Chris Rogers was elected to represent California’s 2nd Assembly district last year. This Northern California district is sparsely populated in comparison to other Californian regions, meaning there is only one representative tasked with covering Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, and Sonoma counties. This poses a stark contrast relative to the twenty-seven representatives afforded to Los Angeles County.
As such, Rogers has quite a bit of ground to cover during his week “off” to consult with his constituents. Not just geographically, but ideologically. These five counties embody wildly different cultural values and economic realities – not only from the rest of California, but from each other.
In addition to attending the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit, Rogers hosted “community office hours” at Paragon Coffee House on Wednesday. The event drew 20 to 30 of his constituents, young and old, who gathered around the assemblyman’s table in a small corner of the cafe.
A woman with an infant on her lap and a toddler in tow kicked off the discussion by raising concerns regarding the stability of retirement pensions for California state employees. Rogers explained how certain aspects of the Public Employees Pension Repair Act, passed in 2013, were intended to address some common concerns. Part of the issue, he explained, is that there are fewer people working than there are retired. He went on to describe a so-called “silver-tsunami” of retirees, wherein an estimated 10,000 people turn 65-years-old every day in the US.
The baby in the woman’s lap began to appear restless, and the mother expressed her frustration. “The economy is not set up to support young families.” As time wore on, the baby’s cries became more persistent, prompting the mother to round up her children and usher them out of the building.
Another attendee, a senior citizen, asked if the state was going to step in and help with the cost of heating and oil, given the potential impact of federal budget cuts on the energy assistance program through the Del Norte Senior Center. The statesman admitted that this was the first he had heard of the issue, and signaled to his field rep, Heidi McHugh, to make note of the concern.
Conversations pivoted to a bevy of frustrations with electricity providers, from the lack of redundant power locally to rate increases and utilities being allowed a monopoly to provide service. Rogers pointed out that states that do allow for multiple power companies to compete end up having issues related to cluttered infrastructure. The “number one driver of costs are wildfire safety and infrastructure,” he said, adding that it costs $900,000 per mile to insulate lines, versus $4 million per mile for undergrounding those power lines.
Undergrounding is safer, but insulating is cheaper, Rogers said. There are proposals in the works for the state to take on vegetation management for utilities in exchange for lower rates, he said.
One power company had applied about a month ago to increase rates purely for profit, the assemblyman added, noting that he had co-signed a letter arguing against it.
The subject of conversation shifted again when a man who identified himself as “neither a Democrat nor a registered Republican” came forth to speak out about the disconnect between the priorities in the state capitol versus Del Norte. “We are horribly overregulated here in California, to the point where rural counties — we are hamstrung on a lot of the things that we can do,” he said. “Your positions on various policies don’t appear to address that issue — taxes and regulations, particularly on small businesses.”.
Rogers admitted that “a Sacramento one-size-fits-all approach to [all] counties doesn’t work.”
The assemblyman explained that his job is to build relationships with the people in his district so he can learn about the unintended consequences of state decisions made with city-folk in mind, and to make sure that rural voices make their way into the language of legislation.
The man reminded Rogers that if the election had been held in Del Norte County alone, he wouldn’t have been elected.
“I know that,” the assemblyman said.
One constituent, a woman who didn’t identify herself, asked why “illegals” receive Medicaid healthcare benefits in California.
Rogers paused, took a deep breath, and explained that providing undocumented individuals with preventative healthcare is less expensive than treating them in the emergency room.
This opened up a larger discussion about the rural struggles of retaining primary care physicians in the region. Several attendees commented on the inconvenience and disservice of establishing care with a rotating medical professional, and then having to start over with someone new. When asked what is being done to address this, Rogers responded with his own question: “What does economic development look like to your community? Because it’s different everywhere, right?” He admitted that representatives don’t generally have much of an understanding about rural issues, but stated that he believes this is improving.
The topic of retaining medical professionals led to broader concerns surrounding housing availability and cost of living. One man, who did not identify himself, spoke to frustrations pertaining to requirements established by the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. Rogers offered that one potential solution to offset these hardships might be rezoning.
Although the barriers to construction in Del Norte County are different than in other regions, Rogers said had learned in conversations with other North Coast constituents that a common issue is that it’s not as profitable for developers to build in an area that has lower rent relative to the rest of the state. He suggested that developers would need some sort of financial incentive to make it worthwhile, and noted that there were currently around 300 bills that have been introduced to impact housing development.
Additional issues raised at the event included the loss of $500,000 in funding for the Rape Crisis Center, the potential environmental impacts of erosion caused by timber clearing, and questions about testing for asbestos contamination from rock quarries on the Smith River. Several attendees present noted a common theme of approaching a regulatory agency or governing body asking for help, then getting referred to another department – and then another, and another – with no actual resolution. This bureaucratic runaround, it seemed, was discouraging to those who are actively trying to participate in the civic process.
Del Norte residents can reach their District 2 assemblyman by visiting Rogers’ website.
