Florez, Valadao for 30th Assembly seat
The Bakersfield Californian | Saturday, May 08 2010
In the race to fill the 30th District seat of retiring, one-and-done Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, all four candidates have something to offer.
On the Democratic side, Pete Parra of Bakersfield has considerable experience in county government, solid employment-assistance expertise, connections in state government and, after a one-sided 2004 defeat that cost him his long-held seat on the Kern County Board of Supervisors, fire in his belly.
Fran Florez of Shafter has considerable experience in municipal government, plenty of real-world business expertise, connections in state government and, after a narrow 2008 defeat that denied her this same Assembly seat, a sense that her mission remains unfulfilled.
On the Republican side, Stephanie Campbell of Bakersfield has an impressive record of volunteer service and civic engagement, a small-business focus, populist sensibilities and a passion for improving basic quality-of-life issues in the underserved neighborhoods of Bakersfield, the largest city in the district.
David Valadao of Hanford has a deeply felt concern for the health of Central Valley agribusiness, especially as it relates to water availability and business overregulation, a healthy respect for entrepreneurship and industry leadership experience that belies his 33 years.
We believe the best choices are Democrat Florez and Republican Valadao.
The predominantly Hispanic 30th District, which includes portions of Kern, Fresno and Tulare counties and all of Kings County, tends to favor moderate Democrats, and both Democrats in this race qualify.
In fact, Florez and Parra have many similarities. They both attended East Bakersfield High School in the early 1960s, have long records of service to local government, and have children who held the seat they are now vying for: Dean Florez, now a state senator, served the 30th District from 1999 to 2002, and Nicole Parra, who followed Florez, served from 2002 to 2008.
Parra has long been regarded as a Blue Dog independent who's not likely to think twice about crossing up party leadership. But Florez, too, inherits a Central Valley political tradition that often puts the regional interests of constituents ahead of party priorities. And she gets little credit for a business-friendly outlook honed from years of writing small-business loans as manager of a local community bank. As the former mayor of Shafter, she understands the challenges of small-town California, and as California High Speed Rail commissioner, she is intimately familiar with the interface between cities and state government. In a Sacramento environment that fairly roils with overheated rhetoric, her low-key demeanor will be a welcome relief.
The Republican side matches two capable and intelligent candidates who are, to a great extent, one-trick ponies.
Campbell, a recent convert from the Democratic Party, places a high priority on crime and neighborhood safety, infrastructure development and small- business growth, but the water crisis does not seem to rank high on her list of must-do's. Her focus is somewhat Bakersfield-centric -- specifically, southeast Bakersfield, to further parse her focus and expertise.
Valadao knows and understands the valley's water crisis, which is probably the single most challenging and troubling issue facing the San Joaquin Valley economy at present. We believe valley farmers would find him to be a worthy advocate for solutions. We do have concerns about his candidacy, however: We haven't heard much about his views on education, infrastructure or social issues.
In a close call, we favor Valadao, who will speak up for the valley's No. 1 industry, over Campbell, who has put in many years of broad community involvement and would be an ideal candidate for the Bakersfield City Council's soon-to-be-vacant Ward 1 seat.
We urge voters to support Democrat Fran Florez and Republican David Valadao on June 8.
