Manuel Perez is at once scholarly, passionate, and gracious. He knows public policy from both the planning and outcome perspectives, so give him a topic, and he'll give you a progressive and practical answer, with footnotes.
Manuel Perez wasn't going to be at the Rancho Mirage Library for the candidate forum Friday night. He was scheduled to be the honoree at an event for a coalition of fellow nonprofits, and they had already rescheduled the event around his campaign once. But we finally convinced him that a candidate has no choice but to be there, and he was brilliant. The interaction among the 80th candidates showed a clear frontrunner, the focus of both Rick Gonzales and Greg Pettis's attention. Manuel pivoted on both challenges, and his scope of understanding about education, healthcare, jobs and the environment was finally on display in the proper context.
Crossposted from Calitics
Manuel had solid support from the community: Dale, Lynda, and Mary representing schools, two directors from the Verde Group who came down to canvass, Amalia Deaztlan, Eduardo Garcia, Mayor of Coachella, Steve Hernandez, Coachella City Councilman, Carlos Campos, City Attorney of Coachella, a teaching buddy from the school system. Some of us went out for food with Manuel after, and we talked about the growing recognition of the new Coachella progressives among more established Democrats. "What they are learning, what they always underestimated before, is how hard we will work," Steve said. Having prepared walk lists with JC Sanchez of SEIU-UHW (also of Coachella) in a previous campaign until 3am, I know exactly what he's talking about. Manuel Perez and his colleagues are this region's Mr. Smiths Going to Washington, or in this case, Sacramento. They're prepared and determined to improve the cities, the state, and this country, and they don't take anything for granted.
My notes from the latest candidate forum, (they were all on tight time limits, so this is a choppy paraphrase):
In response to "How will you commit to working in a bipartisan way:"
Perez- It is our responsibility to represent you, we’re your voice, we’re your tool- Our responsibility is to vote on behalf of you, not just our party.
negotiation, compromise, experience. Not easy, must be learned
Need to be able to work with both sides of the aisle
Not always been in agreement in school board
Passed $250 million bond measure, brought all people together from all sides - Have that experience
Policy must come from ground up
It is our responsibility to represent you
OUT OF THE PARK
I wanted an 80th AD Democratic primary debate sponsored by a local news channel, and we never got one. But Friday night we had a candidate forum at the Rancho Mirage Public Library, and the contrast I've been waiting for was apparent. Not just the 80th but the local Republican candidates for the 37thSD and 64thAD took questions about the budget, bipartisanship, etc. Having the broader context was great, because the Republican responses make it so obvious why we have to win this seat. With the exception of Brian Nestande, R for the 64th (though naturally I'm for Paul Rasso), their attitudes on policy are barbaric. They have learned little from the past years.
From The Desert Sun
The bipartisan group of candidates competing in Tuesday's primary election for the 37th state Senate district, plus the 80th and 64th Assembly districts took their best shots during a tense candidates forum at the Rancho Mirage Public Library, sponsored by the All Valley Legislative Coalition and the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership.
... Manuel Perez, on balancing the state budget, said it would take a "triad" of actions:
Streamline the government, reform the tax code to close special loopholes on luxury items and corporations, and create jobs locally through a new "green-collar" economy.
All of the Democrats did themselves proud, but Manuel excelled. He can think on his feet, and he has powerful experience and intelligence to draw upon. As usual, he was the only candidate to honor all of them as capable of winning the seat and serving the district.
"How do I get the union support you do?" from Rick and "How can you say you're for accountability when your school district is failing according to NCLB?" from Greg (according to the paper. Well, Manuel didn't say what I would have about the union support, namely that all candidates asked for it, but Manuel got it because he's already a valued partner of labor, education and healthcare unions. He was much too modest. As for Greg's tired refrain parroting Bush on NCLB standards, Manuel was ready. Paraphrase: "I welcome the accountability," he said, "but the standards aren't matched with funding, California doesn't handle the implementation as well as other states, and NCLB ignores the larger picture. Our students' test scores are consistently rising, our teachers are doing a brilliant job, and I initiated the construction of $250 million in new schools to meet the needs of our students."
One of Coachella Unified's students knocked on my door just about an hour ago. It was Ruben Perez, canvassing for his dad, as are hundreds of volunteers and union activists today. The Perez family has much to be proud of.