ELECTION 2024: Who's running for the State Assembly in Districts 34 and 47?
Ricardo Ortega (34) and Christy Holstege and Greg Wallis (47) answer our candidate questionnaire
Things get busy these days and in our crowded national and local elections, state level offices such as State Assembly and State Senate can get lost. And what’s the difference anyway?
The Assembly. There are 80 State Assembly districts and terms are two years — that means all 80 seats are for up election every two years.
The Senate. There are 40 State Senate districts and terms are four years. Half of the Senate seats are up for election every two years — even numbered districts come up for election during midterm years and odd numbered seats are elected in Presidential election years.
Desert Trumpet covered the State Senate election last week. This article features answers to emailed questions from candidates for State Assembly Districts 34 and 47.
Readers can find all of our 2024 election coverage using our new Article Index, just scroll down to Elections 2024!
Responses from Candidates for Assembly District 34
In Assembly District 34 (AD34), incumbent Republican candidate Tom Lackey is running for re-election against Democratic newcomer Ricardo Ortega of Lancaster, who is currently endorsed by the San Bernardino County Young Democrats and the Democrats of the Morongo Basin. District 34 includes Twentynine Palms, Landers, Barstow, Baker, Victorville, Hesperia, Big Bear Lake, and California City. Note: We reached out to the Lackey campaign but did not receive a response.
DT/Quality of Life: Twentynine Palms and much of the Morongo Basin is in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index. What specific initiatives would you spearhead to improve the quality of life for Morongo Basin residents?
Ricardo Ortega (RO): My top priority is bringing people and resources together to improve health and quality of life issues in the 34th Assembly District. From working with the community to support nutritional and family health programs, to ensuring that healthcare access is expanded locally, there is much that can be done.
DT/Education: Twentynine Palms is a vibrant yet disadvantaged community. How will you ensure that Morongo Basin youth receive an education that helps them thrive in the coming decades?
RO: All California kids should get a great education, whether they live in Beverly Hills, Lancaster, Victorville, or 29 Palms, but all too often, schools in disadvantaged communities are failing our families. We need leadership to create partnerships between communities and school districts and to identify ways we can bring special help to kids who have fallen behind because of the pandemic. Across the 34th District, there is a large percentage of households that commute outside of their communities to work, many with a daily commute that takes hours. Homework clubs and free tutoring are simple, cost-effective ways to ensure that kids stay at grade level and stay in school.
DT/Housing: 29 Palms and other Morongo Basin communities are severely impacted by the housing crisis. What will you do at a state level to accelerate the building of affordable and market-rate housing in 29 Palms? To ensure that the unhoused are safe during increasingly frequent extreme weather?
RO: It is not easy to build affordable housing in California because of high costs, even in places where rents are not so high. Our representative in Sacramento needs to be engaged on these issues because there are solutions, from streamlining the environmental process to finding relief for the cost of permits and fees for the development of affordable housing, and expanding programs that help first-time buyers is also important. Ensuring all communities have resources for safe extreme weather shelters is critical to keeping our unhoused population safe during weather events.
DT/Mental Health / Prop 1: Where do you stand on State Proposition 1 (amending of Health Services Act to provide behavioral health services)?
RO: I grew up in the foster care system and have seen first-hand the correlation between mental illness, addiction, and chronic homelessness. We need to address all of these issues, and so I support state efforts to provide more behavioral health services.
DT/Renewable energy: How do you view the balance between developing renewable energy infrastructure and the need to preserve neighborhoods and the environment? This question is particularly pertinent in Twentynine Palms where solar farms are currently not allowed in city limits, yet there is a pending development application for a 175-acre solar farm located in rural living residential zoning and adjacent to the existing neighborhood of Harmony Acres.
RO: As an Antelope Valley resident, I’ve seen the benefit of solar farms firsthand. Lancaster is now a net zero city, largely because of solar. There is also no doubt that the addition of solar farms to the valley has impacted the environment and the natural beauty of the High Desert. Developing renewable energy projects is necessary, but they need to be built with minimal impact. Solar farms bring fairly high-wage jobs to communities, so we need to ensure local hiring is a high priority. California law often strips communities of choice when it comes to projects like this because of the statewide energy needs, but that doesn’t mean that communities shouldn’t ensure these projects are built responsibly to the needs of the community-centered. Having your state representative's attention to these matters can make a difference.
DT/Accomplishments: What would you like to achieve in the next two years if you are elected? (Please be specific).
