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Friends,

We did it! Thanks to your overwhelming support we raised more money than both of our opponents in the latest campaign finance period — by a wide margin!

Because of generous donors like you our campaign raised $114,262 from individuals.  Here is how we did compared to my opponents:

-$114,262 for Farrah
-$61,819 for Hodges
-$56,287 for Chavez

Not only did we raise more money, but we nearly raised as much as both of our opponents combined! We also didn’t need to pad our numbers with personal loans to prove that our campaign has real momentum.  The real numbers are more compelling: we were able to raise over $100,000 from real individuals, voters, families and businesses in just over three months.

We’ve come a long way, but we still have a ways to go — and another campaign finance reporting period is due in another 6 weeks.  Please help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution today.  If you already gave, would you consider matching your previous contribution?

Please consider making an online donation today by clicking here.

I sincerely thank you for all you have done and continue to do for my campaign. With your help, I look forward to serving our north San Diego County in the Assembly.

Longtime Community Leader Says Douglas has the Best Experience and Command of the Issues

(Carlsbad, Calif.) – Mark Muir, Encinitas City Councilman and former longtime Olivenhain Municipal Water District board member, announced his endorsement of businesswoman and Carlsbad Council Member Farrah Douglas for State Assembly. Farrah is running for north San Diego County’s 76th Assembly District which is largely held by Martin Garrick, who is leaving office due to term limits.

“Farrah is my choice for Assembly because of her background, experience, and command of complicated issues,” said Muir. “Having worked with Farrah on complex regional water issues, I have seen first-hand how detail-oriented she is and how quickly she can find solutions to complex problems. I have the utmost confidence that she is the best candidate to fight for our region’s families, businesses, local governments, and our water supply.”

Muir has been a longtime fixture in Encinitas. He recently retired as the Encinitas Fire Chief and stepped down from his board position on the Olivenhain Municipal Water District after 11 years of service to fill a vacancy on the Encnitas City Council. Muir was also once considered a potential contender for the 76th Assembly district.

The endorsement from Muir is the latest announcement from a long list of 76th District leaders in support of Farrah Douglas’ campaign. Last week her campaign released the support of Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian, who joined Assemblyman Garrick, Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, and businessman and civic leader Tom Sudberry, who are co-chairing the Douglas campaign, in support. Farrah also recently announced that her campaign raised over $110,000 in the latest campaign finance period.

(Carlsbad, Calif.) – Joe Kellejian, the Mayor of Solana Beach, has announced his endorsement of businesswoman Farrah Douglas for the 76th State Assembly District. Douglas is running for the seat currently held by Martin Garrick, who is retiring due to term limits.

“Farrah is exactly the kind of leader we need in Sacramento,” said Kellejian. “As an immigrant to this country, she has worked hard to build a business – and a family – in the 76th District and is a great leader in our community. She is a proud example of the American success story and will work harder than anyone to fix the broken California economy.”

A small businessman himself, Joe Kellejian has been an important voice in Solana Beach since serving on the Town Council in 1983. He was elected to the City Council in 1992 and is now serving his fifth term as mayor. He joins Douglas Campaign co-chairs Martin Garrick, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, business and civic leader Tom Sudberry, and Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall in supporting Farrah Douglas.

Impressive Fundraising Shows Broad Support

(Carlsbad, CA) – Farrah Douglas, small business owner and Carlsbad City Councilwoman, has raised $110,000 in her first campaign finance period since entering the race for the 76th Assembly District. In September of 2011, Douglas announced she would seek the seat currently held by Assemblyman Martin Garrick, who is retiring due to term limits.

Garrick, who is co-chairing the Douglas campaign said, “The clearest test of a candidate’s support is their ability to raise money from those that they live and work with. By any measure, Farrah has demonstrated that she has great support and it’s a testament to her hard work for the people of the 76th District. She is off to an incredible start.”

In addition to Assemblyman Garrick, Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, and businessman and civic leader Tom Sudberry, are also co-chairing the Douglas campaign.

“I’m excited by the outpouring of support for my campaign,” said Douglas. “California is at a crossroads and I think it is time that people with small business experience lead the reform fight in Sacramento so we can turn our economy around and get Californians working again. I am the only candidate with business experience. I know what our business owners and families have been through in the past four years. I will use my experience to help lift our state out of this recession so that we can move forward.”

