Mike Gatto

Mike Gatto
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 43rd district
Assumed office
June 10, 2010
Preceded by Paul Krekorian
Personal details
Born (1974-10-19) October 19, 1974
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Danielle Gatto
Residence Glendale, California[1]
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.)
Loyola Law School (J.D.)
Website mikegatto.com

Michael Anthony "Mike" Gatto (born October 19, 1974)[2] is an American elected official. In June 2010, after a series of three elections in eight weeks, the voters of California's 43rd State Assembly district elected him to the California State Assembly.

Data analyses of the voting records conducted by the Sacramento Bee newspaper concluded that Gatto is among the most independent Assemblymembers, and that he hasn't missed a vote in years.[3][4]

Early Life, Education, and Previous Career

Gatto grew up in the Franklin Hills and Silver Lake neighborhoods of Los Angeles. His father was a public-school teacher, his grandfather an immigrant coal miner.

Gatto earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1996[2][5] and a J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2004.[2][5]

He worked as an aide to Congressman Brad Sherman[6] for five years,[7] during and after law school. As an attorney, he worked first at O'Melveny & Myers and later at Mayer Brown; his practice focused on representing small- and medium-sized businesses to resolve issues with the government. Gatto also served in the administrations of three different mayors of Los Angeles and as President of the El Pueblo (Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority) Commission.

Elections to the Assembly

In January 2010, after Paul Krekorian resigned to take a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger scheduled a special election for April 13.[7] Gatto finished atop a field of four.[7] During the election, Gatto secured the endorsement of the Los Angeles Daily News, which wrote that Gatto was "fiscally minded and intelligent... the kind of legislator California needs."[8]

On June 8, 2010, Gatto won both the runoff election against a Republican for the unexpired term, and a primary against Democrats for the full term.[6] In November 2010, Gatto prevailed with 65.9% of the vote.[9]

In November 2012, Gatto won reelection with 60.2% of the vote.[10] In November 2014, Gatto won reelection with 67% of the vote.[10]

The 43rd Assembly District includes Burbank, Glendale, La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge, and the Los Angeles communities of Atwater Village, Franklin Hills, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, the Hollywood Hills, and half of Hollywood.

Legislative Career

In 2010, Gatto introduced legislation to reduce municipal pension costs. His bill sought to cap the exposure of well-managed cities when less frugal (or corrupt) municipalities offered top officials large salaries. Gatto was moved to introduce this legislation by the 2010 City of Bell salary controversy, where cities like Glendale had to underwrite approximately $411,000 in annual pension costs for Bell's former police chief.[11]

In October 2010, Gatto authored ACA 4, an enhanced version of a Rainy Day Fund (or "savings account") for the State of California. The constitutional amendment required the legislature, during years of strong revenues, to follow a strict program limiting expenditures. First, the state would have to fulfill all obligations to education, then deposit up to 10% of general fund revenues into a savings account, to be used during years of weak revenue. After that, the state would be mandated to pay down bond debt. Gatto's Rainy Day Fund legislation passed both houses of the legislature and was approved by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[12]

In the 2011-2012 session, Gatto served as Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore of the California Assembly.[13][14]

One of Gatto's bills in 2011 would have required the state to study embedding piezoelectric sensors in state highways, which produce electrical energy by the vibrations vehicles make as they traverse the pavement.[15]

Gatto authored the California Homemade Food Act to allow small startup businesses to produce certain food products without the regulations for large commercial operators applying to them.[16] The Act was noted by KCRA as being beneficial to small businesspeople in the food-production sector.[17]Forbes Magazine stated the measure "created over a thousand local businesses."[18]

In August 2012, Gatto was appointed chair of the assembly's Appropriations Committee.[14] He served until December 2014.

In September 2012, Gatto introduced a bill requiring the California DMV to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, bringing back exact replicas of black license plates issued in California in the 1960s.[19][20]

Gatto's 2013 legislation included a bill to forbid cities from writing tickets to motorists who park at broken parking meters that a city has failed to repair.[21] He also authored legislation which would give small businesses a safe harbor for correcting deficiencies in Proposition 65 warnings without being subject to financial penalties and lawsuits, the first substantive Prop. 65 reform ever.[22] Gatto also authored legislation to help catch and punish hit-and-run drivers, and to make better use of carpool lanes during off-peak hours.[23]

In mid-2013, Gatto pushed for an audit of the Child Protective Services departments in the state of California, based on the concern that they were not spotting child abuse fast enough.[24]

In 2014, Gatto introduced legislation to force Congress to address campaign-finance reform.[25] He introduced a number of measures to address hit-and-run crashes.[26] Gatto also introduced measures to curb child abuse at elementary schools,[27] and to address the problem of sexual assaults on college campuses.[28] And Gatto was the author of significant legislation to keep production jobs in California.[29]

Two measures of Gatto's in 2014 were novel for government. One was a "Wiki-bill", using a Wikipedia-like platform to allow the public to draft legislation in the open.[30] The other was a "Government X-Prize, whereby members of the public could win awards for providing the government with intellectual property (patents or plans) to make government processes more efficient.[31]

Gatto was the lead Los Angeles negotiator for the California Water Bond of 2014, securing just under a billion dollars for the Los Angeles region to clean up polluted groundwater reservoirs, which were still full despite the California drought, so that the region did not need to import so much water from elsewhere.[32]

