CA Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has reached into the Democratic Party’s piggybank to bankroll the election of a South Central legislator. Rendon has gone so far as to use his chief political strategist to create fake “community” websites, posing as a Latino, to smear the challenger. Southeast Los Angeles residents continue to feel the brunt of the state assembly’s failure to adequately address healthcare and maintain the voting rights of nearly 2 million Latino’s.
Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer released a new campaign commercial that he hopes will paint a better picture of who he is as a “candidate”. An alleged fighter for social justice and healthcare for all. Two areas he is missing the mark.
As a fighter of “social justice” one would find it odd Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer co-authored a bill, to remove the voting rights of Latinos in Southeast Los Angeles, at the behest of the most powerful Latino leader in the state: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: Central Basin Privatization-Corruption Web Involves Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
Jones-Sawyer labels himself as a “progressive” and has taken thousands of dollars from the healthcare industry, especially the CA Nurses Association, to advance Senate Bill 562, which sought to have a single payer form of healthcare for all Californians.
After advancing through the Senate, Rendon shelved the bill and his colleagues, including Jones-Sawyer didn’t say a word.
“Reggie Jones-Sawyer never championed SB562 because if he had everyone in South Central would know all about the bill,” said progressive candidate Maria Estrada who is challenging Rendon on the November ballot.
“Rendon stopped the Legislative process. Considering that he claims to be fighting for healthcare for 20 years and is in the highest position in the state to do just that, he literally used that position yo stop legislation that he claims to have been fighting for for years,” said Estrada. “Had Rendon not shelved SB562 in June 2017 the state of California would have saved a minimum of $111 billion dollars by the end of 2020, and we wouldn’t be in the hole $54.3 billion and millions of Californians who have lost their jobs would be fully covered during this unprecedented global pandemic.”
Jones-Sawyer should find this problematic for constituents in Assembly District 59 where the median household income is $36,437 based on 2010 census data and would have a difficult time paying for healthcare costs from their own pockets.
Assembly District 59 is 77% Latino so his position on bills, pertaining to healthcare and voters rights, has a profound affect on on not only his district, but the entire state.
This isn’t the only problematic bill being pushed at the behest of Rendon to disenfranchise Latinos.
Assembly Bill 625 seeks to dissolve the local water board in favor of it becoming privatized. As a man who built a reputation as one who fights for the rights of “all” why are Rendon and Jones-Sawyer now attempting to usurp the voting power of the communities most vulnerable residents?
Related: Southeast LA County’s Fight for Water
“Reggie Jones Sawyer is an opportunist who co authored SB-625 that brings us closer to the privatization of the water in Southeast Los Angeles and will disenfranchise a district that is predominantly Latino,” said Estrada. “He is a corporate establishment democrat that does what the Speaker instructs him to do, including co-authoring SB-625 that leads to the privatization of water in Southeast Los Angeles and disenfranchises 2.4 million voters, in an over 70% Latino community and of which 50% live in poverty. Jones-Sawyer should focus on his constituents in South Central and fight for healthcare for his community instead of privatizing the water in the Southeast.”
When asked why she believes that Jones-Sawyer is accepting so much help from the speaker, despite Rendon’s refusal to vote on a bill Jones-Sawyer is heavily invested in to help the most vulnerable members of the districts he covers, Estrada was straight to the point.
“He does as he’s told,” said Estrada.
Related: Letter to the Editor: CA Democratic Party & State Legislators pump over $500,000 into AD59 race
With the speaker pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into his campaign, Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer has over $500,000 reasons to shut the fuck up.
Follow election updates for Assembly District 59 on Facebook.
3 Comments
Money corrupts the best intentions! Let’s vote for change
Money corrupts the best intentions!
WOW! My stepfather was half black and Mexican and we lived on the Eastside, like a few blocks from Jefferson HS.
Money has a way of corrupting most of politicians, be they black, brown, white, or yellow complexion.