(Carlsbad, Calif.) – Carlsbad City Councilwoman Farrah Douglas has announced that Encinitas Mayor James Bond has endorsed her candidacy for State Assembly. Douglas is running in the newly created 76th Assembly district which includes north San Diego County coastal cities of Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Oceanside, along with Vista and Camp Pendleton.

In announcing his support of Douglas, Mayor Bond said, “Farrah’s experience and perspective as both a small business owner and local elected official is most refreshing and desperately needed in state government. That is why I am proud to endorse her and be a part of her team.”

The pick-up of Mayor Bond is the latest high-profile district leader to join the campaign. Douglas’ campaign is chaired by Assemblyman Martin Garrick, the incumbent who is retiring due to term limits; Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, who works closely with Douglas on the City Council; County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, who will be retiring in January of 2013 after 20 years of service on the Board of Supervisors; and businessman and former Lincoln Club Chairman Tom Sudberry.

“I am very honored to have the trust and confidence of Mayor Bond,” said Douglas. “I am running to get Sacramento off the backs of our families, small businesses and local governments – it’s humbling to have the support of Mayor Bond.

Douglas, her husband Rick and their young son, fled Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. They have lived in Oceanside and Carlsbad for three decades and own a printing business. The San Diego Business Journal named Farrah one of 2009’s “Women Who Mean Business” and Congressman Darrell Issa awarded her his Outstanding Community Service Award. In her victorious election to the Carlsbad City Council, she raised over $125,000 and is the highest vote-getter in Carlsbad history.

I recently received this email from the Carlsbad Desalination Project. I wanted to share their progress on the desalinization plant in Carlsbad.

Dear Farrah,

Poseidon Resources would like to thank you for your continuing support. We are pleased to announce that we are moving closer to full-scale construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project. Last week, the San Diego County Water Authority released the following media statement:

Water Authority Takes Steps to Advance Carlsbad Desalination Project

Staff estimates final draft water purchase agreement will be ready for review in early 2012

October 27, 2011 – The San Diego County Water Authority will begin direct negotiations with Poseidon Resources on an agreement to purchase water from the Carlsbad Desalination Project early next month and expects to have final draft agreement ready for review in early 2012, staff reported to the Board of Directors today.

The Water Authority expects to complete a first full draft water purchase agreement and provide it to Poseidon by November 4. This first draft agreement, which would include terms for price, reliability of deliveries and other factors, will be the starting point for the negotiations.

“We now have all the pre-conditions in place to allow us to discuss face-to-face with Poseidon the exact terms for buying desalinated seawater from the Carlsbad project,” General Manager Maureen A. Stapleton said.

During negotiations, Water Authority staff also will work with Poseidon to complete planning and technical studies related to what capital improvements will be necessary to deliver and integrate water from the desalination plant into the Water Authority’s regional water storage and pipeline system. This information will help determine the total costs that need to be reflected in the final draft water purchase agreement.

The Water Authority expects water from the Carlsbad project will be available by 2016. It also estimates that its wholesale water rates would rise approximately 8 percent to 11 percent if desalinated water from the Carlsbad project is added to its supply mix.

“While desalinated water would be more expensive than imported supplies, the advantage of desalinated water is the greater supply reliability,” Director of Water Resources Ken Weinberg said. “Locally produced desalinated supplies would not be cut back if droughts or regulatory restrictions led to cutbacks in imported water deliveries.”

Once negotiations on a draft water purchase agreement are complete, the Water Authority will circulate the final draft for review by its member agencies and the public. Member agencies must review the agreement and declare whether they intend to purchase directly from the Water Authority, at full cost, a portion of the desalinated water supply from the Carlsbad project as a local supply for their agency.

The Water Authority Board expedited that process today by reducing the previously planned 90-day review period to 60 days.

The public review period will run concurrent with the member agency’s review and will include two Board workshops. The specific dates for those workshops will be determined later.

The Carlsbad Desalination Project, which has been in development since 1998 and has obtained all required permits and environmental clearances, will be the first large-scale seawater desalination plant in California. When completed, it will produce 56,000 acre-feet of highly reliable local water annually – enough to meet the needs of more than 110,000 average single-family households. In 2020, water from the plant would account for about 8 percent of the total regional supply.

