October 7, 2004

Maldonado and Pinard square off for state Senate

Victor will represent the five-county district

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

While political war chests expand in tandem with frenzied campaigns, the 15th District state Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most spirited contests on the November ballot—as Santa Maria Assemblyman Abel Maldonado (R) and San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Peg Pinard (D) square off to assume the role of outgoing Senator Bruce McPherson.

According to their re-cords, both Maldonado and Pinard share similar motives and somewhat parallel paths.

Mounting frustrations with building permits lured them each into local politics, where they were elected to city council and then Mayor. Although the similarities strayed when Maldonado won his bid for the state Assembly and Pinard captured a position as County Supervisor, neither has ever lost an election.

With one percent separating the two parties, it’s the closest split in the state—with Maldonado and Pinard in a dead heat that promises to make for a nail-biting tally after the polls close on Nov. 2.

At stake—250 miles of coastline, a hefty amount of natural resources, and 456,021 registered voters throughout five counties, including parts of Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara, including Almaden.

Abel Maldonado
At 37, Abel Maldonado is a classic “rags to riches” poster child—a story that began on a half-acre strawberry farm in Santa Maria, where the son of Mexican immigrants spent his childhood picking berries alongside his father to help support the family.

Maldonado attended Santa Maria High School and majored in Crop Science at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Today, the small farm has grown into Agro-Jal Farming Enterprises, a thriving produce empire, where 250 employees farm over 2,000 acres for an international clientele. Now a multimillionaire, Maldo-nado shares his American dream with his wife, Laura, and their four children in Garey, near Santa Maria.

In 1994, the need to build a 35,000 square foot cooling facility found 26-year old Maldonado knee deep in the city’s lackluster permit process. After months of churning through red tape, he ran for City Council—determined to make changes. His first successful election led to a second two years later, when he defeated two-term incumbent Bob Orach to become Mayor. Under his watch, Santa Maria was able to reverse its deficit and rally out of financial disaster.

In 1998, Maldonado set his sights on Sacramento, where a third victory landed him in the state Assembly. He has been re-elected twice and also serves as vice Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, with positions on four others, including Retirement and Social Security, Business and Professions, Appropriations, and Public Employees.

In 2003, Maldonado was named Legislator of the Year by the California Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Electronics Association, and Crime Victims United.

The same year, he was recruited to serve as State Co-Chairman on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign for Governor—after which he became a member of the Governor Elect’s Transition Team and authored AB 1-4X Workers’ Compensation Reform legislation—which sought to reduce the cost of workers’ compensation to the national average and fine-tune the bill passed earlier last year.

Considered a rising star in the Republican arena, Maldonado has not always sided with his party, as the self-proclaimed moderate Republican says he’d rather vote his district.

“I’ve voted many times against my party, because they’re wrong and they don’t understand my district,” he says. “I’ll continue to do that. I’m going to continue to be independent.”

Peg Pinard
When Assemblywoman Re-becca Cohn withdrew from the Senate race, the state Democratic Party looked to Peg Pinard to fill the spot.

The San Jose native and second term San Luis Obispo County Supervisor is a licensed pilot and holds a lifetime teaching credential. She was the first in her family to attend college and graduated with honors from Santa Clara University, while working as a bookkeeper, Postal Service employee and waitress to pay for her tuition. After spending two years as a math teacher in the Philippines with the Peace Corps, Pinard returned to San Luis Obispo, where she educated migrant farm workers before starting her own small business.

Less than pleased with a lengthy bureaucratic process surrounding building permits that she needed in order to remodel her historic Victorian home, Pinard decided to fight city hall—by changing the rules from the inside.

She has spent the past 17 years as an elected official for San Luis Obispo, but not before co-founding the Old Town Neighborhood Association and initiating the Cultural Heritage Committee in an effort to preserve their historic neighborhoods. In 1987, after serving on the Architectural Review and Personnel Commis-sions, Pinard was elected to the City Council, and in 1992, became their Mayor, where she supervised a $3 million reduction from the city budget without resorting to job cuts.

Pinard’s most notable achievement followed a 10-year battle with Unocal to restore Avila Beach and Guadalupe after decades of toxic contamination resulted in the country’s largest land-based pollution cleanup. Through her negotiations, Unocal agreed to temporarily relocate residents, while they removed the contamination and restored the community.

Pinard lives with her husband Leo, a Cal Poly professor, in their now renovated home. With four grown children and two grandchildren, she says doing the “right thing” continues to motivate her—both professionally and politically.

As tight as it is, this race has been clean so far, yet both candidates stand prepared for the negative mudslinging that often accompanies eleventh-hour campaigning.

According to Maldonado’s campaign manager Tom Kise, it depends on what voters consider negative.

