ByNikki Silverstein - This article has been edited. To view it in its entirety, click: https://bohemian.com/assembly-candidates-questions/
Mar 16, 2022
The three Marin candidates include California Coastal Commissioner Sara Aminzadeh, Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly and Ida Times-Green, board president of the Sausalito Marin City School District. Steve Schwartz, the lone candidate from Sonoma County, leads a nonprofit food collaborative.
The three Marin candidates include California Coastal Commissioner Sara Aminzadeh, Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly and Ida Times-Green, board president of the Sausalito Marin City School District. Steve Schwartz, the lone candidate from Sonoma County, leads a nonprofit food collaborative.
The three Marin candidates include California Coastal Commissioner Sara Aminzadeh, Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly and Ida Times-Green, board president of the Sausalito Marin City School District. Steve Schwartz, the lone candidate from Sonoma County, leads a nonprofit food collaborative.
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Steve Schwartz, of Sebastopol, was the chief of staff for two California assembly members and has led nonprofit organizations for more than 25 years. Much of his work has been focused on sustainable agriculture and supporting farmers, and he runs a small organic farm in Sonoma County. As the founder and director of the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative, Schwartz works to bring together congregations with local farmers, giving people access to organic foods and helping the local economy. He has served as a board member of the Gravenstein Union School District, International Farm Transition Network, California Reinvestment Coalition and Sonoma County Farm Trails, as well as on the steering committee of the Marin Food Policy Council.
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With the primary election less than three months away, the Pacific Sun presented each candidate with the same four questions to find out where they stand on important issues facing Marin and Sonoma counties.
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What is the most important issue in this election and how would you address it?
Schwartz:
We need to maintain the character of our communities and the beautiful open space and robust agriculture that Sonoma and Marin counties are known for. This relates to investments in climate change resiliency, excellent schools, and workforce housing. The state budget is expected to be over $285 billion, and legislators will vote on as many as 3,000 bills in a session. For this race, the most important issue is whether we will elect someone with bold vision and the experience necessary to successfully hammer out solutions on a broad range of issues that impact the North Bay, and bring back dollars to support community priorities.
My community knowledge, my track record of creating and implementing innovative programs, and my experience as a Chief of Staff in the Capitol demonstrate I’m the best qualified to accomplish this.
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Do you support the state’s current approach to reducing homelessness and increasing the availability of affordable housing? What, if any, state policy changes do you believe would help to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in the district?
Schwartz:
The Governor and Legislature have recently made much needed investments in transitional housing. A roof is essential, but doesn’t solve everything. We need to support social services which includes mental health support to help people get on a positive trajectory. There is some ‘catch up’ going on, as our government has not invested enough dollars to address this problem for over 10 years. Innovative groups, including the faith-community are stepping up to offer safe parking, tiny-home villages, and more – we need to support groups that have proven they can shelter people quickly in months instead of years.
Not all ‘below-market’ rate housing is affordable for working people that do essential services in our communities. Nonprofit housing developers are doing great work. They need access to more financing including bonds and guarantees. They cannot ‘move the needle’ fast enough. Individual homeowners who want to build an ADU (auxiliary dwelling unit), or Junior ADU, can help address the challenge. We need to support access to financing for middle-income property owners who seek to add housing stock in this way.
We need to focus partly on asset-building strategies, like Individual Development Accounts which match savings. I have personal experience launching this kind of program. Santa Clara has a great model for IDAs to help teachers buy their first home. I would like to scale this with state dollars. Communities of color have especially poor access to housing. We need to prioritize state policies that redress this. I have six years of experience with advocacy for housing through the Community Reinvestment Coalition.
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What state legislation would you support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in District 12 and statewide?
Schwartz:
California has been a big part of the problem on emissions, and we must continue to be bold with our solutions. We can do more to lead the nation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I will fight for policies and state dollars for: food waste reduction, carbon sequestration through climate friendly farming, and clean energy including more roof-top solar and storage.
I support Sen. Dodd’s SB 833, the Community Energy Resilience Act, which would create a technical assistance and grant program administered by the California Energy Commission. The legislation would support more solar and storage on schools, senior centers, and other critical facilities.
As the only candidate from Sonoma County, I especially applaud the budget package approved last fall that includes investments in fire prevention and I will work closely with Sen. McGuire to expand on it. State authority to make stricter emission standards for cars, trucks and SUVs than the federal government was restored this week by the Biden administration. We need to act swiftly on this as an intermediate step on the way to phasing out sales of gas powered cars. We can use state resources to incentivize reduction of greenhouse gases. I will apply an equity lens when introducing policies that do this. We also need to minimize green-washing. I support SB 260,which would require large corporations to disclose and monitor greenhouse gases.
Agriculture represents some 10% of greenhouse gas emissions nationally. Local farmers and advocates in Marin and Sonoma counties are leading the way on proven methods of sequestering carbon in soil, and reducing emissions from food and agricultural waste. We need to continue to fund grants and incentives for businesses leading the way on this transition, like the Healthy Soils Program. Much of this can happen through the State budget process.
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Assembly Bill 1400, the single-payer healthcare legislation, died in the legislature recently without a public vote. If elected, would you vote in favor of AB 1400 or another similar single payer healthcare policy?
Schwartz:
Access to healthcare is a right. If elected I would support single payer healthcare legislation until that goal is realized. I applaud Governor Newsom’s call to cover healthcare for undocumented people who are not currently able to get health insurance support due to their age and income level. COVID taught us much: that when we don’t provide access to health care to all in our community, everyone can be at greater risk, especially our elders. We also saw that in addition to their own personal suffering, individuals without access to healthcare can be stuck at home for longer than necessary, causing labor shortages at schools and small businesses, impacting our economy. Californians cannot wait for change at the federal level on this.
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This article has been edited. To view it in its entirety, click: https://bohemian.com/assembly-candidates-questions/