Escobar, Kim debate biggest issues in Imperial County
CALEXICO — During their first public debate Tuesday evening, Jesus Eduardo Escobar and Joong Kim discussed the development of the lithium industry in Imperial Valley, the neglected roads criss-crossing the county and the issue of illegal trash dumping.
Escobar, Kim and Briant Jesus Fabela Luna are vying for the Imperial County Board of Supervisors District 1 seat. Escobar is the incumbent. Escobar and Kim both attended the public debate hosted by Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business of Imperial County (COLAB) at Calexico City Hall. Luna was absent.
Lithium
Both candidates agreed the development of a lithium industry in Imperial County is essential, but differed on taxation issues. There currently is a proposal to build a lithium battery plant in the valley.
“As long as they are removing our resources, we should enact heavy taxes,” Kim said. “We can have a little extra taxing. We should keep on watching to ensure they don’t bring upon environmental issues.”
Escobar said Imperial County is sitting on a massive lithium vein that would place it in competition with full-sized countries.
“When we look at lithium development in Imperial County, that is the beauty of Imperial County. We have 150 million metric tons of lithium. That is comparable to, or exceeding, what the leading countries have, which are China, Australia … and Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.”
Escobar said the mining process in Imperial County also would be superior to foriegn countries from an environmental perspective.
“The beauty of lithium here is it is not open mining. You combine geothermal with lithium, and the brine that naturally comes from the land. The actual mining process is much cleaner ... and much more cost effective.”
Lithium development “can and will happen in Imperial County, and we will benefit as a whole with this lithium development,” Escobar continued. “It will not be just the mining process. It will be the added value of services.”
As far as heavy taxation, “that is a misnomer,” Escobar said. “Of course we are not going to heavily tax a new industry in Imperial County. We haven’t even started yet. Why are we going to push them away?”
Loss in potential tax revenue would be negated by the ancillary trickle down financial effect of the industry becoming established, Escobar said.
Road maintenance
According to COLAB, there currently are 13 closed bridges in Imperial County. The candidates were asked about the process for reopening them for use, especially for emergency responders.
“We cannot have these roads and bridges closed, not just for emergency purposes, but for simple goods and movement purposes,” Escobar said. “A lot of people use our county roads. Roads and bridges are our priority. The deferred maintenance on these bridges is unacceptable. It should have been done sooner. We need to fix it ASAP. It is not just about emergency services. It’s about goods movement, it’s about people movement.”
Kim said monies could be pulled from the federal government to pay for the roads.
“We have to take care of emergencies. The county is receiving lots of money from the infrastructure [bill] from the federal government. We can use that instead of raising taxes. The people in the county don’t have extra money to pay. For example, the city of Calexico raised the taxes for SB1, but where are the roads? They are in the same condition. We need to use our federal [and] state funds to take care of our roads and bridges.”
Escobar said using state funding has remained stuck at a roadblock.
“The state has an interesting formula, and that formula does not include our daytime population. As we all know, we are a border community. As we all know, the population of Calexico, which may be 45,000 to 50,000 … easily increases by 50 percent. What we are proposing at the Board of Supervisors is basically very simple. Please account for the drivers that are utilizing our roads that are not being counted on the equation.”
Escobar said Imperial County should partner with San Diego County to address the issue in Sacramento as they experience the same issue, he said.
Illegal dumping
Due to stringent state laws, the issue of illegal dumping has been expounded as landfill availability diminishes. Both candidates were asked how best to respond to illegal dumping.
“I have so many pictures on my cell … of dumping,” Kim said. “Nobody knows where we can throw our excess trash. We need to make sure [citizens] have a place to [legally dump their trash] and don’t break the law.”
Escobar said it is up to the citizenry to curb the practice.
