As voters go the polls, they ponder over the stuff that’s been stuffed into their mailboxes. The soundbites rolling off the lips of programmed candidates. The slate mailers in which candidates pay to have their names listed, hopefully to be in the right company of other paying customers.
After spending more than two decades in the capital city in elective and appointed offices I know the game and even practiced some of it myself.
I also know that there are ways to accomplish things without whining, “The majority party won’t let my bills out of committee!”
Many of these bills should never have been introduced, knowing they were DOA. The cost of bill writing, with all of the legal staff time required, is exorbitant to the taxpayers – for nothing in return except perhaps a press release to extol your leadership capabilities that go unrecognized by the majority party.
Successful representation requires building relationships – yes, even with those who disagree with you on some issues. It takes brains to develop strategies for accomplishment.
A beautiful case in point are the years that Gov. Pete Wilson was in office. Disasters, earthquakes, floods, fires, crop infestation and a recession due to aerospace cutbacks. After all was said and done, the Wilson administration left the state with a $2 billion surplus. Sen. Ken Maddy our leader in the Senate and considered a moderate, had the leadership skills and respect among the entire Legislature to successfully negotiate our way back to health.
In direct contrast, today the Legislature is paralyzed, with both parties standing in their corners screaming at each other, blaming the other for the dilemmas we now face. We have a dysfunctional governance structure, whether the issue is schools, infrastructure, an antiquated tax system or economic viability, no long-range planning for population growth, or a debt obligation that continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
Where is the action – or even the acknowledgment that we have a crisis at hand? It can’t be solved by whining and blaming!
So what is my point?
The point is that we have opportunities to elect candidates that can be part of the solution. People who are problem solvers, creative with ideas and in building relationships with leadership to keep us from going over the cliff. I believe Leslie Daigle is someone who can go to Sacramento to work eficiently to represent the interests of the new 74th Assembly District.
She has shown effective responsiveness as a city councilwoman. For example, when the parents in her neighborhood needed a crossing guard for the safety of their children, she obtained one. She fostered close working relationships for joint use of facilities for recreation and education.
She was successful in securing federal dollars for dredging the Bay, a huge issue for environmental and economic resources in the entire Harbor area – without tidal action in the upper bay the entire lower bay eventually silts in.
She is a strong supporter of education, local control and collaborative community involvement with nonprofits and businesses. She and her colleagues on the City Council are the envy of many cities for their efficiencies and successful negotiations with their employees, resulting in reforms that benefit the future of the system and the taxpayers, (yes, without new taxes).
She has walked almost the entire 74th district to hear the concerns of the people she will represent.
In return she has been attacked with mean-spirited mailers by a county Republican Party that she has supported and has supported her in the past. As a life-long Republican and officeholder, I have trouble understanding the motivation behind this undue behavior.
Leslie Daigle will do a good job representing our interests. I hope you will join me in supporting her for the 74th AD.
Odd that the endorsements that Leslie Daigle has received have either been from the 1) unions, and 2) career politicians. Marian Bergeson was a career politician and I wonder what favor Daigle promise her. Where is the support for Daigle from the business community? Really strange that the unions are fawning over Daigle even though she is a Republican.