RO: As the Assembly Member for the 34th District, I would partner with organizations and local agencies to deliver resources that can help our communities with infrastructure projects, expanded healthcare access, and improved health and educational outcomes. Most importantly, I’d make sure that communities like the Morongo Basin have a strong voice in Sacramento and get our fair share of state resources.
Responses from Candidates for Assembly District 47
In AD47, Republican incumbent Greg Wallis is running against Democratic candidate, attorney, and former mayor of Palm Springs Christy Holstege. The race is a rematch from 2022 when Holstege lost by 85 votes. Cities and towns in District 47 include Calimesa, Yucaipa, Idyllwild, Banning, Morongo Valley, Pioneertown, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, and Yucca Valley.
DT/Quality of Life: Much of the Morongo Basin is in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index. What specific initiatives would you spearhead to improve the quality of life for Morongo Basin Residents?
Christy Holstege (CH): I would prioritize increased healthcare funding in the Morongo Basin, expanding access to affordable coverage, supporting community clinics, and bolstering mental health resources. I'd also advocate for investments in education and workforce development, including expanding early childhood education, vocational training, and increasing funding for local schools.
Addressing housing affordability and homelessness would be another key focus, supporting efforts to increase affordable housing, provide rental assistance, and invest in supportive housing programs. Additionally, I will champion environmental conservation and sustainable development, backing renewable energy projects, water conservation, and climate change mitigation policies. Overall, my commitment is to improve residents' quality of life in the Morongo Basin through collaborative efforts with local leaders and communities.
Greg Wallis (GW): First, we need to make life more affordable for the average person in our community. People deserve to live a middle-class life, but Sacramento has made that harder and harder. I believe the first step is reducing unfair taxes, for instance on gas, and unfair regulations on energy, that can cost the average family thousands of dollars a year that they often can’t afford. People shouldn’t have to choose between paying for gas, paying for food, or paying their power bill.
Second, we need to make our communities safe again. I strongly support repealing the soft on crime ballot measures and laws that have emboldened criminals who know penalties have been reduced, they may not be prosecuted if they commit crimes, and they will likely get out of prison early even if convicted.
Third, we need to improve our local schools. Every student should be able to read, write, and do math before they graduate. But more, they should have schools that either provide them with the background to go to college or the skills to get a good paying job.
DT/Education: How will you ensure that Morongo Basin youth receive an education that helps them thrive in the coming decades?
CH: As the daughter of a teacher, I’m proud of both my support of public education and the support I have received from organizations like the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, and the California School Employees Association. Publicly funded higher education is crucial for California's long-term economic prosperity and has the potential to uplift numerous families from poverty. To meet the demands of our economy and workforce, California must boost its number of college graduates. This entails bolstering our two-year community college programs and encouraging seamless transfers to four-year institutions. Achieving this requires streamlining transfer agreements among community colleges, California State University, and University of California systems.
Moreover, we must enhance on-campus resources and invest in Basic Needs Centers, ensuring students have easy access to food, social safety net programs like CalFresh, and housing vouchers. Learning from the pandemic, we must expand online course offerings to ensure equitable access to higher education for parents, adult learners, the differently-abled, and those facing transportation barriers. This is particularly critical in our region, where the closest four-year institutions can be over two hours away.
GW: The quality of a student’s education shouldn’t be determined by their ZIP code. A high-quality education gives a student opportunity, and when schools fail, that opportunity is stolen. If students are in a failing school, parents should have the right to move them to a better school. Charter schools should be easier to open. Classroom teachers should have every dollar and resource they need to teach students properly, but we need to hold schools accountable for getting our students a world class education. Finally, it’s essential to have a safe student learning environment free from dangerous drugs, gangs, and weapons.
DT/Housing: The Morongo Basin is severely impacted by the housing crisis. What will you do at a state level to accelerate the building of affordable and market-rate housing in the Morongo Basin? To ensure that the unhoused are safe during increasingly frequent extreme weather?
CH: In the Assembly, I will spearhead policies that make housing affordable and attainable for everyone and get real results to significantly reduce homelessness. As the Mayor of Palm Springs, we have made considerable progress on this issue: putting out city land for affordable housing, approving hundreds of units of affordable housing, investing millions of dollars to build new housing, and securing $10 million of state funds for innovative housing and homelessness services. We should invest in more programs for affordable housing that result in ownership options, invest more through the tax credit program, update the building code to address poor living conditions and habitability issues in older apartments, and increase renter protections.