“The county isn’t failing; let’s be very clear. We are failing. We as individuals are failing each other because we are not holding ourselves accountable. If we are dumping trash in public areas, we should be fined and fined heavily. It is a very simple proposition, hold people accountable. It is unfair for you who live in rural areas to have this issue on a continual day in, day out basis.”
Escobar said the issue has been ongoing for at least five decades.
“As far as trash is concerned, we need to be very cognizant of the fact that the county is $30 million in debt. How is that going to be fixed? Number one, we need to work with our trash companies in making sure rural communities have the service … in a way that is affordable and equitable for the rest of the county.”
County’s No. 1 issue?
Both candidates were asked what the biggest issue facing Imperial County at present.
“We have so many issues in front of us,” Kim said. “Economy, we are failing. Renewable energy, we are failing. Roads and bridges, we are failing. Why are we failing? We are failing to oversee our government. We are failing to protect citizens’ benefits.”
Escobar said the biggest issue is economic growth and job creation.
“Why? That is the masterpiece that will lead us with all the other issues we have in our valley. Lithium is at the centerpiece of economic development and job creation. Why is lithium there? Because we own it, and we are going to win by it. We are going to flourish by it.”
Solar farms
With about 26 operational solar plants in Imperial County at present, the candidates were asked their positions on converting prime agricultural land into solar fields.
“I am supporting solar panel [construction] in the county, but not really like this,” Kim said. “They are invading our resources. Agricultural activities stop to build the solar panels. What is going on here? Our government supposedly works for the citizens, the people. We have a government for the company.”
Escobar said such development is up to the landowners, but that he does not support transitioning prime agricultural land into solar plants.
“If a landowner wants to develop on his or her own property [they] should have the right. Having said that, it is very, very, very important that we look at it fiscally and fairly. Where is all the solar energy that we produce in Imperial County going to? To the coast.
None of it stays in Imperial County.”
Escobar also discussed the issue of property taxes for such projects.
“What are our property taxes? Nada. Zero. If you are interested in politics, you know for a fact that in Calexico — which Mr. Kim also represented in his time — was in the deepest of deepest fiscal deficits. The county of Imperial is also in trouble. What do you think $8 million to $10 million a year in property tax revenue [would do to] assist us at the county fiscally?”
County employee retention
Retaining county employees at the attorney’s office has been an ongoing issue. Both candidates chimed in on the issue.
Kim said he would provide additional funding to retain qualified prosecutors by supplementing county funding with state and federal monies.
“We need it taken care of. It is very important. We are failing our security. Look at Calexico. There are so many windows broken.”
Escobar said retention is a countywide issue.
“It affects all cities across our county. And, it affects our county employees. I am dealing with that with Fire. I am dealing with that with the Sheriff ’s Office. I could go on and on. It is an employees’ market. We as governments are suffering fiscally, but we need to support our employees, and we need to support them to the best of our abilities.”
Old measures commonly used during the Great Recession no longer are adequate, Escobar said.
“We need to be very creative in how we support our employees. We can no longer go to the well, like we did in Calexico back in the day saying, ‘Take a 30 percent pay cut so we can fiscally survive.’ We need to think outside of the box. From a bargaining perspective, we need to be fair. We need to include cost-of-living adjustments. We need to include, potentially, hiring bonuses.”
Homeless
The candidates also discussed the stalled creation of a low-income and homeless shelter at the Days Inn in El Centro.
“It has received a lot of negative publicity because of the unknown, because of a lack of communication, because it was rushed, not because it was a bad project,” Escobar said. “As human beings, we are responsible for these projects. We can’t just say, ‘I don’t want it in my backyard. I will help the homeless, but not here.’ No. We hope that it comes back to El Centro, and they vote for it.”
Kim said helping the underprivileged and homeless is essential, but said more than one shelter should be established, and not just in El Centro.
“Of course communities have to help people. I will support [this project]. Look at the city of Calexico. They are helping the poor people. We could do a lot more.
To watch the entire debate, visit https://www. facebook.com/COLABImperial/