1. have a right to certain individual freedoms and an obligation to contribute to the enhancement of our community.
2.  should pay our fair share in taxes, and have a right to know the money is spent toward the enhancement of our community.
3. should not have to travel far or go into bankruptcy when we need any type of quality healthcare. “Healthcare” includes medical, dental, vision, mental, and addiction care services for all ages under all circumstances.
4. should have access to quality affordable housing for all citizens, with particular safety nets in place for those on a limited or fixed income.
5. have a responsibility to sustainably manage our lands and natural resources for safety, economic, environmental, and social benefits.
6. would benefit from having local public control over our utilities by taking advantage of regional resources.
7. should have a fair and equitable chance for our families to earn a living that provides for security, growth and prosperity.
8. deserve opportunities for affordable childcare, education, and family support services.
9. have an obligation to be innovative and think out of the box to ensure the economic, environmental, and social solvency of our communities into the future.
10. need to get money out of politics to ensure that our government represents “We the People” and not special interests.

Although improvements have been made in the past five years, especially with LCAP, aspects of our public education system are still outdated and archaic. We need our publicly funded schools to provide flexibility and choice to students and families. Charter schools have their unique place in our communities, but they should not supplant what the public school system has the potential to provide to our students. Our focus and energy should be spent on bolstering our public schools and their capacity to serve all the unique needs of individual students, and not allowing money to be siphoned out of public education which weakens our school systems disproportionately, further marginalizing our most vulnerable student populations.

Growing up as a 4th generation resident in Chester, I have witnessed how rural communities of the Northstate have been disenfranchised by California State politics and private parties for too long. Outside of education, we need comprehensive sustainable holistic land management reform to boost our local economies, clean up our forests and watersheds, support timber, range, and agricultural industry, and reduce our risks of catastrophic wildfire and flooding. Healthcare across the reaches of our district is insufficient and our people do not have adequate access to affordable quality healthcare services. Our education, infrastructure, emergency, and public support services are underfunded due to the state’s disproportionate funding formulas, favoring urban conditions and not taking into account the difficulties that rural families face.
Affordable housing is inaccessible or unacceptable for many of our working families, people on fixed incomes, and other struggling individuals and it is particularly hurting our elderly, veterans, and other disadvantaged populations. We need leadership at the local and state levels to represent and fight for our rural communities.