Asm. Speaker Anthony Rendon has failed women, children, and Democrats around the nation

BY MARCOS BRETÓN

State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon made himself a national laughingstock on Monday and Tuesday, a distinction he earned by orchestrating one of the most odious displays of failed leadership that we’ve seen in sometime here in Sacramento.

He’s no kind of leader. I have gone back and forth on whether to say, simply, Rendon should resign. But he’s not going to do that. A man who makes a female subordinate do something dangerous to her and her baby because of his stupid, arrogant and idiotic rules can’t be expected to do the right thing.

And my friends, that’s saying something.

The Los Angeles-based politician denied Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, the ability to vote by proxy during the coronavirus pandemic. He forced Wicks, a female member of his caucus, to schlep from Oakland to the Capitol in Sacramento with her newborn baby in tow to vote.

A smart, compassionate, emotionally mature leader would have let her vote by proxy.

But, no. Being a real leader was a bridge too far Rendon. He denied Wicks the ability to vote remotely, even though Republicans in the upper house voted via Zoom on Monday. And when initially called on it, Rendon and his smarmy staff doubled down, Donald Trump style.

Rendon failed all night long on Monday. He mismanaged the clock and bungled getting a bill to address California’s housing crisis by increasing housing density. Despite the mass demonstrations caused by the killing of George Floyd and the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Rendon wasn’t able to save a bill that would have targeted police officers with histories of excessive force which is a major blow to

Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer is the chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee whose district has been the site of many killings of Black men at the hands of law enforcement.

A bill that would allow “bad officers” to be permanently stripped of their badges failed to pass the California Legislature on Monday as state lawmakers could not muster enough support to pass one of the year’s top policing reform bills.

It’s a shame that Jones-Sawyer continues to fail Black people with his lack of leadership in Sacramento.

Voters need to steer clear of ANY candidates being supported by someone as cruel to women as Speaker Anthony Rendon and elected officials like Reggie Jones-Sawyer who can’t get police reform legislation across the finish line.  

California Assemblymember @buffywicks was told that having recently given birth wasn’t sufficient excuse to cast a vote remotely.

So she brought her newborn daughter to the floor to weigh in on an important housing bill. 💪https://t.co/elofHmIcxl pic.twitter.com/ZQf9F10qKE

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 1, 2020