GUEST SPEAKER, SENATOR ANTHONY PORTANTINO

Elected on November 8, 2016, Senator Anthony Portantino represents over 930,000 people in the 25th Senate District which includes Burbank, Sunland-Tujunga, Shadow Hills, Atwater Village, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Bradbury, Duarte, San Dimas, Glendora, La Verne, Claremont, and Upland.

 

From 2006 to 2012, Portantino represented the 44th Assembly District. While in the Assembly he chaired the Committees on Higher Education, Revenue and Taxation, and the Select Committee on the Preservation of the Entertainment Industry.

 

Prior to his election to the Assembly, he spent many years working in film and television production, as a producer, line producer, art director, assistant director and location manager. Senator Portantino also served on the California Film Commission, where he helped implement the California Film Tax Credit Program.

 

In addition to his time spent in Sacramento, Senator Portantino has a long and distinguished record of service which includes nearly eight years on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council, with two terms as Mayor and vice chair of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee. He also served as president of the League of California Cities Mayors and Councilmembers Department, and the legislative chair of the California Contract Cities Association.

 

Senator Portantino attended public schools and graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Ellen, a business executive at Warner Brothers. They have two daughters.