Over the last year, I have had the pleasure of travelling to Sacramento to represent the Addiction Treatment Advocacy Coalition (ATAC), a group that advocates for those who suffer from Substance Use Disorder and those facilities that provide treatment. As the president of ATAC, I have met with regulators and legislators throughout the California capitol and the San Diego strength is amazing.
Assemblyman Todd Gloria, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Assemblywoman Dr. Shirley Weber and Sen. Toni Atkins are well respected by other legislators and all have key leadership positions within the legislature. The influence of San Diego in the California legislature is palpable.
Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher and Atkins are all rising stars. Weber (68) is also a force to be reckoned with but may have limited upward mobility in California or national politics because of her age. Let’s look at those making San Diego proud:
Toni Atkins
Toni is the former speaker of the State Assembly and is considered a potential candidate for Congress or governor in the next five years. She is on the influential Rules Committee and has introduced a single payer health care bill to provide health care to every Californian. In her freshman term in the Senate, Toni is someone to watch. By the way, she is an open lesbian.
Todd Gloria
Many people assumed Todd Gloria would be the first openly gay elected mayor of San Diego but the Filner debacle forced him to step into the abyss and put San Diego before his political ambitions. As part of the deal to become interim mayor, Gloria could not run for the job. He is now in his frosh year in the State Assembly and was immediately put into a leadership position.
Todd is the assistant majority whip who is responsible for ensuring that legislation the leadership wants to see passed has the votes within the majority party. Todd will get to know everyone in the Assembly through his current leadership position which will likely lead to other leadership positions. Sometimes a nice, openly gay guy finishes first.
Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher
Born from the labor movement in San Diego, Lorena is the chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee in the Assembly. The Appropriations Committee manages the fiscal impact of any bills passed from policy committees. Lorena’s committee is the final check on how a bill’s implementation will affect the financial health of California.
Gonzalez Fletcher is considered to be a future speaker of the Assembly. A Latina with a good heart, the sky’s the limit for Gonzalez Fletcher in California and beyond.
Dr. Shirley Weber
Former chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, Dr. Shirley Weber was responsible for attempting to balance the budget for the state from 2015-2017. She currently is a member of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee which makes recommendations concerning the state budget to minimize the cost of state government and promote efficiency in state departments and programs.
Dr. Weber may be a future speaker of the Assembly, if ageism does not hold her back.
Due to the incredible talent that San Diego has elected to the legislature, the city’s influence on the state is growing. Has San Diego supplanted Los Angeles and San Francisco as the place to look for future leaders of the state and potentially the country?
STAMPP CORBIN
PUBLISHER
San Diego LGBT Weekly
