The day Roza Calderon came to address us at the Oakhurst Public Library, the foothills were burning. It was day four of the Detwiler Fire, and Detwiler was all anyone could think about. Born in the chaparral of rural Mariposa County, the fire had run more than 15 miles toward the town of Mariposa. By July 19, the day of Roza's talk, thousands of people had been evacuated and dozens of homes had been lost.
We wondered if Roza would show up. After all, the most intuitive routes into Oakhurst from her end of California's 4th Congressional District, Highways 140 and 49, had been jumped by the fire and were closed. There were other routes into town--through Yosemite, through Raymond, through Madera--but they were longer and more circuitous. Besides, maybe she would be scared.
We wondered if Roza would show up. After all, the most intuitive routes into Oakhurst from her end of California's 4th Congressional District, Highways 140 and 49, had been jumped by the fire and were closed. There were other routes into town--through Yosemite, through Raymond, through Madera--but they were longer and more circuitous. Besides, maybe she would be scared.
But Roza not only showed up; she showed up straight from the Mountain Christian Center, one of three Red Cross evacuation shelters in Oakhurst for people displaced by the Detwiler Fire. She had been there volunteering and meeting people. She left her 12-year-old daughter there on dinner service while she came to address us. So no, not scared.
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| Roza Calderon at the Oakhurst Public Library, July 19 |
Not-scared Roza got right into it. She came into this country, she said, when she was a toddler. Back home in El Salvador, her activist mother had begun to fear for her family's safety when a grenade was launched at a vehicle she was traveling in. So she walked all the way to the United States, registered as a refugee, and sent for her two young daughters. Thanks to their mother's journey, Roza and her sister had a peaceful upbringing in Placer County, California.
Perhaps also thanks to her mother's example, Roza herself became an activist. She co-founded California DREAMers, a group that advocates immigration reform, especially as it relates to undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children. She co-founded Placer Women Democrats and Indivisible CA-04; the latter serves as sort of an umbrella organization for progressive causes in California's 4th Congressional District. Every week, Roza can be found at Tom McClintock's office in Roseville, rattling cages as a member of the RAT Pack, or Resistance Action Tuesday. And she is a regular participant in, and leader of, marches and rallies for social justice.
Now, Roza Calderon is upping the ante. She has hit the 4th District's very own campaign trail, in hopes of claiming Tom McClintock's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018.
Of course, Roza Calderon is not alone in the fight for the 4th. Three other female Democrats--Jessica Morse, Regina Bateson, and Rochelle Wilcox--are running as well. Previously, I wrote about Jessica and Regina. Now, it's Roza's turn.
After giving us a brief bio, Roza launched into the issues. Front and center for her is the environment. She is concerned about water, which she referred to as "blue gold." District 4 marks the top of the watershed for much of the Sierra Nevada, Roza said, and our water is generally destined for other places. In some cases, our water is sold off to corporate interests. A special focus of Roza's is keeping District 4 water safe to drink and freely accessible to its residents.
Then there is the bark beetle. If you've read my blog, you know that I have a slight obsession with bark beetle ecology, especially as it relates to the ponderosa pine forests near me. So I sat as rigid as a beetle-killed snag while Roza discussed this subject, and peppered her with questions afterward.
Roza considers the bark beetle infestation one of four major issues that affect District 4 residents across the political spectrum. (The other issues are jobs, broadband, and immigration reform.) In District 4 alone, Roza said, there are 66 million dead trees--and she has a plan for how to deal with them. In contrast with Tom McClintock's Emergency Forest Restoration Act, which seeks to mitigate insect infestations through wholesale logging of both live and dead trees, Roza's plan would be science-based, and would emphasize the restoration side of things.
The first step in dealing with an insect infestation, Roza said, would be to obtain a State of Emergency declaration, triggering the release of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds. Under Roza's plan, a portion of those FEMA funds would be used to collect data about the infestation. Workers on the ground would evaluate every affected tree, and mark it for treatment or removal. The funds would then be used to implement the prescriptions for the affected trees, and finally, to restore the forest. The best part, according to Roza? Her plan would put boots on the ground again in our National Forests, including many a pair of out-of-work corks. She would bring the loggers out of retirement, and employ them in environmental protection.
Roza is well-versed in the environment, and forest health in particular, because it's what she does for a living. A geospatial scientist by trade, Roza owns a consulting firm that conducts research and data analysis for the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies. The Sierra Nevada bark beetle infestation has been the firm's focal point in recent years. They collect tree data on the ground, study the relative responses of trees and regions to beetle infestations, and advise clients as to how to mitigate infestations and improve forest health. In essence, Roza's firm carries out her larger plan for the beetle-swamped forests of the Sierra, only minus the FEMA funding.
