Candidate for state Senate: Sally Lieber

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She was born and grew up two miles north of Detroit, Michigan. Lieber attended public schools there and hated high school. She was a terrible student and when she graduated decided instead of going to college she would work. So she attended trade school and became a member of the building trades. Since there were many more job opportunities in San Francisco, she moved here in 1986 and was a paper hanger. There were very few women in the trades then and the small group became fast friends. She worked on Victorian houses and after the earthquake in 1989 there were even more opportunities. Eventually she attended community college, City College in San Francisco, where she met her husband. Unlike high school, she loved City College. It was very diverse with people of all ages and all backgrounds. Her husband soon began working in Silicon Valley in high tech and the couple moved to Mountain View. She attended Foothill College where she majored in history and became very involved in student government.

She was admitted to Stanford as a junior and received her Bachelor of Art in 2000 when she was 39 years old. But before that she did something almost unheard of. She ran for Mountain View City Council when she was still a full-time Stanford student and won. This created quite a sensation and she was interviewed by Stanford Magazine. The reporter asked her what was next and without batting an eye or planning any answer, Lieber said she would run for the 22nd Assembly district. She did and won in 2002.

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When she entered the Assembly, California was facing an economic downhill which made bills which had a cost almost impossible to pass. Gray Davis was recalled and Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor. Her legislative accomplishments include AB 22, the California Trafficking Protection act which made trafficking a crime. She supported an increase in the minimum wage from $6.75 an hour to $8. She helped introduce the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority in 2006, the first legislation on sea level rise. She worked with David Lewis of Save the Bay and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to get this through. She was the joint author with former assemblyman Mark Leno on the marriage equality bill and the joint-author of a bill to legalize gay marriage (though that bill was later vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger).

But she received most attention for a bill she introduced to make spanking a child a misdemeanor. Lieber does not have any children. In 2005, spanking was still acceptable for many. It was very common in my generation and in my parents’ generation. Today, my children would never think of raising a hand to their kids and spanking is certainly not politically or socially correct. But back then, there was an uproar from people who said the government had no business telling them how to reprimand their children. When I asked Lieber about the bill she said it would make it a misdemeanor to punch an infant, brandish a gun against a child, hit a child with a metal rod or intentionally scald a child.

She was speaker pro tem from 2007-2008.

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Lieber was termed out after three terms. In 2012 she ran for the state Senate against Jerry Hill and lost. She is doing it again despite the odds of being the only candidate from Santa Clara County when most of the district is in San Mateo County. She said that is true geographically but not necessarily population wise. Sunnyvale is the largest city in the district. Lieber has put in $100,000 of her own money in the race and is now starting to collect endorsements. You can read more on her website sallylieber.org.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.