Henry T. Perea

I went to an interesting sit down with California 31st Assembly District candidate Henry T. Perea last night. The Tulare County Democratic Women's Club invited Henry to the Methodist Church in the town of Dinuba (population 21,006). The setting was intimate. Eleven of us sat around a table with Henry, who told us about himself and his ideas for serving our Central Valley area and California as a whole and answered questions for about an hour and a half. It was pretty remarkable that a fellow running for such an important position would spend so much time with such a small number of people. He left a very good impression.

Like many area Latinos, his family started out working in agriculture. His grandmother was in the bracero program in World War II canning peaches. She instilled an ethic of service into her children, and Henry was brought up in a political family. His father was the first Latino on the Fresno City Board of Education and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. His mother was a union negotiator.

While a student at Fresno State Henry interned in the office of Democratic Congressman Cal Dooley. He ran for the Fresno City Council at the age of only 23 and won an upset victory over a wealthy and well connected Republican opponent mainly by sheer determination and hard work. The opponent was endorsed by the Fresno Bee and practically the entire establishment of power people. But he was lazy. For Henry's part, he found an issue, the lack of equal infrastructure in his south area of the city (many streets didn't even have gutters and sidewalks). Henry outworked the opposition, personally knocking on every door in his district an amazing five times. Finally, unlike his competitor, he showed up extremely well-prepared for the debate. He won the seat and has been a Fresno City Council for 7 1/2 years. As for the infrastructure issue, he is proud to report that it was completed under budget and a year ahead of schedule. Last year he lost a hard-fought campaign for Fresno mayor.

Now Henry is endorsed by most of the movers and shakers, including, almost all the district's mayors, the termed-out incumbent and State Senator Dean Florez, a local power and a leading candidate for lieutenant governor. The 31st AD is an interesting mix of a district. It is 51% Fresno city urban and 49% rural. For those who are unaware, Fresno is hardly small potatoes. It has an estimated 2009 population of 500,017, making it number 36 in the nation. But the composition of the district makes it essential to be responsive to issues of both types. This Henry certainly is. He is intelligent, personable, still young at 31, and well-spoken. He is not afraid to state his views, but is considerate and listens well to the concerns people brought up. He had some interesting and attractive takes on the issues.

Major area issues to him include water, transportation and air quality. He is for conservation and environmental protection, but feels we simply must build new dams in the nearby Sierras and a peripheral canal for more water for the valley. He said he sat down with the Sierra Club the day before and knew they weren't going to like that but he told them anyway. Any candidate in this area must be for developing more water sources. I am a Sierra Club member myself and agree with Henry on this! We have the second worst air quality in the nation and suffer high childhood asthma rates as a result. He is for extending Fresno's banning of wood burning fireplaces in new homes area wide, the commencement of two new solar energy projects and the state high-speed rail system through the valley to cut down on car traffic. As a side benefit, he'll fight for the construction of its primary maintenance facility to be located in the Valley near its midpoint. That could mean 1,000 jobs to this badly depressed economy.

Speaking of the economy, he understands the importance of diversifying the region from its traditional over-reliance on the ups and downs of agriculture. Both vocational and degree-producing educational opportunities must be greatly expanded in the valley to remediate its chronically high unemployment, now standing at upwards of 15%. A better qualified workforce will encourage more employers to locate here, he reasonably maintains. He feels the way to begin making serious headway against gangs is with job training and creation. I couldn't agree more.

In terms of California's well-known governmental dysfunction, Henry has come to the point where he favors some of the ideas of California Forward, including holding a state constitutional convention, limited to prescribed issues. He thinks we absolutely has to get rid of the two-thirds requirement to pass a budget but favors keeping that 2/3 threshold for increasing taxes. He feels that as the recently-passed redistricting proposition takes effect beginning in 2012, there will be more competitive legislative and congressional races, but the sharpest dividing line will be less Republican versus Democrat than urban versus rural. I'm not so sure about that, but time will tell.

I was quite impressed with his characterization of public service. He said those who put down politicians and say, "Get a real job!" have no idea how hard you have to work. The most work isn't done on the floor in session, it is behind the scenes reading mountains of reports and bills and meeting with allies and opponents, frequently long after regular work hours to craft solutions and forge common ground enough to move improvements forward. That is, of course, in addition to all the time one has to put in to get and keep the job itself.

There is no doubt you have to be incredibly committed and energetic to do what he is doing. On service, he also quoted the late Senator Ted Kennedy, "We believe in public service as an honorable path, to be a voice for those who have none." If the people of the 31st Assembly District, which leans Democratic, elect Henry T. Perea to represent them, they will have done themselves a favor. He is a moderate progressive, suited for the area. Most of all, he will be a sincere and dedicated public servant.