Candidate hopes environmental issues will resonate in
November
Morgan Hill – Feeling thrilled with last week’s Democratic primary victory, Jerry McNerney sat down Tuesday with members of the South County Democratic Club at Morgan Hill’s Erik’s DeliCafe for the group’s monthly “meet-up.”
The 55-year-old wind-energy engineer from Pleasanton wanted to personally thank club members for their South Valley campaigning. Their efforts helped him receive more than 60 percent of Santa Clara County votes in the race for the 11th Congressional District.
For the total district results, McNerney earned 52.6 percent while his contender Steve Filson – who had received the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s endorsement – received 28.5 percent. The third Democratic candidate, Steve Thomas, earned 18.9 percent. Filson and Thomas have now endorsed McNerney’s campaign.
Charmaine Jabr, Democratic precinct coordinator for Morgan Hill, enthused about her hero McNerney’s chances in November: “People that I’ve talked to when I walked precincts are very excited about what he’s going to bring to the district, especially his alternative energy proposal.”
The candidate also feels optimistic as he tries a second time to unseat Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Stockton. In 2004, when no other Democrat would stand against the entrenched 45-year-old congressman, McNerney took the challenge after his son Michael, a U.S. Air Force officer, encouraged him to serve his country.
On his first stab at campaigning – and with no real financial backing from the Democratic Party – the political newcomer received an astonishing 40 percent of the district’s votes.
“I made some mistakes in ’04,” McNerney said. “I didn’t have anyone propping me up when I fell down. I didn’t have members of Congress throwing thousand-dollar fundraisers for me. There were hard-earned lessons, and I was basically untested, a basic novice. I think in this election though, I really do have a chance.”
Some political pundits agree. Recent high prices at the gas pump and worries about global warming have prompted greater American interest in developing alternative energy sources, an issue the candidate strongly supports.
Another significant difference in the 2006 race is a growing national concern about elected officials accepting donations in exchange for political favors, something which has tarnished the seven-term Pombo’s image. McNerney said he’s chosen a “grassroots” approach to pay for his campaign, receiving more than 40 percent of his financial support from individuals contributing $200 or less.
“There’s a clear distinction between Mr. Pombo and myself,” McNerney said. “We (McNerney’s campaign) have issues that I think respond really well to the voters. If we leverage our volunteers and money to get that message out to the people, we’ll win.”
One message McNerney wants to convey is that Pombo severely abuses his power in Washington. The Tracy-born rancher gained his House seat in 1992 and now represents a zig-zagging district that includes most of San Joaquin County, and portions of Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties including Morgan Hill and eastern Gilroy. As chairman of the House Resources Committee – a powerful position he received from his mentor former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay – Pombo holds considerable influence on Capitol Hill.
But Pombo is now under FBI scrutiny for receiving more than $35,000 in contributions from former Indian gaming lobbyist Jack Abramoff who conned his clients out of millions of dollars to buy favors from Democrat and Republican lawmakers.
Pombo has not been charged with breaking the law.
Another ethical lapse of Pombo’s, McNerney points out, is the congressman’s refusal to stand up for the rights of foreign workers in the North Marianas Islands, a U.S.-protected territory.
According to a recent article in Ms. Magazine, Pombo went on a trip to the South Pacific islands in 2004 and received thousands of dollars from clients of Abramoff. Immediately after, Pombo refused to allow the House Resources Committee investigate allegations of exploitive North Marianas sweatshops manufacturing clothes with “Made in USA” labels, as well as forced prostitution and forced abortions of young Asian women workers.
“That’s a very ugly situation,” McNerney said. “He alone has the power to make that (investigation) go forward, and he has chosen to put a stop on any investigation and any change of status to give those people protection under our laws. I think that’s an absolute abomination.”
Carl Fogliani, Pombo’s campaign manager, denies any wrongdoing and says McNerney is playing dirty politics in bringing issues such as Abramoff and the North Marianas Islands into the race.
“Jerry McNerney is running a negative campaign and we’re confident in the congressman’s election,” Fogliani said. “Jerry has no positive agenda. He’s going to be a tool of liberal special interest groups and run a negative attack campaign against Congressman Pombo.”
A.J. Carrillo, McNerney’s campaign manager, asserts it’s Pombo who is getting negative. “Congressman Pombo and his handlers are already attacking Jerry because they are desperate as the only poll released thus far has Pombo down 46 to 42,” he said.
The survey was conducted by Greenberg-Quilan-Rosner and commissioned by the Defenders of Wildlife environmental group, he said.
To give district voters a chance to see the two contenders engage each other on ethics and other issues, McNerney hopes Pombo will agree to a series of organized debates during the next several month.
Pombo refused to formally debate McNerney in 2004, but Fogliani said Pombo is willing to engage in an organized debate before district voters this time around. The congressman is open to a debate set in a South Valley location such as Gavilan Community College, Fogliani said.
“Get me the information on something set up and we’ll look at anything,” he said.
One topic McNerney would like Pombo to address in a South Valley debate is the clean-up of Olin Corp. perchlorate spilled into the local groundwater.
“We had in the Superfund a mechanism to help communities like Morgan Hill deal with that sort of problem,” McNerney said. “But the Bush administration, with the acquiescence of Mr. Pombo and others like him, have decimated that Superfund. And as a result of that, Morgan Hill is stuck with a huge bill to clean up the mess as the plume moves into a wider and wider area of the water supply.”Protection of the natural environment is another issue McNerney strongly supports. Pombo’s attempts in 2005 to use his position in the House Resource Committee to sell off America’s national parks and gut the 1973 Endangered Species Act show how indebted the congressman is to his corporate backers and how out of step he is with the American people, McNerney said.
The development of alternative energy sources is key to McNerney’s plan to preserve the environment. But moving America away from fossil fuels and toward eco-friendly energy such as wind and solar sources will also significantly help stabilize our nation’s relations with foreign countries, the candidate said.
“Right now, with our dependence on foreign oil, with our national trade deficit, and with the growing problems associated with global warming and its long-term consequences, we have a responsibility to find a way to end our dependence on oil, or at least greatly reduce our dependence on oil,” he said. “The technology is there right now to move forward quickly and make a difference.”
Among the South County Democratic Club members who met with McNerney at Erik’s last Tuesday was Swanee Edwards. “I think it’s going to be a close race – but only because of the money involved,” she said. “Republicans seem to be well engrained in the voting process because they have a lot of funds to put out publicity. But with grassroots support, Jerry can beat that.”