“There won’t be any personal attacks,” he says. “But we will point out the facts, including Pinard’s voting and attendance records, or things she says that may be inaccurate or hypocritical—I wouldn’t call that negative.”

On Nov. 2 however, voters will see three names on the ballot, including Green Party candidate Brook Madsen of Carmel Valley—who dropped out of the race when he discovered that Paul Bruno, vice-chairman of the Monterey County Republican Central Committee and Maldonado supporter convinced Madsen to put his name on the ballot as a Green Party candidate, thus diluting votes.

“That was wrong,” says Maldonado. “He shouldn’t have done that and I hope he learns something.”

According to Madsen, Bruno also paid his $950 filing fee with cashier’s checks. Although no election laws were broken, the lofty move raised Democratic Party eyebrows and has been labeled a cheap ruse to take liberal votes away from Pinard. However, attempts to remove his name from the ballot have failed.

Heavyweight Support
Both candidates boast impressive endorsement lists. While Maldonado has the backing of Governor Arnold Schwarzen-egger, as well as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Chamber of Com-merce, San Jose Chamber of Commerce, American Nurses Association/California, and most police and fire department agencies, Pinard has received support from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, California Faculty Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Nurses Association, California School Employees Association, and, more interesting—the Mexican American Political Association.

Maldonado and Pinard speak candidly
Last week, both candidates agreed to come to the Times office separately and talk about their priorities, positions on the issues, and the propositions. Below is a summary of nearly four hours of interviews.

Top five priorities for each candidate:
Maldonado: Economy, Edu-cation, Healthcare, Environment, and Public Safety
Pinard: Budget, Education, Healthcare, Economy, and Environment

Q & A
The state and the economy

What is your position on Schwarzenegger’s Government Reform Plan and do you feel California is heading in the right direction toward balancing the state budget?

Maldonado: I think it’s a great plan and we’re moving in the right direction. The people chose this direction when they put in a new governor. In order to move the economy ahead, you have to understand the stability of the workforce. He understands if you stimulate small business, you’ll have a better economy. There are things in this plan I don’t support. I have problems with the education part—like closing youth authorities. There’s going to be some changes as we move forward to find out what’s good and what needs to be changed after the public hearings.

Pinard: I don’t think this budget is going in the right direction. We passed a $15 billion bond debt. There’s nothing to show for it. $1.3 billion was robbed from local governments this year, with more to come. This plan doesn’t change the issues that got us into trouble in the first place.

What is your position regarding Assembly Constitutional Amendment 2, which forces members to forfeit salary and reimbursement if a budget isn’t passed by June 15?

Maldonado: I’ve done it every year. If there’s no budget, I don’t take a salary. If we had legislation that said once the budget is late one day, you stop getting paid, I guarantee the people of California would have a budget on time every single year.

Pinard: I’ve always had a balanced budget and on time. It needs to be done, or they shouldn’t be rewarded for not being able to get the job done.

What is your stand on piggybacking legislature?

Maldonado: The party in control of the house joins a piece of good legislation with one they know the governor can’t sign—it’s called double joined. For example, nobody wanted to cut teachers, so they added tax loopholes for yacht owners to one bill. If you vote to close the $5 million loophole, you cut $200 million in teacher tax credits for schools. It’s horrible.

Pinard: This has to stop. It’s an excuse to hide behind one portion of a bill to support something else. California wants to see transparency throughout government.

What are your plans for worker’s compensation reform?

Maldonado: Is it resolved? No. Have the problems of the past stopped? Yes. I authored the governor’s worker’s compensation legislation. We still have a lot to do to fix this bill. If there’s no real relief, this governor’s going to make some changes.

Pinard: Everybody knew we needed reform. But did this result in real savings? The workers, employers, and providers didn’t get it. The first question needs to be where did the money go?

Do you feel there is a need to also look into insurance reform across the board?

Maldonado: We’re working with the Attorney General to see why their profits are so high and their payouts so low. If there needs to be legislation, I’m on it.

Pinard: Corporate interest has gone from making a profit into corporate greed. We have agencies in place to regulate them, but they’re not doing their job. It’s an industry out of control.

Health and welfare

What is your position on Proposition 72?

Maldonado: I’m not supporting this. I’m not opposed to providing healthcare, but you cripple small business when you hit them with another mandate, on top of workman’s comp. If we mandate this, what’s next? They move out of the state. We’ve got to stay competitive or we’re going to lose.

Pinard: It’s a stop-gap measure until we can get a more full revision of the system. I think it is necessary and will support it.

What is your position on Proposition 71, stem cell research?

Maldonado: I’m all for that. Is it the whole pie that I wanted? No, but I think it’s needed to get more research and help.

Pinard: I am for stem cell research. But, this one is going to set up it’s own institute! There are bio-tech firms ready to go and I don’t feel it needs to go through another layer of bureaucracy. I thought we wanted to simplify.

