Tag Archives: AD-27

Budget

Experience Counts: Solving California’s Budget Crisis

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(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.  

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Let the Races Begin

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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…

Barbara Sprenger is an activist from Felton in Santa Cruz County, and like Reilly and Monning has a strong commitment to progressive ideas – her website explains her support of single-payer care, student loan reform, and green jobs. Sprenger also helped organize the town of Felton’s public buyout of a private company that had controlled their water supply. According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel she had already raised $60,000 as of early January.

Stephen Barkalow, a Monterey doctor, emphasizes the need for health care reform (though does not explicitly call for single-payer) as well as action on education, environment, and affordable housing.

Finally there is Doug Deitch, of Aptos in Santa Cruz County. He doesn’t have a website yet his website is here, but he is running as a one-issue candidate – focused on water. Deitch believes that the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency should have its state-delegated powers stripped because, in his eyes, the agency has given too much groundwater to farmers. Interestingly, Deitch was going to run in the primary even if Prop 93 had passed.

Overall it’s a strong field, and each one will be bringing a good set of progressive values to the campaign. Of course, with the state budget issue dominating all else in CA politics, and given that these candidates are vying to replace the legislature’s acknowledged budget genius, they’re going to need to explain to voters how they will help provide long-term revenue solutions to the budget, instead of going for short-term fixes and crippling spending cuts. My advice to the candidates is to take leadership on the budget, and show voters how that squares with the candidate’s other progressive positions.

That’s good advice for any Democrat running in the June primary, and I invite your comments on other races.