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Thursday's Internet Edition, March 11, 2010.
Assemblywoman holds town hall meeting in Wilton
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Photo by Fran Soto
California Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, whose district encompasses a portion of the Wilton community, speaks at a town hall meeting on Feb. 6 at Wilton Fire Station 81. Here she explains the effects of borrowing to balance the state budget.
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By Fran Soto
River Valley Times Staff
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Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D), whose district encompasses a portion of Wilton, held a town hall meeting for her constituents on Saturday, Feb. 6 at Wilton Fire Protection District (WFD) Station 81. The event was billed as a free pancake breakfast, and an invitation mailed several weeks earlier to constituents encouraged residents to come enjoy the complimentary breakfast with neighbors and to discuss legislative and community issues. “I want to thank the WFD for the use of their facility,” Buchanan said. “This last year, the best part of my job has been working with people at the local level; it is the most rewarding.”
Buchanan stressed that the most pressing issues at the state level. “The most important goals at the state level this coming year are getting a handle on the budget and retiring long-term debt,” she said. “Also, we must create jobs. We have 12.4 percent unemployment.” To further her point on the budget, Buchanan used a chalkboard illustration and showed the effects of borrowing each year over five years with a devastating outcome. “At year five we can’t raise taxes 50 percent,” she said. “And we can’t cut services by 50 percent.”
Approximately 25 area residents attended the breakfast. Buchanan was available for one-on-one chats as attendees arrived, signed in and perused literature on the California budget, water issues and education. Once all were served and seated, Buchanan addressed the group by highlighting legislative accomplishments at the local level. She summarized her efforts on behalf of a Bay Area planned community severely affected by sub-prime mortgages and spoke about working to improve transportation routes to bring jobs to the community. “We’ve worked with transportation planners on the Highway 4 bypass,” she said. “We got it through the Assembly and are trying to bring government jobs to create local jobs.”
Buchanan, who served for nearly 20 years as a member of the San Ramon Valley School Board, said that she is one of the strongest voices in the Assembly on education. “There is nothing more important than educating our children,” she said. “We have 13 percent fewer students in college, and we have cut K-12 funding by 20 percent. We had the greatest public schools and universities.” Buchanan expressed the need to fund education in the early grades to detect problems and said that if a child is not reading by third grade, there is a good chance the child will drop out.
Buchanan also addressed the crowd on her decision to oppose the package of water bills to restore the Delta and provide a more reliable water supply to California. “Fish species are dying. These bills provided better water to the south but increased problems in the Delta,” she said. “My number one priority is to protect the Delta. Destroy something like that and you can’t get it back. It is a hidden jewel.”
Buchanan was elected in November 2008 to the 15th Assembly District, which is known for being partially a Bay Area district and a Valley district divided by the Delta. It includes portions of Contra Costa, Alameda, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. Cities and towns within the district are Wilton, Brentwood, Danville, Elk Grove, Livermore, Oakley, Pleasanton, Sacramento, San Ramon, Stockton and Walnut Creek. Her office hours are the first Thursday of every month from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 8401 Laguna Palms Way in Elk Grove. Buchanan can also be reached at her State Capitol office during normal office hours at (916) 319-2015.
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