Applicant
Lieutenant Governor
Get a daily digest of California news
Applicant Angela Underwood Jacobs is asking you to hire her for the role of lieutenant governor, which pays $163,917 per year. Her resume:
Angela Underwood Jacobs
Bank manager
Professional Profile
Angela Underwood Jacobs is a major underdog, running against a well-funded incumbent in a state that has not elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006. She hopes that her experience in local government, as a member of the City Council in the Los Angeles County city of Lancaster, and her support for small businesses, during her decades-long career in community banking, will broaden her appeal among the California electorate.
Underwood Jacobs would use the office as a platform to advocate for lowering taxes, getting tough on crime and reducing homelessness, though it offers few opportunities to directly affect those issues.
Experience
Councilmember, City of Lancaster
2015-2019
First Black woman to serve on the Lancaster City Council.
Appointed in 2015, then elected the following year, she resigned four months before the end of her term to focus on an unsuccessful campaign for Congress.
Has also performed other local government roles, including on Lancaster’s Criminal Justice Commission and the Antelope Valley Transit Authority board.
Senior vice president and regional manager, California Bank & Trust
2010-present
Manages business banking throughout Ventura, San Bernardino and northern Los Angeles counties.Previously worked for two decades at Bank of America, where she started as a teller and rose to a consumer market executive.
CalMatters is nonpartisan and nonprofit.
We are dedicated to keeping Californians informed on critical state news. We can’t do that without support from people like you.
“America is in pain and she is crying. Can you hear her?” (in testimony during a 2020 congressional hearing on police reform)
Here’s a look at where Angela Underwood Jacobs stands on the most pressing issues she would face in office.
While California boasts the best and biggest public university systems in the nation, they’re in turmoil. The University of California is facing a student housing crunch at the same time it is under intense pressure to increase the number of in-state students. UC Berkeley needed intervention by lawmakers to avoid an enrollment cap. Meanwhile, the California State University just had its chancellor forced out and is struggling to improve access, including enough student housing. The lieutenant governor is on the boards of both the UC and CSU systems.
California’s colleges and universities should primarily serve California residents. The UC system needs to reduce its staggering administrative expenses and focus on education. Here’s an example: administrative spending comprised just 26% of total spending by American colleges in 1980-1981, while instructional spending comprised 41%. Three decades later, the two categories were almost even. Ten executives in the UC’s Office of the President whose salaries were analyzed by a state audit made a total of $3.7 million in FY2014 – $700,000 more than the combined salaries of their highest-paid state employee counterparts.
California’s colleges and universities were always intended to primarily serve California’s children and provide access to the American Dream for the Golden State’s kids. I believe we need to get back to that as a primary function of our higher education system. The most direct way to do that is rein in out-of-control administrative expenses.
California is stuck in a drought, with few signs the emergency will improve any time soon — or that voluntary measures will be enough. The state is also struggling to reach its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also advancing environmental justice for communities with dirty air and water. The lieutenant governor serves on the state Lands Commission, the California Ocean Protection Council and the California Coastal Commission.
California’s coastline is a precious resource. I would not support new offshore drilling and would support a phase-out of offshore drilling entirely.
I believe that local governments, like cities and counties, are best equipped to understand the regional challenges presented by California’s water crisis.
Even though the economy is rebounding from COVID, California still has the nation’s highest jobless rate and hasn’t recovered all the jobs lost. Experts say the pandemic widened the gap between California’s rich and poor in some ways, despite unprecedented direct relief. The lieutenant governor is chairperson of the California Commission for Economic Development.
California has the nation’s highest minimum wage. I do not support a further increase at this time.
No, Sacramento’s policies are creating increased inequality in California. Job-killing policies, over-regulation, and anti-business attitudes have created a situation where the divide between rich coastal elites and struggling working families is at a crisis. I am running to bring back a strong middle class in California, where families can thrive and cost-of-living is lower.
California’s affordable housing crisis only deepened during the pandemic, as average home prices surged even further out of reach for many families. Homelessness likely worsened as well, prompting Gov. Newsom to propose forcing more homeless and mentally ill people into treatment. The Legislature twice extended a statewide eviction moratorium, but the final protections for renters ended on March 31. Lawmakers also tried to pump up housing supply by allowing duplexes on single-family lots, but cities are pushing back. Some also say the California Environmental Quality Act is stopping housing production.
California should encourage the creation of affordable housing throughout the state. This should be done by reducing red tape and unnecessary regulatory hurdles.
Yes, we should be doing everything we can to provide help to the mentally ill and homeless who so desperately need it.
California’s Democratic leaders positioned the state as a sanctuary for people seeking abortions in advance of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade. Hate crimes against Asian Americans jumped during the pandemic, with reported incidents doubling in 2020. And Native American tribes and national betting giants are gearing up for a high-stakes ballot measure fight over online sports gambling, which could also have a significant impact on state tax revenues.
With so many Californians struggling every day, I do not believe that our tax dollars should go to provide medical care to residents of other states.
I will always support the will of the voters; we are fortunate to have avenues for direct democracy in California, including the ability to vote directly for ballot measures and make our voices heard.