MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Assemblyman Bill Dodd came to town on Friday night, attending the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting to talk about legislative efforts and answer questions from constituents.
Dodd took office as the Fourth District Assembly representative for Lake and five other rural counties in December.
Prior to winning his Assembly seat, Dodd spent 14 years as a member of the Napa County Board of Supervisors.
He was raised on a ranch where his family grew grapes and walnuts. He's a father of five – all grown – and grandfather of four.
More than 40 people attended the Friday night MATH meeting, moved from its usual Thursday night in order to accommodate Dodd's visit.
“This is a special and rare occasion for Middletown Area Town Hall,” said MATH Board member Mike Tabacchi, who introduced Dodd and noted that it was only the second time in the more than eight and a half years that the group has been meeting that it has hosted a legislator from Sacramento.
“I'm really thrilled to be here,” said Dodd.
He said he has been moved by the needs on so many different levels in Lake County. “I will be here to help.”
The six-county district he serves – which includes Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties – is a diverse one, with Dodd explaining that all of the counties are rural.
Thanks to the time he spent on the Napa County Board of Supervisors, Dodd said he knows what it's like to have the state tell local governments how to run communities. “I'm a big believer in local control.”
Dodd said he believes the state should be giving cities and counties the kinds of tools and funding control much like what is now being given to schools, as he feels that kind of control and decision making should be done at the local level.
Thinking about what California is leaving to future generations, Dodd concluded, “It's troublesome.”
He does, however, have hope that he can make a difference in the Assembly. While he's just one person in a “lion's den” of 80 Assembly members and 40 senators, his 28-member freshman class in the Assembly is “a different breed.”
He said they aren't professional politicians looking to make the jump to Congress. “I really noticed that there's more of a balance,” he said.
One of the evening's hot topics was water, including Clear Lake, the focus of one of Dodd's important new pieces of legislation.
In February, Dodd introduced AB 367, which would allocate $2.4 million toward restoring Clear Lake’s wetlands, maintaining its water quality and preserving its ecosystem – specifically, protecting it against invasive mussels like the quagga and zebra.
“We've seen what's going on with this lake,” said Dodd, explaining that the work of restoring California's largest natural lake can't be left up to the 60,000 or so residents of the county, when other lakes have been the domain of the state.
“How in the world are the people of Lake County – all on their own – supposed to bring back this resource that is so important to this county?” he asked.
He said he and Second District Sen. Mike McGuire – Lake County's representative in the state Senate, who also took office in December – discussed what they could do together to advance the agenda for Lake County, not only environmentally but also economically.
Part of their plan is to address the “incredibly high” water rates around Lake County. Dodd said he has dealt with similar issues in Napa County.
He said more economic opportunity also needs to be created, which includes considering the industries that would be good for this area.
Returning to AB 367, Dodd referred to three failed sales tax initiatives to support Clear Lake's restoration and protect it from invasive species. Those were just percentage points short of the needed supermajority vote – 66.7 percent – needed for a dedicated tax. Estimates were that the initiatives would have raised $2.4 million annually for lake-related projects.
Dodd said he started with that $2.4 million number as the basis for AB 367. “I really think this is just start. I think it's something we can build on.”
He intends to bring a member of an Assembly natural resources committee to Lake County for a visit in two weeks to show the importance of the bill.
“I think it's really important to bring people here to see, on the ground, just how beautiful this place is, what the challenges are, and to hear firsthand from locals how important it is to them, how important it is to the different stakeholder groups in the community,” as well as to the elected officials, he said.
He said he believes environmental protections and economic vitality can go hand-in-hand.
Dodd said later during the meeting's question-and-answer portion that how the funds from AB 367 would be spent would take direction from the community, much as the sales tax initiatives proposed to do.
“What I'm really trying to build is a sense of responsibility for this lake,” he said.
He also told the group that, if AB 367 doesn't pass this year, he'll continue putting it forward until it does pass.
Addressing education, importance of community input
Another Dodd bill with importance for Lake County, AB 401, aims to have the California Department of Community Services and Development develop a plan for a statewide low-income water rate assistance program.
