REEDLEY, KINGSBURG – Communities of District 33 had the chance to hear directly from their state assembly member on current issues.
On Oct. 9, Republican Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo held roundtable discussions in Reedley and Kingsburg, detailing her experiences in Sacramento and voicing her disapproval of Prop 50. Community members and local organizations gathered at the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce office, then later in Kingsburg’s Areni Wine Room Retreat.
“It’s not just supporters and opponents — it’s constituents — that I really love getting to talk to, as well as local leaders that care about the community in the same way I do, and figuring out how I can best serve them and the people they serve,” Macedo said.
Reedley
Reedley’s roundtable saw attendance from representatives of the chamber, the Veterans Memorial District, Sierra Kings Healthcare District, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution District, Palm Village Retirement Community and more.
Macedo began by introducing herself to attendees, sharing her family history and her motivations to enter the political sphere. From there, she delved into her challenges as a freshman public servant, from tomato-throwing protestors to political red tape.
After some background on herself, Macedo kicked off what would be the bulk of her presentation: Prop 50, the state redistricting measure aimed at countering the highly-contested redrawing of Texas’ maps.
In her recount of how she first heard about the measure, Macedo expressed thorough frustration about the proposition’s introduction. According to her detailing of the events, her member portal did not even notify her that there was an election committee hearing about Prop 50 until less than 24 hours before the hearing.
She also expressed her belief that there was a lack of transparency regarding who drew the maps, detailing her inability to get a clear answer despite repeatedly asking for names during the Aug. 19 hearing. Shortly after the hearing, however, Paul Mitchell of Redistricting Partners was identified as the key architect for the maps, alongside a team of similar consultants.
In her critiques of the measure itself, Macedo suggested to the audience that rural communities will be disadvantaged in this election, due to a statement from Attorney General Rob Bonta saying that mailed ballots in rural communities will not be postmarked until the following day due to changes in postal service policies.
“(Shirley Weber) and Rob Bonta admitted last week at a press conference that if you live in rural areas, your vote might not be counted because the postal service might not get it counted in time,” Macedo told the audience. “So I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t also sound like a very fair election if communities like ours are doing their duty and getting their ballots in but their votes are not counted.”
The statement that Macedo is referring to was livestreamed on YouTube from a Los Angeles press conference on Oct. 2, in which Bonta and Weber go over important dates and things to keep in mind regarding the special election. According to Bonta’s statement, the policy changes will cause mail-in ballots from communities more than 50 miles away from a regional mail processing facility to be postmarked a day later, thus warning of the potential for votes to not be counted if submitted too late.
However, he also explained that Nov. 4 is merely the final day of the election, not the only one. Since Californians have the right to vote early, those worried about their vote not being counted must simply mail their ballots anytime before the final deadline.
After giving her thoughts on Prop 50, Macedo answered various questions posed by attendees. During this Q&A session, she voiced hope for a shift away from political extremes and toward moderation.
“I think 70% of us actually exist somewhere in the middle, and all of us — I mean, I know I do — hate the partisan politics stuff,” Macedo said to the audience. “I hate the mud throwing, and the tantrum throwing, and the screaming and yelling. It gets you nowhere.”
However, during the roundtable discussion in Kingsburg, Macedo did offer her own criticisms of many politicians in Sacramento. She told the audience that something she’s learned in Sacramento is “our Constitution doesn’t matter,” as there is a two-thirds Democratic majority at the capitol.
“They can absolutely say ‘to heck with the Constitution, we’re going to do whatever we want to do,’ even when they’re caught violating the Constitution,” Macedo said. She followed this up by noting that the courts, attorney general and governor as liberal, saying they “are going to do absolutely nothing to stand in their way of doing those things.”
“I really do believe that Sacramento is the belly of the beast, because there’s a lot of darkness there,” Macedo said during the Kingsburg discussion.
After the roundtable in Reedley, Macedo shared that although voters will ultimately decide whether or not Prop 50 will pass, she feels that the redrawing of maps takes power away from the state’s independent redistricting commission that voters established in 2008.
“The power should always be with the people and every process related to government should be transparent, and that is absolutely the opposite of what this is,” Macedo said.
Kingsburg
The Kingsburg roundtable covered many of the same topics, giving community members and leaders of the city a chance to connect with their district representative. The discussion on Prop 50 was shorter than in Reedley, and allowed more time for audience questions.
Though the initial subject matter remained mostly consistent to the Reedley roundtable, Macedo spoke more about other topics with her Kingsburg constituents when answering questions.
During the Q&A, Macedo made reference to a recent segment she did on Fox News responding to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter’s recent controversies, such as the treatment of her staff, a recent CBS interview that quickly became hostile and alleged family abuse.
“(Katie Porter) treats her staff terribly, she treats her family terribly — she’s just a horrible person, to be honest, and she’s an environmental terrorist that she absolutely cannot win,” Macedo said to the audience.
In response to a question posed by an audience member, asking if illegal immigrants can vote, Macedo stated that despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s rejection of suspicions that illegal immigrants can vote, a San Francisco supervisorial district he represented has a guide for how non-citizens can vote.
However, the city of San Francisco’s website, and an accompanying voting guide, only make reference to non-citizen voting in board of education elections, and explicitly states “this law does not allow individuals to vote in any other local, state or federal elections.”
The rest of the Q&A saw questions from audience members regarding how Republicans can maintain seats in the House and Senate, and how community members can push back if they disagree with Prop 50.
Macedo encouraged audience members to take to social media, volunteer for political advocacy movements and to coordinate door-to-door campaigning.
Aside from her thorough critiques and comments of the Democratic Party, Macedo reaffirmed her stance that political gerrymandering is always wrong and a “race to the bottom,” even if done by Republicans.
“There’s 25 seats that they’ve identified in other states that they can redraw to Republicans,” Macedo said to the audience. “If this passes in California, they’re gonna find it in other states, but once again, that’s not how this works. That’s wrong, all gerrymandering is wrong.”