Under a term sheet approved by the Water Authority Board in July 2010, the Water Authority could not begin direct negotiations with Poseidon on a water purchase agreement until a number of conditions were met. These conditions included Poseidon terminating all confidentiality agreements with the Water Authority, Poseidon submitting a binding equity commitment from a construction equity investor, and all nine Water Authority member agencies that previously had water purchase agreements with Poseidon indicating in writing their willingness to cancel those agreements and release the Water Authority from all claims. The last of these requirements was fulfilled on September 11 when the city of Carlsbad approved such an agreement with the Water Authority.

Video from the Iranian-American Women’s Conference.

On Thursday October 20th a sold-out crowd held their breath as the featured speaker of the Stand Up for Women Luncheon, Marina Nemat, and the author of the international best-seller book Prisoner of Tehran talked about how she was tortured and raped in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, and how close she had come to be executed.

The luncheon was the second in the series: Stand up for Women, end violence, exploitation and oppression, sponsored by FRWF to promote women’s rights. The Voices and Faces Project, United 4 Iran and Bleeding Edge Design Photography also sponsored the event. Mister of ceremonies was FRWF’s dear friend, Carol Le Beau. The event featured two special guest speakers, Fary Moini and Anne K. Ream, and the event’s featured speaker, Marina Nemat.

Fary Moini, who was born in Iran and is now a U.S. citizen, spoke of her work in Afghanistan and Pakistan to build schools for girls and women. As a volunteer, Fary risks her own life to travel to these countries and convince the elder tribal leader, all men, to allow her to hire female teachers and to teach women and girls to read and write. Her attempts have been successful and her schools are continuing to enroll more and more women and girls. Rotary Club of Golden Triangle and William H. Donnor Foundation are the main source of her funds for continual improvement of the schools in these two countries. Fary mentioned how the students are fascinated with computer and digital capabilities that private companies are donating to her cause.

Anne K. Ream, the founder and chief Executive Director of The Voices and Faces Project, was the luncheon’s second featured guest speaker. Anne, herself a rape-survivor, has been a strong voice in support of the victims of rape, trafficking and domestic violence. In her moving short video many women spoke about their experience and the shame of living with rape. So many victims hide the fact that they have been raped because they believe they must have done something wrong to have been raped. Anne Ream’s The Voices and Faces Project works to make connection with these women and to give a voice and a face to rape, domestic violence and to create a strong support system for the victims. As one of the women in the documentary about rape said, you will never forget what has happened to you, but you learn to raise above it and heal yourself…stand up for yourself.

The event’s featured speaker was Marina Nemat, an Orthodox Catholic Iranian with Russian heritage. Marina was arrested and thrown into Tehran’s notorious and dreadful Evin Prison when she was only 16 years old. She recalled how she was tortured and left unattended in the prison cell and how her jailer forced her to marry him, continued to torture her and rape her night after night in the prison. Marina survived by reaching deep into her heart and soul and her strong sense of faith. Today, Marina is the author of two international best-sellers and lives in Canada with her husband and her family. In her speech Marina talked about the need to speak out about torture and rape and to make sure the world does not forget thousands of innocent Iranian women and girls who are raped, tortured and killed in Iran every year.

The crowd was engulfed in Marina Nemat’s heart-wrenching story. There was not one dry eye in the sell-out audience.

Stand Up for Women 2011 is the second event in the series that was sponsored by FRWF. The luncheon committee included: Stephanie Hanson and Farrah Douglas (co-chair), Linda Dealy, Judy Malody, Carol Sciotto, Rosalie Gerevas, Donna Johnson and Adrienne Selekman.

FRWF’s special thanks to our co-sponsors: The Voices and Faces Project, United 4 Iran, and Bleeding Edge Design photography.

We are grateful to Stephanie Hanson for making this event possible.

(San Diego) –  Elected officials, candidates for public office, professional staff members and civic leaders learned about the complex issues encompassing public pension systems at the first Pension Certification Program held by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

Twenty-two individuals attended the day-long event. Topics included the basics of defined benefit, defined contribution, and hybrid pension plans, the collective bargaining process, and retirement plan design options.  All attendees passed an exam at the conclusion of the program.

