Visitors & Guests:
Juan Bustamante hosted Randy Hernandez
Mike Allen hosted Patrick Beck
Doc Ervin hosted Stephanie Sanchez and Dr. Ricardo Esquivel
Dr. Zelezny hosted David Silva and Juan Garza
Announcements:
Breakfast Rotary is hosting an event at Luigi's Warehouse on November 11 to support Casa Esperanza. Tables and tickets are available.
Don’t forget to get your ticket and sponsorships for the District Conference to be held in Bakersfield on Saturday October 21. Reach out to Jim Damian for details. Or register here.
Pete Pankey asked who our President is this year. And then wanted to know if Joe has taken a job at Ford corporate (because a huge plant just shut down). Just saying.
Program:
Vince Fong was introduced by Kathy Abernathy. He quipped that a Republican always has to bail out the Democrats as Jasmeet Bains was the scheduled speaker. He promised (and stuck to it) that it would be his only political jab. In fact, he complimented Dr. Bains for her willingness to partner on issues important to the Central Valley. Vince talked about the challenge of being a legislator in such a divided time. He stated that we are in crisis– and did not use those words lightly. Assemblyman Fong recounted the seriousness of the gas and energy crisis, fentanyl, retail theft, homelessness, and the looming fire season. Legislating for such a complex array of issues in the context of the current makeup of the California government makes it even more difficult. Currently, the Assembly consists of 62 Democrats and 18 Republicans, while the Senate is composed of 32 Democrats and 8 Republicans. To be an effective legislator, he is not looking for Democrats to become more conservative, but rather, he is searching for partners across the aisle who are simply pragmatic.
Assemblyman Fong talked about several of the 900 pieces of legislation that are currently on Governor Newsom’s desk for consideration. On Saturday, Gov. Newsom signed a bill (SB 770) that sets the stage for California to work toward universal healthcare, such as a single-payer system, even though this sweeping legislation faced opposition from both ends of the political spectrum. Following that was a discussion about the importance of ensuring the public knows the status of the potential legislative action such as this that could result in the upheaval of a major industry– healthcare.
Finally, Assemblyman Fong discussed a relationship that he has developed with Assemblyman David Alvarez (D), whose district represents Chula Vista, National City, and parts of southern San Diego. Assemblyman Alvarez spent 2.5 days with Fong in the Central Valley to learn and appreciate issues with water, ag and energy. At the same time, Fong learned that Alvarez has a different kind of water infrastructure need, specifically a water treatment plant. This kind of partnership is what Assemblyman Fong is trying to foster, and continue to cultivate in order to best represent the needs of the Central Valley.
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