While last year’s town halls centered on health care reform, the
final meeting this summer for Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, focused on
economic concerns.
Alia Wilson
While last year’s town halls centered on health care reform, the final meeting this summer for Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, focused on economic concerns.
Nearly 80 people gathered at the First Congregational Church on High Street Thursday night to voice their concerns before Farr headed back to Washington for the fall. Many seemed supportive of Democratic efforts on the economy in the past year. Two of the main issues raised Thursday included funding for special education and pensions and benefits for in-home health care providers.
“Our special ed budget costs $11 million; we have had to take $8 million from regular education funding and use it to pay what the feds and the states don’t put into special ed,” said Don Maxwell, a trustee with Santa Cruz city schools.
Farr acknowledged that the federal government has not delivered as much money for special education as it has promised it would.
“I will continue to be your voice on that issue,” he said.
Half of the residents at the meeting, from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, stood in line for up to 90 minutes to speak. Many praised Farr’s work on securing federal money to help boost state assistance payments for some social and medical services.
“With that money, my clients don’t have to go back to homelessness. They can stay in Section 8 housing and live their adult lives,” said Emily Summers of Santa Cruz.
Several in-home health care providers, some wearing SEIU pins and T-shirts, said, however, that the financial support for providers themselves is inadequate.
“Not only do we not have pension, we do not have sick leave or vacation time, we do not get paid for overtime also,” said Cindy Valdez. “It’s pretty difficult to accept those cuts.”
Farr responded that by 2014, the state will have to provide such coverage, but in the meantime encouraged people in Valdez’s position to petition their state assembly member for help.
Farr’s opponent in the 17th District race in November, Republican candidate Jeff Taylor of Salinas, stepped up to the mic Thursday to voice opposition to raising taxes through the health care reform and concerns that such legislation would push jobs out of the state and the country.
When Taylor asked whether Farr would support campaign reform limiting representatives to raising money from their own district, Farr replied: “I have; I authored that bill.”
By the end of the two-hour town hall meeting, Farr encouraged community members to stay involved, get in touch with city, county and district leaders.
