LAKEPORT >> Second District State Senator Mike McGuire and newly elected leader (D-Healdsburg) delivered the good news to a receptive audience at O’Meara’s Brewery in Lakeport October 18.
“The most important part of today, is your comments, criticisms, and feedback- I’m all about progress and progress is achieved in California by working together and there’s more we can accomplish together than that divides us,” he told a cheering crowd. Ther’s some tough issues he admitted; affordable housing, some people cannot afford to live in communities where they work, residents need effective and affordable home insurance, make our communities wildfire safe, strong public schools. “Bottom line, we’ve come back from the challenges of the Pandemic,” he said.
“We’ve regained 3.2 million jobs here, and California is one of the top three growth states. Now we’ve moved past COVID and we need to focus on business retention and attraction by making sure there’s jobs here in rural California.” And he said the state will concentrate on ameliorating houselessness. Another 150,000 homes will be built by 2025 but California will need 220,00 to keep pace with demand. And jobs lost from the Pandemic have been recovered but forecasts see unemployment staying at record lows for the next 36 to 48 months.
Meanwhile, for those living in Lake, Humboldt, Trinity or Mendocino, too many are living behind the Digital Divide maintained McGuire. “High speed internet is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity,” he said. “What do we do? We just launched a major broadband build-out- next year we’ll break ground on 80 miles of high-speed Internet fiber line. And we’ll fund the Last Mile to allow users to plug in the new right-of-way along Highway 20, 129 and 175, starting next year. And Lake County was among the first of 14 projects for this $6 billion expenditure we’re moving forward with, and we have to make sure rural counties have the same opportunities as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose, and by the way, this project is fully funded.”
McGuire said plans are in place to improve amenities in Lakeport. That is why the state invested $5.9 million in parks, he noted. This will include a skatepark, splash pad and new basketball court with further development for years to come.
Education was pivotal in McGuire’s life partly because he struggled with academics at first yet early on, he learned the value of education. He recalled for the O’Meara’s audience that just in 2015, the state was last in per pupil spending with only $8,915 on each student. Yet the state is set to provide $23,723 per pupil in the 2023-24 school year. Furthermore, community college is now tuition free. And McGuire reminded everyone 60 percent of students who attend a CSU or UC college, started off at a community college and were relieved of the burden of paying for those two years. In addition, students at kindergarten through 12th grades will also receive universal free lunches.
But equally important, McGuire stressed the need for expansion of mental health counselors in public schools. “We just invested $250 million, over the next four years,” he said. “And if a Marriage and Family Therapist or other mental health professional dedicates four years to a public school in Lake County, they’ll get $25,000 in student debt erased.”
He also pointed out that climate change is probably a constant in the near future and the county must invest in combating the escalation of megafires seen in the state the last five years. “We went from 6,700 firefighters to 11,300 now,” he said. “And we’ll hire an additional 1,000 full-time firefighters in the next 36 months. But we also need greater prevention.” Dedicated to that effort is a $500 million investment in seven critically fire threatened forests in the state. “California is now getting Blackhawk night fighter helicopters,” he said. “And we’ll soon have seven C-130 Cargo Planes from the Coast Guard and will become the largest fire cargo bombers in the sky.”
Added to that, will be upgrades to the 911 system across California and an ability to relay emergency pictures and video to many city agencies in every county in the state.
The Rotary Club of Lakeport generously sponsored McGuire’s invitation to O’Meara Bros’ Brewery Company. Mark Lipps, Lakeport Rotary president noted many of McGuires’ priorities had a depth of substance. “I always say as goes your public schools, so goes you community,” he said. “It sounds like he’s putting a lot more effort behind supporting the individual. Bottom line, we’ll have him back. He seems very transparent.”
When asked why he sought the leadership of the state senate, McGuire explained he thought public service was one of the highest callings. “The culture wars and political attacks will have no place in the legislature,” he said. “We’ll focus on quality health care, childcare, wildfire safety and address escalating insurance prices.”
