Election 2016
Candidate Endorsements
State Assembly, District 30: Anna Caballero
Anna Caballero has a thirty-year legacy of public service in our community. She graduated from law school and moved to Salinas to provide legal services to farmworkers. Her and her partners made the commitment to open an office in Salinas and Hollister to provide legal services to working families at a reasonable price. She also started a non-profit called Partners in Peace to develop strategies to reduce youth and gang violence. At the request of her housing association she ran for Salinas City Council and served for 7 years; where she focused on affordable housing, strengthening the business and commercial opportunities for growth, the redevelopment of downtown, and providing more parks and recreational space for kids and families. She became the first female Mayor of Salinas in 1998 and raised over $80,00 in private funds to fund the city libraries, and put a ballot measure on the ballot to raise money for essential services during a state budget crisis.
Anna was elected to the State Assembly in 2006 and continued to focus on meeting the needs of local residents. She made it easier for farmers to utilize their land to build farmworker housing, gave local government more time to commit redevelopment dollars to rehabilitate affordable housing units in their communities and created a parks grant incentive for park poor communities who build affordable housing. She facilitated the transfer of state land to a local community to assist in the expansion of the waste water treatment facility, and facilitated in obtaining funds for a water agency to assist in upgrades and much needed technology. She was also able to access much needed gang intervention funds to help reduce gang violence in the region, creating a partnership with the Highway Patrol and the Department of Justice. She voted to extend state student aid to undocumented students applying for citizenship. And she took a 10% pay-cut in her Assembly salary to show solidarity with other government workers whose salary was cut due to the budget.
Most recently, Anna joined the administration of Governor Edmund G. Brown as a cabinet Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Under her leadership, 65 million dollars was allocated to build housing and provide services for homeless veterans, families struggling to make mortgage payments could access assistance to refinance their homes, and new funding criteria was established for affordable housing and sustainable communities, including rural communities, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Her charge as Secretary included the oversight of the largest civil rights department in the country, the protection of consumer rights through the licensing of over 3 million individuals and businesses in California, and the development and maintenance of affordable housing statewide. Governor Brown said Anna Caballero served, "with distinction and a real sense of public service." During her time working with Governor Brown, Anna was the highest-ranking Latina in state government.
For Monterey County Farm Bureau positions on ballot initiatives, click on the links above left.
