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By Bay City News Service
Peninsula politician Rich Gordon is quickly settling into a new schedule of responsibilities in Sacramento after being sworn in as the 21st District assemblyman Dec. 6.
Since Mr. Gordon’s last meeting as San Mateo County’s District 3 supervisor was Nov. 30, he had to make a quick transition from his job in Redwood City to his new role as an assemblyman.
“The good news is I’ve found where the men’s room is,” he joked in a phone interview Dec. 9.
Mr. Gordon, a fourth-generation San Mateo County resident, was elected Nov. 2 by more than 63 percent of the district’s voters, who live in San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, Menlo Park, Woodside, East Palo Alto, Los Gatos and the Almaden Valley of San Jose.
He said his duties in Sacramento this week have included attending a week-long orientation session for newly elected assembly members, a Democratic Party caucus on state budget and legislative issues, and a special forum addressing the projected state budget deficit hosted by Governor-elect Jerry Brown.
The state budget deficit, which Mr. Brown’s office said could hit $28 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal year, is at the top of Mr. Gordon’s list of issues to address when the Assembly reconvenes in January.
“I want to look closely at budget debate and discussion,” he said. “There has been no thinking ahead here in Sacramento.”
His ideas for improving the state’s budget outlook range from reassessing Proposition 13, which he maintains “aggregated too much power in Sacramento,” and proposing the adoption of a two-year cycle for budget planning, similar to what was implemented by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
Before he can tackle the state’s issues, Mr. Gordon said he has to take on some crucial business in his own office.
“I still don’t have staff hired,” he said, adding that once his office is assembled, he’ll start reaching out and interacting with his constituents in a variety of platforms.
At his final meeting as county supervisor — an office that he was elected to three times beginning in 1997 — a group of his former staff members brought him close to tears when they showed up to congratulate him on his new position and wish him luck.
“I really believe that if I have any legacy that I leave at the county, it will be with those young people,” he said.
Rich Gordon’s first priority in Sacramento?
“His ideas for improving the state’s budget outlook range from reassessing Proposition 13, which he maintains “aggregated too much power in Sacramento,”
Funny, he didn’t mention that when he was a candidate.
Hey Rich…..I hope you read this……
Your a good man. I have known you for more than 20 years and as a Dyed in the wool Republican we don’t agree………
Good luck to you. Your job is not going to be easy…….I beg you not to forget that opposite views are not wrong. Just opposite.
May the orchids continue to flourish.
After carefully watching Rich Gordon’s contribution to politics in the past 7 years, I am only too glad that he is closer to the fold who will finally figure out what an ineffectual and lame person has been put into an office where he cannot do as much damage as he did for the district he covered for so long…..he was,is and always will be a joke to even those who do not need favors from him on a personal level.
Sacramento is an easier place to examine a person’s record both politically and personal and THAT will be done by those who know their ways through the corridors to find a men’s room.Gordon had the unfortunate taste to mention this without giving a local equivalent of a Jon Stewart ammunition to make a great joke.
Just what good does the average person think that a person like him has for helping California? There are hundreds if not thousands like myself, who find him to be a person who does not belong in any kind of elected position unless it directly affects him.
WITNESSED