Candidate is growing roots in politics

Alicia Robinson

With a history of grass-roots activism, Marianne Zippi would like the

culmination of her political efforts to be an Assembly seat.

Zippi and five other Republicans want to be the party’s candidate

for the 70th Assembly District seat on March 2.

A number of different small businesses have provided Zippi’s

livelihood over the years. She started a marketing and public

relations company in 1984 and has done all kinds of writing in the

course of her work. For about three years, Zippi published a business

newspaper covering Pomona and Walnut.

She’s also juggled family with her business ventures. After her

first two years of college, Zippi took 10 years to finish her degree

because she was raising her children at the time, and she later took

two years off from work to care for a premature grandchild.

In 1986, Zippi was invited to participate in President Reagan’s

conference on small businesses as one of 42 delegates from

California.

“It was a great learning experience, plus it was the fact that we

were solving problems,” she said.

Shortly after moving to Newport Beach in 1992, Zippi jumped into

politics to fight the City Council’s plan to create a supplemental

property tax based on the number of dwelling units on a property.

In 2002, she got into the City Council race when she learned the

council spent $400,000 on an unbid contract with a consultant who had

helped several of the council members get elected. A relative

unknown, Zippi filed papers to run on the last possible day but

garnered about 12% of the vote in the election, she said.

This time around, Zippi staked her campaign on the same kind of

grass-roots efforts she has been a part of over the years. Hundreds

of volunteers have handed out Zippi’s literature and helped her knock

on doors, she said.

“People notice someone coming to your house and talking to you

about a candidate,” she said.

“To me volunteers are the most valuable part, certainly, of my

campaign.”

If her strategy wins her the Assembly seat, Zippi said she would

work to spread information to constituents and get their opinions on

the legislative issues.

“People are engaged as a result of the recall,” she said. “They’re

realizing more and more that their vote counts.”