Expert instructors included April Boling, Certified Public Accountant, Boling & Boling; Rod Crane, Senior Director – Government Market, TIAA-CREF; Bill Sheffler, Actuary, Sheffler Consulting Actuaries, Inc.; and M. Carol Stevens, Attorney, Burke, Williams & Sorenson, LLP.

The program received unanimous positive reviews. “This should be a required seminar for every elected official or candidate,” said Oceanside City Councilmember Jerry Kern. Carlsbad City Councilmember Farrah Douglas said, “I highly recommend this conference not only to the candidates and elected officials, but also to the representatives of the labor unions. It does create a vision of the big picture and the future of all cities.”

Lani Lutar, SDCTA President and CEO, said she was impressed by the focus and attention of every person in attendance. “We recognize that government pension systems are extremely complex,” said Lutar. “Without a good foundation on pensions, it can be challenging for elected officials to make fiscally responsible decisions.

Last Sunday I witnessed and participated as a panelist in an event in Orange County that
excited, inspired and motivated over 650 women who attended it. The event was called:
Iranian-American Women’s Leadership Conference. The purpose was to celebrate and
honor those immigrant women who have reached success in business, science, technology, philanthropy, fashion, music and movies and …yes, in politics, and to create role models for the young generation. I was introduced as the first and only Iranian-American women to hold an elected political office in the history of the United States of America, a distinction that I was not aware of.

The event was sponsored by Coastline Community College in Costa Mesa and is the product of a brilliant mind, the Executive Director of the College, Mariam Khosravani, herself an accomplished and successful Iranian-American woman.

What impressed me the most was the desire of the new generation of Americans of the Iranian heritage who want to get involved in all levels of our society and to contribute to our great country, America. I was deeply touched when these young women approached me with tears in their eyes just to tell me how proud they were of me and to ask questions regarding my political success, wanting to know how they could get involved.

I have to say I had not seen any event like this. It was patriotic, it was nostalgic, it was filled with laughter, and it was full of energy. I had tears in my eyes many times as I watched how a group of successful female immigrants were celebrating their successes and honoring America for the opportunities she had provided them, opportunities they could never experience in today’s Iran.

But most of all it was uplifting. It focused on the fact that some 32 years ago the majority of the attendees came to America with heavy hearts filled with the sad memories of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which had made it impossible for them to continue their lives there.

Thirty-two years later, the same immigrants have become contributing members of their new country, the United States of America, and many of them have taken leadership roles in all walks of life and business. The new generation of Americans of the Iranian heritage were on fire, wanting to learn from us, the older ones, who still have our accents and who were not raised in America. They wanted to know how we broke through and how we were able to transform from immigrants into leaders. They were seeking role models and believe me there were plenty of role models there.

As I was leaving the event I couldn’t help being proud. I was proud to have been used as a role model and I was proud that I had a new understanding of what it means to be an American. I saw it in the eyes of everyone who spoke with me. Being an American means to give, to contribute and to keep your eyes on the far away stars and to reach them, even though as a child growing up on the other side of the world you never imagined anything like this.

The event was what legal and productive immigration should be and must be. These immigrants are not burdens to our society; they are contributors to the greatness of our country.

God Bless the United States of America.

Here is how I was introduced at the event:

Farrah Golshan Douglas
Councilwoman

Farrah Golshan Douglas, Councilwoman for the City of Carlsbad, is the first Iranian-American woman elected to this position in American history, in which she is also the first American of Iranian descent to be elected to public office in the San Diego County. As a candidate for City Council in 2010, Farrah received the highest number of votes any council candidate has received in Carlsbad history. She is also the first immigrant to be elected to the council.

Prior to her election to the council, Farrah served as the Chair of Carlsbad’s Planning Commission and the Chair of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, the second largest Chamber in San Diego County. She has received accolades from state and local leaders and Carlsbad residents for her passion, honesty, hard work, and intelligent understanding of the issues facing San Diego County.

Farrah is the founder and CEO of a successful business in Carlsbad, CDS Printing, and has enjoyed an impressive record as a political and business leader in North County over the past 21 years. Currently, Farrah serves as Carlsbad’s representative on several regional boards including San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the League of California Cities, and the San Diego County Water Authority Board (SDCWA).