“It's being modeled, really, for what's going on here and what I've seen in Lake County, particularly up in Lucerne and some of those areas” where water rates are extremely high and incomes are very low, Dodd said.
A number of Lucerne residents, including members of Lucerne Friends of Locally Owned Water, were in the audience to hear Dodd speak about those water issues.
Dodd also discussed the recent state water bond, which he said he made sure the counties he represents were eligible for before supporting it.
Other efforts under way includes legislation Dodd and McGuire have authored to support career technical education.
Explaining that not everyone is going to a four-year college, and with high schools cutting back on such education, Dodd said it's critical to offer technical education, particularly for people in agriculture and the trades. He said the bill will provide about $600 million for career technical education programs.
Dodd and McGuire also are planning to have an office in Lake County, an announcement that gained a round of applause. He said County Administrative Officer Matt Perry has been great in working with them to get a location. The specifics of the location will be announced once all details are finalized this spring.
“That's something that I really feel is important because I feel you deserve it,” said Dodd.
MATH Board Chair Fletcher Thornton asked for Dodd's thoughts on keeping Northern California's water from being shipped south to help flush Southern California's toilets, and asked if the use of greywater can be encouraged.
“I think that's gotta be the wave of the future,” Dodd said of water reuse.
He added, “I wouldn't give Southern California our water to drink,” which earned him another round of applause.
Dodd pointed out that Southern California has the people and the votes, and it's important to help them find solutions that don't include taking Northern California's water.
He said he supported reuse efforts such as using treated wastewater for parks. “We're going to have to do a lot more.”
During the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, Dodd fielded questions about vineyards and pesticides, fracking, water for agriculture, how communities like those in Lake County can meet additional required water cutbacks, and water storage projects such as the proposed Sites Reservoir in neighboring Colusa County.
“This is why I come to these meetings,” he said. “I want to hear what you know and what you're thinking.”
Dodd also was asked about how he considers and weighs community members' comments on issues he addresses in the Legislature.
He said such comments mean a lot. His goal is that anyone who contacts his office gets a call or email back within 24 hours, and the feedback from the community is included in the preparation he and his staff do before votes.
Logan Pitts, Dodd's field representative who accompanied him to the meeting, said phone calls are particularly effective, especially because the office gets so many emails.
When it comes to communicating with the office, “The more direct, the better,” Pitts said.
Thornton asked Dodd about when the Legislature was going to come up with a way to settle the marijuana issue, with clarification between the state and federal government needed. “It's been a mess.”
Dodd said he's a member of a caucus that is concerned that an initiative that isn't well thought out may make its way before voters, and so a number of legislators are considering taking the first step and writing their own ballot initiative.
“That's going to take a lot of input,” Dodd said.
Dodd also was asked about the Board of Supervisors' decision in February to place a ballot measure before voters next year about whether or not the county should join the effort to form Jefferson, a 51st state.
Explaining that he has many friends who are county supervisors around Northern California, Dodd noted that Jefferson is “never going to pass muster.”
But he acknowledged the frustration that has given rise to the movement, which he said maybe will wake up the state.
“I think rural counties need more attention,” he said, adding that he believes the time and money spent on the Jefferson movement could be spent better elsewhere.
Claude Brown, MATH's board vice chair, asked about Dodd's resolution – which has passed the state Legislature – to make the Berryessa Snow Mountain wilderness a national monument and the assessment that it will economically benefit the area.
Dodd said the Winters Chamber of Commerce hired a firm to conduct a study that found that there is economic benefit to national monument gateway areas.
Thornton said he thought the monument would steal peoples' ability to use the land. Dodd pointed out that, even now, the federal government can simply not renew leases for use of federal lands. The resolution is now headed to President Barack Obama.
In closing, Dodd thanked community members for coming out on a Friday night to meet with him, and said he was serious when he said he believed in representative government.
“We are going to respond to your calls, your emails and your letters,” he said.
Dodd's Santa Rosa office can be reached at 707-576-0400 or visit him online at http://asmdc.org/members/a04/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Assemblyman Dodd pays visit to Middletown Area Town Hall
- Elizabeth Larson
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