When I ran for election to the Santa Cruz City Council for the first time in 2000, and again in 2004, I must have knocked on every door in an attempt to speak to every voter. I was privileged to receive the most votes ever in each election, and I credit it to this hands-on campaigning. Running for the State Assembly, I have tried to connect with voters in the same way, but campaigning in a much larger district requires innovative thinking. That's one reason I am proud to be a part of the Calitics community - it gives me the chance to speak with people without a media filter and without resorting to sloganeering.
I want to share with you another innovative approach to voter communication I had the good fortune to experience. Yesterday evening, I hosted a telephone town hall for voters across the 27th district, reaching out to nearly 28,000 voters in all. We discussed issues ranging from global warming to universal healthcare. I used telephone town hall technology to speak with voters from Boulder Creek, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Santa Cruz and other parts of the district. Over 4,000 people joined me for some or all of the one hour town hall, from the comfort of their own homes.
This is our first attempt at endorsements on a broad scale in the legislature. It is not comprehensive, we simply don't have the resources to get to every seat. But, we tried to get to most of the competitive seats. We'll provide a bit of commentary on some of these over the flip. State Senate races tomorrow, and Congressional races on Wednesday. But, today, Assembly races:
AD-08: Mariko Yamada
AD-10: Alyson Huber
AD-15: Joan Buchanan
AD-27: Emily Reilly
AD-37: Ferial Masry
AD-40: Laurette Healey
AD-78: Any Democratic candidate other than Auday Arabo.
AD-80: Manuel Perez
This week, the California State Senate will be holding a hearing on SB 1295, a dangerous bill intended to weaken the power of the California Coastal Commission. I urge you to sign my petition below and join me in voicing opposition to this bill.
(Great to see an assembly candidate tackling the budget issue head-on. If anyone is interested, here's Emily's ActBlue page. - promoted by Robert in Monterey)
As many of you know, I am a candidate in the 27th Assembly District. I am the only currently elected local official in the race, and the only candidate who has balanced a municipal budget while also balancing competing priorities. As a two-term mayor and councilwoman in the City of Santa Cruz, I have spent countless hours deliberating over how we should best allocate our taxpayers dollars. Whether negotiating large scale construction contracts or approving new road signs, all projects, no matter how big or small, received the same level of attention.
Today, California faces a terrible reality. More money is being spent than is coming in. Our structural budget deficit is the single largest problem facing the state, because it affects every goal we are trying to accomplish.
As a state, we cannot continue to embrace the Governor's policy of slashing the budget year after year without any attempt to enhance revenues. It is irresponsible to jeopardize the future of Californians by eating away at our infrastructure and essential programs. How we invest our money is a reflection of the things we value and our budget is the statement of these values.
During my first few years on the Santa Cruz city council we had some difficult financial challenges. I supported and advocated for tactics that, although sometimes reducing services, did not eliminate any. And because, unlike the state, we had to balance the budget, and because we had a city council that agreed to put differences aside and work together, we were able to cut 7 million dollars from a 42 million dollar general fund, keep people employed and provide essential city services.
It was very difficult, and I believe our willingness to make those hard decisions was why our city residents passed a permanent sales tax increase to augment our general fund a few years later. We used that money, as we had promised, to increase services and to repair our infrastructure. That sales tax was critical to addressing our budget needs in Santa Cruz.
For too long the state budgetary process has been caught at a standstill due to archaic rules and a lack of leadership from across the aisle. Every budgetary action must be approved by a 2/3rds majority. This was originally implemented with the hope of increasing bipartisanship within the legislature. What is happening, however, is the exact opposite. Even when faced with a crisis of the highest importance, the Republicans will not do what is necessary to get us out of it. The balanced approach I took with our city budget, judiciously cutting spending when necessary and raising critical revenues, is the kind of approach I intend to bring to my work in Sacramento.
In the aftermath of the failure of Prop 93 on Tuesday, most attention seemed to be focused on the leadership contests in Sacramento. But Prop 93's failure has sparked a whole series of contests to replace outgoing lawmakers. With the June primary four months away, potential candidates are scrambling to get their names out there in the public eye, raise money, and rally supporters. These contests will help determine the future of the Democratic legislature and progressive politics in the state, and so it's time we looked at some of these in greater detail.
Here in the Monterey Bay area, in AD-27, we're faced with the task of replacing the incomparable John Laird, one of the most knowledgeable legislators on the budget and a strong progressive. The Yes on 93 campaign won Santa Cruz and Monterey counties with an effective "Yes on 93 - Keep John Laird" appeal, but it wasn't enough. Laird's future is uncertain - like the equally talented Fred Keeley, who represented the district before he was termed out in 2002, Laird does not live in SD-15, the long coastal state senate district currently represented by Republican Abel Maldonado. Most of us here would love Laird to move a few miles east and run in SD-15, one of the most winnable Senate districts in the state (Dems now have a lead in registration), but Laird has not announced his intentions.
Five candidates have declared for the Democratic primary here in AD-27. Emily Reilly is a member of the Santa Cruz City Council and last year served as the city's mayor. She's visited Calitics before - in December she wrote an excellent piece attacking the "design-build" concept that Arnold is so much in love with, and I personally support her in the race to replace Laird. She has strong progressive credentials on issues from health care to sustainability and climate change, and has also demonstrated significant fundraising prowess - she raised nearly $120,000 from over 300 small donors in Q4 2007, even before it was known whether she would actually be a candidate for AD-27 (she, like most in the race, promised to withdraw if Prop 93 passed).
Bill Monning is another experienced entrant into the race. Monning is a Monterey attorney, and has challenged for this seat before - in 1994 he was the Democratic nominee, but lost to Bruce McPherson in that year's Republican tide. Monning, like Reilly, emphasizes his strong progressive credentials, and is especially interested in action on climate change. According to the Monterey Herald Monning has $60,000 in the bank, but plans to raise $480,000 for the primary.
Over the flip I discuss the other announced candidates for the seat...