In 2015, Gatto introduced legislation to restrict the ability of government to store indefinitely the blood and DNA of newborn children and to crack down on government selling the blood to for-profit researchers for experimentation without the knowledge of parents.[33] He teamed up with Kerri Kasem, daughter of Casey Kasem, to author a bill allowing adult children of seniors to easily obtain visitation rights for their loved ones.[34]

Also in 2015, Gatto authored a major probate reform bill that allows homeowners to pass their property to loved ones without hiring a lawyer, paying to create a trust, or facing the cost and bureaucracy of probate. Of this bill, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said, "Other than Proposition 13, there is no greater bill that we support for this year." [35]

In December 2015, Gatto was named Chairman of the Utilities and Commerce Committee, and immediately announced an investigation into the Aliso Canyon gas leak.[36]

Analyses and awards

Gatto has one of the best attendance records in legislature, and one of the longest streaks of not missing a vote for any legislator nationwide.[37][38] For example, in the 2013-2014 session, Gatto had the only perfect attendance record in the California legislature, not missing one of the Assembly's 5,897 votes.[39]

In 2013, Mike Gatto earned the Robert F. Kennedy Leadership Award from the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats.[40]

In 2012, a data analysis conducted by the Sacramento Bee newspaper on voting records concluded that Mike Gatto was the second-most independent democratic legislator in the California State Assembly.[3] Subsequent analyses by the same newspaper have confirmed the same.[41]

Personal Life

Gatto is married to Danielle Gatto.[2][5] They have two young daughters.[42][43]

On November 12, 2013, Gatto's father, Joseph Gatto was murdered in a home-invasion robbery at his home in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 78.[44][45] The crime is unsolved.

References

  1. ↑ "Assemblyman Gatto, About". 17 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 California State University-Fullerton Government Relations Department web page Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 "See most, least independent state legislators".
  4. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article36644625.html
  5. 1 2 3 "Assembly Member Mike Gatto Biography - Project Vote Smart". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. 1 2 Kevin Modesti (18 October 2010). "Mike Gatto, Sunder Ramani compete for seat for a third time". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Kevin Modesti (14 April 2010). "Attorney Mike Gatto wins Democratic bid for vacant Assembly seat". Los Angeles Daily News.
  8. ↑ Kevin Modesti (21 May 2010). "Vote for Gatto: Fiscally minded and intelligent, he's the kind of legislator California needs". Los Angeles Daily News.
  9. ↑ "Election Results, Nov. 2, 2010, 43rd AD".
  10. 1 2 "2012 Election Results, 43rd AD".
  11. ↑ Bill Kisliuk (19 August 2010). "Gatto introduces bill to ease pension burden following Bell scandal". Glendale News-Press. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Political Landscape: Gatto's measure would help Rainy Day Fund".
  13. ↑ "Political Landscape: Gatto garners post and speaker positions". Glendale News-Press. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  14. 1 2 Mark Kellam (11 August 2012). "Gatto to Chair Appropriations Committee". Glendale News-Press. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  15. ↑ Ovidiu Sandru (11 February 2011). "New Bill Could Allow California to Harness Power Otherwise Lost as Cars Travel Over Pavement". The Green Optimistic. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  16. ↑ Short, April M. (3 April 2012). "Homemade in California". Santa Cruz Good Times. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Cottage Law: Helps California Entrepreneurs". KCRA. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  18. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2014/01/29/california-legalized-selling-food-made-at-home-and-created-over-a-thousand-local-businesses/#2715e4857a0b3677475030a1
  19. ↑ http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB1658. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/legacyplates/index. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ "Not So Eager Meters".
  22. ↑ "Editorial in Favor of Mike Gatto's AB 227".
  23. ↑ "2013 Legislation from Mike Gatto".
  24. ↑ "Sammy Nikolayev CPS case triggers statewide audit".
  25. ↑ "Can California ignite a prairie fire?".
  26. ↑ "Gatto Legislation Would Create Alert System For Hit-and-Run Crashes".
  27. ↑ "New law will finally require training teachers to report child abuse".
  28. ↑ "New California Bill Would Change Rules for Reporting Rapes on College Campuses".
  29. ↑ "To not nix pix, California must use tax trix".
  30. ↑ "State Assemblyman Mike Gatto Uses Wiki to Draft Laws".
  31. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzOy7ZayZCM. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-pol-water-bond-20140626-story.html
  33. ↑ "Protect DNA Privacy".
  34. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://mynewsla.com/government/2015/07/14/casey-kasems-ordeal-inspires-law-to-curb-elder-abuse/
  35. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/die-in-california-and-save-10-000-6075170
  36. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.kabc.com/2015/12/30/assemblyman-mike-gatto-makes-porter-ranch-gas-leak-a-priority/
  37. ↑ Phillip Reese (26 April 2011). "During last session, legislators missed 48,600 votes". The Sacramento Bee "The Public Eye" blog. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  38. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article36644625.html
  39. ↑ http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_27136565/tipoff-assemblywoman-lopez-catching-up-and-feeling-at. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ↑ "10th Annual RFK Awards". San Fernando Valley Young Democrats web page. Retrieved 19 June 2013
  41. ↑ {{cite web|url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article36644625.html
  42. ↑ "CV Weekly: New Daughter for Mike Gatto". Crescent Valley Weekly. 8 October 2012.
  43. ↑ "Young Families Join Legislators at Swearing In Day at the Capitol". Sacramento Bee. 3 December 2012.
  44. ↑ Bloomekatz, Ari. "Assemblyman Mike Gatto's father shot and killed in Silver Lake home". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  45. ↑ http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/11/14/40368/calif-assemblyman-mike-gatto-s-father-found-shot-k/. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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