the answer, she said.

As part of the solution, Congress needs to pass measures that will create a security system to check vessels before they leave their port of origin, Martinez said.

Martinez grew up in Pismo Beach. She has one adult daughter, a graduate of UCLA and Hastings Law School, who is working on the campaign with her.

She was a parish associate at First Presbyterian Church in Oxnard and has served in many other ministries throughout California. Martinez also helped to develop Hispanic ministries in several areas.

Martinez said she's able to work with both political parties to get problems solved.

"Being a minister is going to help me in politics," she said. Representatives must be reminded they've been elected to serve the people, she said. "Our leaders have lost sight of that."