The homelessness crisis must be approached through a lens of compassion. I support the “Housing First” model and have prioritized addressing homelessness while on Palm Springs City Council by securing millions of dollars in state funding to build the first and only homeless navigation center in the region, provide wraparound services and crisis assistance for those experiencing homelessness, permanently house over 200 formerly homeless people, and build the first affordable housing developments in the city in over a decade.
GW: All Californians should be able to own or rent a place to live. Unfortunately, the legislature has made building homes too expensive for many people to buy or rent, and too time-consuming to pass through regulatory hurdles that now we are literally hundreds of thousands of homes behind where we should be. I’ve been working to reform unfair regulations, including CEQA, Joshua Tree permitting, reduce fees, and make the process easier so homes can be built cheaper and faster.
Our homeless should always have an affordable, safe place to sleep. California has spent billions of dollars, and there are still tens of thousands of unsheltered people sleeping in the streets and parks every night. I support immediately establishing more safe, clean shelters in non-residential neighborhoods that are staffed with the kinds of mental health and addiction services many homeless people need—as we move people into permanent housing. Further, I support helping homeless with additional job training so that they can live self-sufficient, happy lives.
DT/Mental Health / Prop 1: Where do you stand on State Proposition 1 (amending of Health Services Act to provide behavioral health services)?
CH: I support Proposition 1 because it is a sound investment in the health and resilience of our communities. By expanding the scope of the Mental Health Services Act, Proposition 1 will ensure that individuals struggling with behavioral health issues, including substance abuse disorders, receive the comprehensive care and support they need. This proposition is a vital step towards improving access to mental health services, reducing stigma, and ultimately enhancing the overall well-being of Californians.
GW: I supported the legislation to put Proposition 1 on the ballot and plan to vote for it. It will help us move the homeless off our streets permanently and get them the mental health treatment they need. Prop 1 isn’t the perfect solution for the homeless problem, but it is bipartisan effort to expand community-based mental health and addiction services, build supportive housing and will help homeless veterans. Plus, it includes strict accountability measures so we will know where the money goes.
DT/Renewable energy: How do you view the balance between developing renewable energy infrastructure and the need to preserve neighborhoods and the environment?
CH: Recognizing communities' valid concerns about renewable energy projects is key. We need to actively involve local folks, listen to their insights, and prioritize their needs as we plan green energy initiatives. It's crucial to develop renewables in a way that respects communities and our environment. That means carefully choosing project sites, conducting thorough environmental assessments, and taking steps to minimize any negative impacts. Let's get creative too—we can integrate green tech into existing infrastructure to lessen our footprint. By working together with communities and embracing green energy solutions, we can build a brighter, cleaner future for all Californians.
GW: I believe that it is possible to be energy-independent, save our environment, and make energy cheap and abundant for everyone. The solution is energy diversification, including renewables, propane, hydrogen, geothermal, and traditional energy. Right now, we have an unreliable in-state supply of energy production, causing outages, higher gas prices, and more expensive utility bills. My solution is diversification, allowing the markets to work and not picking winners and losers.
DT/Accomplishments: What would you like to achieve in the next two years if you are elected? (Please be specific).
CH: Our district is critical to the economic backbone of this state, and our population is suffering the effects of mismanaged funds and unsustainable infrastructure issues across California. Our seniors and families are getting priced out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for generations as residents of metropolitan cities like Los Angeles and San Diego move into our neighborhoods for more affordable housing. I am committed to delivering real results for our community and ensuring our district does not continue to get left behind. I will be laser-focused on tackling the rising cost of living, enhancing our transportation, education, and healthcare infrastructures to meet the needs of our diverse and aging population, and fostering sustainable economic development. I will work tirelessly to support workers, families, and small businesses, ensuring everyone in our region has the opportunity to thrive.
GW: We need to suspend the gas tax in California to make our gas bills and almost everything else we buy day to day less expensive. The current price in California for a gallon of gas is $4.64—over a dollar more than the nationwide average of $3.26—and it’s likely that new fees will increase the cost again this year, potentially by half a dollar per gallon. This is unacceptable. We can provide financial relief fast for struggling California families by suspending the gas tax.
Next, I believe it's important to repeal and replace Prop 47 & Prop 57 and other laws that have emboldened criminals. These laws have led to a surge in crime and have made our lives and property less safe. We must pass new policies that hold criminals accountable, protect victims' rights, and support the law enforcement personnel keeping us safe.
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