Although Roza didn't name health care among the four unifying concerns of the 4th District, it's clear that this is another of her priorities. "Single-payer!" she bellowed, by way of summarizing her position on the matter. And until single-payer health care is realized, Roza feels it's important to shore up the programs we do have. She pointed out that in District 4, 70,000 people depend on Medicaid and Medicare. Tom McClintock wishes to gut Medicaid, alleging that many of its recipients aren't needy enough to be on the dole. He is also a proponent of turning Medicare into a premium support or "voucher" system, which is projected to hurt beneficiaries by driving up costs and weakening coverage. At the Oakhurst Public Library, Roza suggested McClintock come clean. He should, she said, personally write a letter to the 70,000 constituents who would be impacted by his vision for Medicaid and Medicare, explaining why they are not worthy of their benefits.
Roza is strictly anti-McClintock, but I don't think she would describe herself as anti-Republican. In fact, she seems to relish engaging with the other side. She shared a story from a McClintock town hall event she attended, in which she befriended the alt-right. It was a full house, and she'd had to squeeze into a row occupied by a delegation from the State of Jefferson. In her purse was a mini megaphone, with which she planned to address McClintock if he seemed to not be listening. She started chatting with the State of Jefferson folks. They were delighted by her megaphone scheme. When the time came, and she approached McClintock's podium, the whole State of Jefferson got up and followed her. She said they seemed a little confused once she started delivering her message, but they stayed put. Since then, she has been invited to address their group a couple of times.
Roza is nothing if not District-centered. Nearly every point she made at the Oakhurst Public Library had a 4th District connection. The 4th needs clean water. The 4th needs healthy forests. Affordable, reliable health care. Good public schools. Jobs. Relief from the corporate clutches facilitated by McClintock. Roza's 4th focus, I think, resonated strongly with her audience, and will serve her well along the campaign trail.
And for Roza, it's clearly not just a talking point. Since arriving in the United States as a young child, she has lived almost exclusively in Placer County. Her activism has centered mostly around local politics and community development. She loves her district, knows her district, and hopes to become its champion in the U.S. House of Representatives.
What's more, Roza is likeable. In big-city congressional districts elsewhere in the state, a person's resume and high-powered connections would likely hold more sway than their humor and story-telling ability. But this is District 4, arguably California's most down-home district. Here, people live in the mountains, wear jeans, talk about the weather. We know we need tourism to survive, but we bristle at the seasonal influx of urbanites that crowd out our local restaurants and make our favorite Yosemite hiking trails smell like cologne. Roza is our neighbor from just up north. She gets what goes on here. You could grab a beer with her at Southgate, and feel perfectly at ease.
In my opinion, Roza's 4th-centric nature and likeability make her pretty darn electable. But a candidate's ability to beat Tom McClintock is only part of the equation. Equally important, I think, is how well they will serve us in the House. This is where I feel Roza is edged out by my enduring pick, Jessica Morse.
Roza's activism credentials are impressive. But from what Google tells me, the organizations she helped establish and/or supports today are all fairly new, like since the election of DJT. There is nothing wrong with this. Most of the people in my local peace group weren't politically active prior to November 2016. But that's kind of my point. We are all activists now. If Roza's activism credentials are what qualify her to be our Congresswoman, then so do mine. I organized the January 21 Oakhurst Women's March. I was one of the founding members of Oakhurst Area for Peace, and co-founded a sister group, the Oakhurst Earth Guardians. I'm a member of Indivisible CA-04, and contribute to its blog.
Perhaps, though, the thing that best qualifies Roza for the House is her science background. Or maybe it's her ambition and determination; after all, she put herself through school as a single mom, earning a Bachelor of Science and three Associate's degrees. But then again, you could say the same about me. As a single mom, I earned a Master of Science in Forestry, and work today as a consulting wildlife biologist.
I am by no means trying to downplay Roza's experience. And the last thing I am trying to do is run for Congress. I am just pointing out that her resume, in and of itself, does not make her our best possible choice.
By contrast, the only credential that I share with Jessica Morse is a lot of foot travel in the High Sierras. She quickly disappears over the horizon when you take into account her ten years of civil service, her humanitarian work around the world, and her course of study at Princeton. Jessica has rolled up her sleeves for her fellow Americans in venues ranging from war zones to budget offices. She knows the inner workings of our government because she has lived at its center--in the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. She has worked fearlessly in places that, to me, connote death and dismemberment, or at the very least dysentery--Iraq, Ethiopia, India, Nepal. Often times, she is the only woman in the room. From what I can tell, her voice remains loud and clear regardless of who she's up against.
Jessica Morse may not be as District-centered as Roza Calderon. But I suspect there is a lot more to serving in Congress than simply fighting for one's own district. There is, for example, foreign policy. National security. Intelligence. Government oversight. The armed services. The federal budget. And what about the host of issues for which District 4 represents only a tiny piece of the overall puzzle? Think the environment, the economy, public education, and health care.
Of course we need a candidate who will keep District 4's best interest in mind when casting their votes in the House. But we also need a candidate who is comfortable operating at the federal level, working for the interest of all Americans, as we attempt to turn this ship around. To me, Jessica Morse has both bases covered. Three candidates into my Coup d' éTom series, she still gets my vote.
