David Valadao Is Missing In Action

David Valadao has been missing in action for voters in our district. He’s trotted across town claiming that as a homegrown representative, he “gets” our issues.

But he’s failed to serve the people of his district, and couldn’t bother protecting our workers at their time of need.

As the local president of the American Federation of Government Employees, I know a thing or two about stepping up for others. And Valadao’s intermittent leadership has affected my ability to protect my workers and, in some instances, even threatened their lives. After finding a large pool of black mold

— a strain called stachybotrys, the deadliest kind there is — we knew we needed help from the highest level.

In the Spring of 2018, I went to our former representative, ex-congressman David Valadao to request that he intervene on our behalf. I received the proverbial “we’ll look into it” response, but ultimately never got any help. Even after having received the documentation and testimonials from staff that they were getting sick, they stopped answering my calls; the congressional shorthand of, “get lost.” It was clear to me that he wasn’t going to hold the Bureau of Prisons accountable and that he’d leave us to fend for ourselves.

All the while where was he? In front of cameras and newspaper tabloids trumpeting his cocaine bust in San Diego. If he wasn’t there for the people of his own district then, don’t think that he’s going to be here for his district now.

Aaron Mcglothin Mendota