UPPER LAKE – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) filed papers to run in the new Third Congressional District and made multiple appearances throughout the district Friday before ending with an event at the Tallman Hotel.
Approximately 30 people joined Garamendi and his wife, Patti at the event, which began shortly after 6 p.m. at Riffe”s Meeting House in the Upper Lake hotel. Appetizers were provided by Chef Nick Heidemann from the Blue Wing Saloon.
Garamendi said this was the 25th time he”s filed election papers and it has become a tradition to take a tour of the district afterward.
“From the very first time I ran in ”74 and every filing thereafter, we always do the district,” Garamendi said. “It”s always a tradition that we”ve had and we said, ”Why should we do anything different this time?””
The congressman attended events in Yuba City, Vacaville and Woodland before making the trip to Lake County. The Garamendis arrived at the meeting house at approximately 6:20 p.m. After mixing and mingling for half an hour, the congressman spoke to the crowd for around 45 minutes. “I intend to win this election with your help,” Garamendi said.
The congressman addressed issues at the local, state and national level before answering some questions. He talked about being on the House National Resources Committee and some of the challenges facing the energy industry. He said natural gas is a resource the country can use to end the dependence on foreign oil to power vehicles but the exporting of natural gas is complicating the matter.
“If we allow them (Congress) to take this strategic asset and drive up to 20 percent of the total volume of natural gas into the world market, the result will be the United States gas will go to the world market and we will once again screw ourselves badly,” he said.
He used The Geysers as an example of renewable energy that works.
“Those Geysers have been producing energy for a century and a lot of electrical energy for 50 years now,” he said. “We can do these things. We can do this.”
The congressman touched on the importance of local governments buying American-made products.
“(Assemblywoman) Nancy Skinner passed a bill in the legislature, first one in the nation that says you get an advantage for American-made,” he said. “We can really rebuild America”s middle class by rebuilding our manufacturing.”
Garamendi said the Lake County wine industry is a part of larger industry.
“You”re part of a manufacturing industry here,” he said. “You”ve done very, very well and I know you can do better.”
Garamendi said he plans to visit Lake County at least monthly as the June primary and November elections approach.
The Third Congressional District also includes all or portions of Glenn, Colusa, Yuba, Sutter, Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
