Hands Across California

Dear Friends,

As you may recall... last month we held our first town hall on the budget. Last Friday, we held our second community forum, this time in Santa Barbara, to hear your opinions on this important issue.

Last month our Ventura County constituents made it clear that they were willing to do whatever it took to balance the budget, including extending current revenue rates and making some painful cuts to vital services. This time, our Santa Barbara constituents made it clear that they were willing to do whatever it takes to save our public education system. They approved all the extensions to current revenue rates, actually increased the deficit to increase funding to K-12 education, and rejected the cuts to our public higher education system. Of course, this meant that they didn't end up balancing the budget but the message was clear: we value our public education system above all else.

It is because of this that I invite you all to join me in supporting our community colleges at Hands Across California this Sunday, April 17th. Hands Across California is an extraordinary event that will serve to raise awareness of the importance of our education system while also serving as a fundraising tool for the California Community Colleges Scholarship Endowment. It will consist of a long line of people holding hands for 10 minutes up and down the coast, and extending into the Central Valley, Sunday at 2pm. Our former community organizer extraordinaire, Sherry Holland, is organizing the event locally and I am happy to be supporting the effort.

As many of you know, I am an alumnus of Santa Barbara City College. I know, firsthand, the struggle that one must go through to put themself through school. I was forced to live out of my van at Ledbetter Beach so that I could pay my student fees and stay in school. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to attend UC Berkeley and was able to transfer. Unfortunately, nowadays, it is just as common for students to leave our UC and CSU systems to finish their education at less expensive community colleges. And many of our most valuable employees were trained at a community college. For example, 70% of nurses received their education at a community college. Community colleges are truly the foundation of our higher education system.

I will be speaking at the center of our Santa Barbara activity, on the corner of Santa Barbara and Sola Streets, at 1:30 pm on Sunday. However, there will be several meeting locations throughout the state. Please visit http://www.handsacrosscalifornia.org/ to find your place in line and to find out how else you can support this important cause.

The Hands Across California line will be running right alongside Santa Barbara's massive Earth Day Festival. The festival begins this Saturday, the 16th, from 11am-7pm and ends Sunday, the 17th, from 11am-6pm. There will be a lot of exhibitors and activities on both days. I'm particularly excited about the Green Car Show! We will have a table both days of the festival, located near the main stage on the Sola Street side of the park. Make sure to come by and say hi!

I look forward to seeing you all soon and thank you for your continued support.


Das

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