The Partisan was the newspaper published by the Peace And Freedom Party State Central Committee and was published regularly from 1994 to 2009.This was originally published in Partisan issue no. 26, printed September 2008.
Gerald Frink is the Peace and Freedom Party nominee for State Assembly in the 9th District, one of the state's most compact districts mainly located in the City of Sacramento.
Gerald knows how state government works from the inside, having retired after working 25 years as an Information Services Technician in the State Controller's office.
Gerald Frink was born in Illinois, and earned his degree in music at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He clearly remembers his first political march from the university to the state capitol in April 1968. Peace marches and demonstrations have been part of his life ever since.
Gerald Frink came to California in 1970. He recalls that before he arrived in California, education was free through the university level. "We need to bring back free higher education," says Gerald. "We need to cut down on the number of people in prison, and increase the resources for schools."
A decent medical care system, a single-payer system that covers everyone, is at the top of Gerald's list of political necessities. "As long as insurance companies are in the system, we won't have a decent system," he says.
His lifelong commitment to peace is also part of his campaign, even though members of the Assembly cannot decide federal issues. "We need to bring the California National Guard home from Iraq, and the legislature should vote to do this."
Another issue on the November ballot is of great importance to Gerald as a gay man. "Proposition 8 (to outlaw same-sex marriage) must be defeated. Marriage equality is important, and this proposition would deny basic civil rights. Defeat 8!"
