The San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles has a justifiable “chip on its shoulder.� Despite being part of the City of Los Angeles, it has long been treated as a second-class citizen by local government, a source of great frustration and anger for many Valley residents.

In 2002, this bipartisan issue became so acute that the Valley residents actually voted overwhelmingly to secede from the City of Los Angeles, and GOP Assemblyman Keith Richman was provisionally elected “Mayor of the San Fernando Valley.� Ultimately the initiative was defeated by a majority of the Los Angeles voters from other parts of the City, though the Valley’s discontent remains.

According to the California Institute for Federal Policy Research, the imbalance between what California pays the federal government in taxes and what it gets back in the form of federal funds has gotten worse every year since my opponent, Rep. Brad Sherman, took office. In 2003—the most recent year for which data is available—Californians sent $50 billion more to Washington, D.C., than they got back in return: a record high for any state in the country.

“Getting the Valley its fair share� is the central theme of my campaign. The message is resonating because, with the exception of naming a local Post Office or two, Brad Sherman, has done almost nothing for the 27th District.
In fact, in its 2006 “Power Rankings� of Members of Congress, www.congress.org ranked Brad Sherman a dismal 349th out of 435. As an explanation for Sherman’s low score, the website noted: “Average tenure and committee position, but did not advance any legislation in 2005.�

The “fair share� concern is real. It is powerful, populist and bipartisan. Brad Sherman cannot go near it because of his admittedly undistinguished Congressional record in this area. The same sentiment behind “fair share� that was strong enough to move the Valley to literally vote to secede from the City of Los Angeles, is also strong enough to vote out a do-nothing Congressman.

Please share your thoughts with me, and help us win this election, so I can effectively represent everyone in our District.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at 9:35 am and is filed under Campaign, Politics .