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16
April – June 2013
www.deltalivingmagazine.com
By Michael Burkholder
mburk1010@gmail.com
“P
eople Before Politics” is a slogan As-
semblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley,
adopted 12 years ago after he lost a daughter in
a tragic accident involving black ice.
After much work, he succeeded in con-
vincing Caltrans to widen the median and in-
stall a new pavement to prevent black ice. To
date, there has not been one cross-over fatality.
Through that process, it gave the assemblyman
a new perspective on life about wanting to help
those around him. That was his rst taste of
politics and he hasn’t looked back.
In 2007, he was elected to the Oakley City
Council and this past November ran and won a
State Assembly seat with over 60% of the vote
in the newly created 11th District.The District
covers portions of Contra Costa, Solano and
Sacramento counties.
For Frazier, he sees it as an opportunity to
help a lot of people with issues that are vital
to them.
“Getting the opportunity to work in Sacra-
mento each day is a real honor. I want to hear
from people and want to know how I can help
them,” said Frazier. “If I am not trying to help,
I am not doing my job as an elected o cial.”
In a large district (roughly 500-square miles)
facing many issues, Frazier will be extremely
busy working on many of the areas issues and
ensuring he can meet with as many constitu-
ents as possible.
“The people elected me to help them nd
solutions and that is what I am going to try and
do,” said Frazier.“It’s a real honor to get to help
people each day and it gets pretty contagious.
Once you help someone, you get to help the
next person. I like that feeling.”
Before he could help his constituents,Frazier
had a mandatory three-week training course to
better understand rules, policy and processes in
Sacramento – his wife Janet, also took a training
course aimed at spouses.
A lot has happened since that Dec. 3 swear-
ing in when he was one of 38-freshmen assem-
bly members.
“It was surreal and I had to take a step back
because all the great history before me. It re-
From Oakley
to Sacramento:
Photos by Felicia Kieselhorst
Assemblyman Jim Frazier talks about his new job