California State Senate District 10 Candidate: Bob Wieckowski
- By : Guest Voice
- Category : 2014 Candidate Statements
Bob Wieckowski is a candidate for California State Senate District 10 in the 2014 General Election. Castro Valley Matters reached out to each candidate and asked for a statement.
I offer the residents of Castro Valley a proven track record of fighting on behalf of seniors, students, working families and the private sector for good-paying jobs, affordable health care, regulatory reform, more local control of K-12 schools, access to higher education and investing in our local transportation infrastructure. I would be honored to have the opportunity to represent Castro Valley in the State Senate.
When I was elected to the state Assembly in 2010, California faced a $26 billion deficit and Sacramento was mired in endless gridlock. Those days are over. Working with Gov. Brown, the Legislature has passed four straight on-time budgets. We reformed our public education finance system to give more control to local school boards and to target additional funding to reduce the achievement gap. In higher education, I helped lead the fight against the worst for-profit colleges that took your tax dollars and placed burdensome student loan debts on the shoulders of our youth without providing quality classes that prepared them for the workforce. I helped pass Middle Class Scholarships for UC and CSU students and held community forums to assist families in college financial planning. I also supported $500 million for career tech/vocational ed grants to partnerships consisting of schools, businesses and community colleges.
Listening to communities in my district, I fought for the opening of a new library and helped bring about the sale of unused, surplus state land so it could be transformed into two schools and park and recreation space. Quality education is a must for our state and I am proud of the support I have among teachers, local school board members and higher education faculty.
Governor Brown has signed more than 30 of my bills. Let me tell you about two of them. Last year, Castro Valley was the scene of a horrifying incident where elderly residents of an assisted living facility were abandoned by everyone except a cook and janitor. Unfortunately, such cases of neglect and abuse have occurred across the state. Working with reform advocates, senior organizations and elder abuse task forces, I successfully pushed through AB 2171, legislation to create a Senior Residents Bill of Rights. The new law includes a number of critical protections, including important privacy and security rights for our seniors, This was just one of a package of reforms we passed to improve oversight of assisted living centers.
Secondly, the Governor signed my bill authorizing Alameda County to place a transportation measure before voters – Measure BB. This measure has the broad support of business, labor and environmental organizations because it will invest $8 billion over a 30-year period, creating quality jobs, expanding BART, bus and rail services, filling potholes, improving on and off ramps and providing safer routes to schools for our children. Upgrading our aging transportation system is a top priority of the business community and will benefit our whole county. Our economy and quality of life depends on a modern transportation network that offers commuters choices as they move throughout the region.
Improving and maintaining infrastructure is vital to all communities. That’s why I supported another bill, signed by Gov. Brown, to enable residents in unincorporated communities the same rights as city residents when it comes to sales tax measures. Such measures would be voted on by voters in those areas, and the money raised would go only towards infrastructure in that specific unincorporated community.
Education, job creation, and investing in our infrastructure are three of my top priorities. I have consistently reached out to the business community and partnered with local chambers on a series of forums to assist small businesses, increase manufacturing and support innovation. As a result, I was named Legislator of the Year by Tech America.
But I am just as proud of the recognition I have received fighting on behalf of seniors, students, health care workers and those families that are struggling to make ends meet.
I’m not afraid to take on powerful special interests. I’ve won some battles in the Legislature and I’ve lost a few. But I will always fight for the values that we share. I would be honored to have your vote for California State Senate. To learn more, visit www.bobwieckowski.com
Hi Folks,
Bob Wieckowski is president of the Urban Village Farmers’ Market Association. The Castro Valley Farmer’s Market is an Urban Village Market. The Castro Valley Farmers’ Market funded and build a wonderful school garden and green house for Castro Valley Elementary School.
Bob Swanson