The 22nd Assembly District, which encompasses the North Shore suburbs and some of Milwaukee, is fortunate to have the choice of four top-notch candidates to represent them in the next legislative session. But one candidate stands out from the rest. The Shepherd Express strongly endorses Sandra Pasch for the 22nd District.
Pasch,a nurse and assistant professor at Columbia College of Nursing, is atireless advocate for those who are marginalized and misunderstood: thementally ill. Pasch is a founding member of the Milwaukee Mental HealthTask Force and established the Crisis Intervention Team program inMilwaukee, which has trained more than 300 members of law enforcementto deal with those in a crisis situation due to mental illness. Thishas earned Pasch respect not only from the health care community andfamilies of the mentally ill, but from law enforcement as well. It’sthis sort of innova tive thinking and compassion that will make Paschan effective progressive legislator in Madison.
Pasch’sbackground in health care makes her a fitting successor to state Rep.Sheldon Wasserman, who is now running for state Senate. The combinedexpertise of Wasserman, an OB/GYN, and Pasch is much needed in theLegislature, where the most critical issue in the next legislative session will be health care reform. Even as a first-term legislator, Paschcan play a key role in help ing to craft the health care legislationsince she understands it from the inside and is truly concerned withits impact on consumers.
Wealso admire Pasch for her fighting spirit. When she slipped on ice andfractured her pelvis while knocking on doors campaigning earlier thisyear, she didn’t quit. While still in a wheelchair, Pasch enlistedvolunteers and kids who needed summer jobs to help her canvass thedistrict. A less-determined candidate would have called it quits, butPasch never consid ered that an option.
While we feel that Pasch is the best choice for the 22ndDistrict, her three Democratic challengers are also well qualified.Andy Feldman has shown a lot of enthusiasm for public policy and he hasa bright future ahead of him. Guy Johnson has served Shorewood asvillage president very well, and his ideas about the realities of thestate budget, mass transit and environmental protection are progressiveand pragmatic. Dan Kohl has a strong background in business andeducational reform, and he’s to be commended for wanting to give backto the community by serving the public as a legislator. But we feelthat Pasch is the best choice for the 22nd District.