Where do you stand on Proposition 63—Mental Health Services Expansion and Funding. Tax on Incomes over $1 Million?

Maldonado: I don’t support this because it’s pinpointed on that one percent. The last thing you want is for that one percent to leave the state.

Pinard: I’m not against mental health, but it should be funded properly. The relationship between the service and the tax has to be solid. Let’s look at tax structure instead.

Regarding Assembly Bill 1205, what are your plans to repair the loophole that allows for the placement of sex offenders without local authority notification?

Maldonado: It’s all about organizing a community. I support Megan’s Law on the Internet. It isn’t as strong as we want it, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Pinard: It’s long needed. I believe people have a right to know.

Education

Do you feel that Schwarzenegger’s plan for a Department of Education is the right move for schools?

Maldonado: It all comes down to making smart decisions with this economy so that there’s more money to fund education.

Pinard: I support it. We need to make the system more efficient.

What are your plans to reduce increased prison funding and do you think Proposition 66 will ease expenses?

Maldonado: The guards deserved the pay, but I couldn’t control how much. There’s heat on them right now and after all is said and done, there’s going to be reform.

I don’t support Proposition 66. I always put myself in the place of the victims. If someone gets three strikes, let’s not forget about strike number one and number two.

Pinard: I think we saw total incompetence at the accountability level on prison guard salaries. The accountability has to be mandated and restructured. It’s not being done now.

I believe that three strikes needs revision, but not this way. Here, you have a billionaire, whose son is in jail under the three strikes law, and is looking for a loophole to get him out. He specifically designed this to get one person out of prison.

What is your position on Proposition 1A and how do you feel about allowing schools to decide what to spend their money on?

Maldonado: Big time supporter, but disappointed that we didn’t do this four years ago. It will keep local money at the local level. I don’t support unfunded mandates. Special education is a mess. I support local control and local discretion for funding. School boards need to make the decisions—not the state of Calif. making one size fits all decisions for the entire state. It does not work. We need to stop the bills that allow Sacramento to make the decisions.

Pinard: Local money should stay with local government.

Illegal aliens / Non-US citizens

What is your position on granting licenses to illegal aliens?

Maldonado: Wrong idea. Homeland security is one of the biggest issues facing this state and the country. I do not support giving undocumented folks a driver’s license in California. There’s a process in America to become a resident. Follow that process.

Pinard: I support this. If people are driving on our roads, I want them to learn the rules, get a license, and get insurance.

Casinos / Slots

What is your position on Proposition 68?

Maldonado: I haven’t looked into them enough, but I don’t support expanding gaming into card clubs or putting Indian casinos in urban areas.

Pinard: This is the transparency that we are talking about. We’re talking about deal making instead of paying the proper tax that casinos should pay. This isn’t any additional revenue. Instead, we’ll be further enticed to go into gambling. Is that the high value we’re looking for in this state?

How does Proposition 70 play into this? Would Proposition 68 override it if both pass?

Maldonado: I support Indian gaming. That is their sovereign nation. But, if either of these propositions pass, the tribal compacts the governor just ratified are null and void.

Pinard: I oppose both of these propositions. What’s the point?

Business / transportation / Environment

What is your position on outsourcing?

Maldonado: I’d love to end outsourcing, but it’s not going to happen. We just have to make sure that the companies here continue to strive and keep more jobs here. I would love to support incentives that would keep companies here, but until we turn this economy around, we’ll never get something to provide tax incentives to keep jobs from being outsourced.

Pinard: Outsourcing has got to stop. Stopping the loss of jobs out of the state would be a good start.

Regarding transportation, which are the most critical for San Jose?

Maldonado: I support the Bart extension, the Coleman overpass and a Proposition 42. Gas taxes should go to roads and transportation. Instead, the governor has done what was done with Proposition 98 and borrowed the money, which is wrong.

Pinard: I’ve been supportive of mass transit projects in every way, but we need to make the project clear and pass a bond for it—not borrow from gas taxes for our roads.

Where do you stand on Proposition 59: Public Records. Open Meetings?

Maldonado: I support it big time. People want disclosure.

Pinard: Absolutely. It needs to be as open as possible.

What is your position on amending re-districting?

Maldonado: I support it big time, but it’s not going to happen. The legislature will never do that.

Pinard: We need to take the special districting out of the hands of people who are subjected to protecting their own self-interest.

Campaign

What will make you the better candidate?

Maldonado: I’ll never forget who put me in office and whose money the government spends—the people.

Pinard: I bring a definite practicality to the office. I mean what I say and I follow through on what I say I’ll do.

In the next issue of the Almaden Times Weekly, we will offer our candidate endorsement.