CLEARLAKE— Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) was the guest speaker at Thursday’s Judge’s Breakfast in Clearlake, discussing some of her top priority projects and opening the floor to field as many questions from the public as possible.
Aguiar-Curry is a member of the California State Assembly representing District 4 which includes Lake, Sonoma, Napa, Colusa and Yolo counties. She assumed office in 2016 and is running for re-election this year. Aguiar-Curry explained the issues she first saw in Lake County beginning with problems in Clear Lake and a plummeting economy. Aguiar-Curry shared “That’s when I realized I needed more people to get involved and I needed money to get some of these projects done.” Today Aguiar-Curry is proud of her accomplishments here stating “So far since I’ve been in the Assembly I have brought 40 million dollars to Lake County. A majority of that is for the lake.” Aguiar-Curry highlighted a partnership with UC Davis and also efforts for economic development.
The Internet for All initiative, a Biden-Harris Administration project is a government funded 65 billion dollar investment that aims to provide reliable yet affordable internet service for everyone in America, especially rural areas like Lake County. This initiative is another important focus for Aguiar-Curry as she shared, “If the internet could change the lives of the children, our children in Lake County deserve every right that every other child deserves in the state of California.”
Another concern for Lake County she mentioned is access to healthcare, specifically mental health. Aguiar-Curry asked why more individuals here lack access to mental health care and discussed the ease of telemedicine, which of course requires access to the internet. She also spoke on the passing of Assembly Bill 382 that streamlines the licensing process for psychologists in hopes of creating more mental health professionals. Homelessness and mental health go hand in hand and have become problems across the state with Aguiar-Curry noting, “Fixing something that is statewide is tough… I will always help my colleagues fund homeless projects.” She added, “We are asking for more accountability, the governor has said we need more accountability and I think we all agree we need to find out where that funding is going and is it being used properly, no doubt about it.”
Also sitting as Vice Chair of the California Women’s Caucus Aguiar-Curry discussed the group’s recent funding of eight billion dollars to help families come together by ensuring health and childcare hoping to help mothers rejoin the work force, as the state is lacking employees specifically in the health care industry. The Assembly member also mentioned the need for increased wildfire mitigation and discussed AB 338 which provides training and fair wages for wildfire mitigation workers. She said these resources are also lacking as companies continue to come from out of state to fill the gaps in service.
The floor was opened for questions and comments and several attendees voiced their concerns including Clearlake resident Russ Cramer who asked if there was anything being done about the insurance companies dropping Lake County homeowners, forcing them to pay large increases that many can’t afford. Aguiar-Curry said, “We’re pulling our hair out.” She stated she had saw this coming, and the reality is that nationwide climatic disasters have and are causing insurance companies to leave certain areas. Currently the solution is the California Fair Plan which covers those in need after they have lost other options, as well as creating building incentives for using fire-resistant materials. Most importantly they are holding PG&E accountable for their hand in the fires, enforcing the need to underground wires and create more safety protocols to avoid these devastating events.
The Judge’s Breakfast is open to the public and is held every Thursday Morning at 7 a.m. at the Masonic Lodge located at 7100 S. Center Drive in Clearlake. Next week’s speaker is Kristin Sicke General Manager of the Yolo County Flood Control and Irrigation District.
