Politician listens to residents, many with concerns about how to
boost the economy in San Benito County
More than 60 residents showed up to a town hall meeting hosted
by Congressman Sam Farr on July 18 in the County Board of
Supervisors’ Chamber.
Some attendees had concerns for which they sought the
politician’s help and others with more general concerns about the
federal government.
Politician listens to residents, many with concerns about how to boost the economy in San Benito County
More than 60 residents showed up to a town hall meeting hosted by Congressman Sam Farr on July 18 in the County Board of Supervisors’ Chamber.
Some attendees had concerns for which they sought the politician’s help and others with more general concerns about the federal government.
San Benito County Supervisor Margie Barrios introduced Farr, who talked for about 45 minutes before opening up the forum to questions from the public.
“It’s a delight always to be back in San Benito County,” Farr said. “There is a lot of federal activity and we’ve tried to figure out what all of those are and try to get better bank for our buck…San Benito County has always been the little sister of somebody else. It’s at the end of Santa Clara, with its incredible wealth and size. It’s the east side of Monterey County and Salinas, which has ag, and the east side of Santa Cruz. We were all one county at one time.”
Farr touted thinking regionally and said that he has worked with local organizations to meet with different federal agencies to help make connections that could lead to more federal money in the county. Farr said that San Benito County receives less federal money than other similar-rural counties because some of those other counties have large portions of federal land, mining operations or other programs that bring in federal revenue.
“San Benito unemployment is one of the highest in the state,” Farr said. “Government shouldn’t be most of the economy, but the person teaching school or paving a street, they receive a salary. The money is spent on rent, cars and sales. It’s always a balance between having a good government and a good, strong private sector.”
As he spoke, Farr’s staff members showed a slide with a graph that showed the source of the current federal deficit. The deficit included economic stimulus, the bail out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bush-era tax cuts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and TARP.
“I’ve never seen so many issues on the table in my life and these are big issues,” he said.
Farr tried to explain the debt ceiling, which was still being debated by legislators and the president as of the Pinnacle’s production deadline, in terms of the Hollister Street Festival.
“Congress has to authorize how much money they can borrow,” he said. “It’s like a line of equity, a line of credit, that you are borrowing from yourself…You know there are times when income comes in. For instance, a business that knows when there is a car rally (the Hollister Street Festival) is a time when income comes in. But some of you had to spend money to get ready. You might have had to borrow money to hire staff. But you regain that money and go back and pay the bank.”
Farr said the debt ceiling had been raised 70 times in the past without issue.
“It’s essentially a financial responsibility that the government has,” he said. “The reason why its front page news for the first time is someone put conditionality on it.”
Farr was referring to Republican legislators who have said they will only approve the debt ceiling if there are no tax increases included in the plan.
“Republicans want to take it all out of discretion funding and that’s only 15 percent of the budget,” he said. “There are four things you spend all your money on, healthcare – Medicare and Medicaid, defense Social Security and interest on the debt.”
He noted that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are entitlements, meaning that the government cannot cut them. As for defense, he said, to applause from those in the room, that he hoped the president would move quicker with his plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I don’t expect you all to be nice because there are some tough things going on,” he said.
As he opened the room up for questions, some asked what he could do to help the county, others asked more personal questions and some made comments about federal policy.
“About 10 years ago here we brought up the idea of a partnership,” said Tony Ruiz, a Gavilan College trustee. “The days are over if you want to go it alone. You said the problem is that we don’t ask. I agree. But there are a number of groups here with a community vision who have come up with the idea to collocate a new high school, public library, maybe a community college satellite, a cultural arts center. Can you tell what role the federal government can take and your role?”
Farr said that any collaboration would be contingent on the county raising a portion of the funds for the project, half or more.
“Mostly under economic development money, which tries to stimulate for jobs, there is a federal local partner,” Farr said. “I certainly will try to be a champion. Whether there will be enough money in the budget, I don’t know. We will have to fight other parts of the United States to say we are more important.”
Two women spoke about concerns about foreclosures: Vivian Kennedy, the founder of All Creatures Great and Small, and her daughter spoke about losing her home.
“I feel the government programs for people facing foreclosure – the help is not getting to them,” said Kennedy’s daughter, who declined to give her full name at the meeting. “The process is so confusing. They are getting a lot of misinformation. A lot of times the guidelines mean the ones who need the most help are not getting the help.”
Farr acknowledged that the federal programs designed to work with foreclosures have been a failure because the banks are not working with homeowners.
Kennedy’s daughter said that there needs to be a program to help those who have lost homes to foreclosures “so they don’t just drop off the face of the planet.”
With some of the more personal requests, such as another woman who was concerned about veteran’s assistance, Farr referred people to contact his aide, Julian Chacon.
Service Employees International Union representative Eric Larson talked with some audience members before the meeting, and attended with a sign that said the wealthy should pay their fair share. About a dozen members in the audience held similar signs, discourage cuts to Social Security, Medicare and education.
“These are all bust to basic things we hold dear,” Larson said. “We can’t just cut our way out of the problem. The wealthiest folks aren’t paying their share.”
He said he wanted to see a return of some programs such as the Depression-area Conservation Corps.
“It would be very difficult to create those kinds of corps,” Farr said. “We have so many private sector contractors doing jobs.”
He noted that contracts to the private sector do create jobs and save jobs, such as a federal contract with Graniterock and Granite Construction.
A business owner questioned Farr’s comments about the Bush-era taxes, saying that he was concerned that his small-business, which employees 35 people, would not be able to survive if his tax rate went up.
“Do you want to punish success?” the man asked. “That’s what it seems like.”
Marvin Jones, a member of the local Republican Party, commented on a recent bill to require the use of CFL light bulbs. He noted that bulbs contain mercury and that they are manufactured overseas. Jones said he was concerned about citizens not having the right to choose what bulbs to purchase.
“I have mixed feelings,” Jones said. “We’ve got to bring down the cost, but energy conservation is important.”
The meeting turned slightly contentious when an audience member brought up the topic of tax cuts for oil companies to do exploration. Farr said he does not support what he referred to as a subsidy. Some audience members voiced concern that any increase for oil companies costs would be passed along to consumers. One person in the audience asked loudly who thinks government spends too much money. A handful of hands went up.
“We have a 10-year plan to pay off the debt,” Farr said. “But we want that to be shared by cuts and revenue.”
