Now that Mother's Day has come and gone, I realize that I should advertise my alternative identities. On the June 3 ballot I am Deborah Dobish, but you may know me as Sasha or Ella Swedlund's mom, or as Alexandra or Marcella's mom, or as Mark's wife!

We have lived in Sebastopol since 1995 and much of my efforts over the years have been devoted to school, sports, music, dance, and arts organizations. Now my oldest is about to graduate from high school and my second is a sophmore at Analy. They both went to Sunridge elementary. Currently, I am president of Friends of ArtQuest, a group that supports the ArtQuest program at Santa Rosa High.

You may have met me through CYO basketball or West County Softball. Recently I was at the great Analy Foundation fundraiser at the French Garden and worked the Poker Night for the Analy softball and baseball teams.

I am a member of the Native Plant Society and the Laguna Foundation and very devoted to my habitat garden which is becoming more and more natives only.

Recently, I was the precinct coordinator for the Obama campaign here in the county and have been active in that campaign for over a year. This brings me to why I am running for the central committee: I want to work on bringing the Democratic Party into the neighborhoods of the county. We need a grassroots organization for many reasons, not the least of which is that President Obama will need a mobilized electorate so that he and the Democrats can govern and stand up to the corporate and big money interests that will do all they can to hold on to power.

We need to have ongoing voter registration, get out the vote programs,voter education programs and voter protection programs. I have been organizing in electoral politics for over 40 years and have the background.

I could go on and on, but maybe I will in another post. Meanwhile, please, vote for me, and for my coalition partners: Lynn Hamilton, Liz Basile, Alice Chan, and Don Frank. We are all committed to a vibrant local Democratic Party!