Ben Hueso’s legislative agenda

Afew days ago, state Senator Benjamin Hueso sent his January email newsletter in which he was asking his constituents to submit new ideas to change laws or propose new ones, which would benefit the district or the state, and participate in the legislative process.

Ideas and thoughts can be given through our lawmaker’s email address or at his website.

“As always, please feel free to contact my office with any questions you may have about our legislative process or about the information that you find in this newsletter,” he added.

So I jumped at the opportunity.

I have two proposals to make. The first one would be to enact a Public Official Succession Act which would establish a process to fill the vacancy of a state or local elected official who resigns or can no longer serve due to various reasons. Every time an elected official resigns, taxpayers must spend thousands of dollars to vote for a replacement. Here in Imperial County, a Valleywide position costs between $30,000 and $40,000. The cost is higher in jurisdictions with higher amounts of voters.

This expenditure could be avoided by mandating candidates run with a partner who will take his or her seat if the primary candidate were to suddenly vacate his or her seat.

Now, if this proposal is rejected, state law could be modified to give the seat to that specific race’s runner-up. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown did the later by replacing former Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Jones with former Democratic Assemblyman Manuel V. Perez.

My second proposal would set term limits for municipal offices. State elected officials are term-limited at different levels. However, county supervisors, city council members and district or other public agency elected officials can run as many times as they wish, making it almost impossible for new generations to occupy those offices. It is unfair that some elected officials can run a limited amount of times while others can become candidates at their own pleasure.

It is truly unbelievable to have the same elected official in a seat for decades. California enacted term limits for lawmakers but has done nothing in the case of supervisors, councilmen and special district directors. Congress and Senate seats are a whole different arena that might need legislative changes at the federal level. But here in our state, we must do something to make all elected officials stop from running almost eternally.

Here are just two proposals. I am pretty sure there are many others not only in our communities but in other areas as well. So, if you have an idea that might improve our quality of life, democracy and other areas of concern in the state or locally, take our state Senator’s word and write him about your thoughts.