Santa Clara Weekly publisher makes the case for Dominic

In today's Santa Clara Weekly, publisher Miles Barber makes the case for sending Dominic to Sacramento. Here's a copy of the opinion piece:

Milestones
A weekly column by SC Weekly Publisher, Miles Barber

It is almost May and the June Elections are only a few weeks away.

Top on the list of major issues is the election of an Assembly Representative to represent Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, part of Mt. View and Cupertino.

While there are four candidates running for the Assembly, only two have the credentials to be a serious representative and one of those is from Santa Clara.

Santa Clara City Councilman Dominic Caserta has mounted an impressive campaign and after months of fund raising, coffee klatches, public appearances and private presentations, he has emerged as a strong contender for the Sacramento seat.

Those who have listened to Caserta present his vision for serving our communities at a higher level and greater capacity with passion have to be impressed.

More important is the energy with which he speaks and based on his track record in Santa Clara he does get things done.

It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with Caserta’s politics, what Santa Clara needs representing us in Sacramento is an individual who has enough balls to swim in the Sacramento Shark Tank and not be eaten alive.

Dominic Caserta is a survivor and he is tough. Perhaps one quality that he has used effectively and may do more often in the future is finding a way to create consensus without cutting out concerned critics.

Quite honestly we are in need of some Assembly leadership and Caserta has demonstrated he can lead.

While he has worked hard at winning many party politicians over, he has been smart enough to range outside of his comfort zone and pull in support from unfamiliar territory.

Perhaps one of the most impressive endorsements was a recent surprise to many local Republicans. The Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce took an unusual step in conducting candidate interviews last month and in a hands down vote overwhelmingly selected Caserta.

Not usually known for taking positions on political candidates, the Santa Clara Chamber indicated this was such an important election that the candidate reflecting balanced views on business, education, labor and taxation should be supported.

Caserta has worked hard and he has worked smart. His list of endorsements cut deep into the other candidates’ home turf. There is nothing quite like having support of Santa Clara residents and political leaders which is critical. However, his support base also arrives from many well recognized private citizens and political leaders in Cupertino, Mt. View and even the current Mayor of Sunnyvale, home of his major competitor, Paul Fong.

Caserta wants to win, and to win, he is looking for a huge turn out from his home base in Santa Clara.

“In many cases it is the home City that carries the election,” says Caserta. “If we can get Santa Claran’s to vote by mail or in person in large numbers, we have a good chance of having a Santa Clara resident represent our City and District in Sacramento.”

With absentee (now politically correct Vote by Mail) packets arriving in about 10 days, it would be an exciting thing to have our Santa Clara residents vote with authority.

It would also be impressive to have some Santa Clara authority in Sacramento.

Another Day!

Anthony,

Hey Buddy... This weekend was rocking my man...I think everyone was feeling the vibe on Saturday whether they were stuffing envelopes, pumping out lawn signs, or getting back from walking the precincts. Everyone had a good time and was enjoying themselves. I really think we're creating a good buzz around this District. What a gorgeous day it was too!!! Man the sun shining, smoke just billowing from the BBQ, 3 unions (Sheetmetal Workers, IATSE, AFSCME), 50 +, room full of volunteers, Beautiful! It's grassroots man at all levels, we got the voice of the people and a candidate that speaks to the issues and has a plan.

I'll have to get back to work...Deliver a few lawn signs, stuff a few envelopes...you know!

Jacob

Introductions

Hello All,

I would like to introduce the staff who will be writing this blog from now until Election Day. My name is Anthony Colello, and I am Dominic's Field Coordinator. Other contributors will include: Jacob Morrison, Deputy Policy Advisor, and Ryan Chamberlain who is our Campaign Manager.

We are the midst of a heated race for the State Assembly Seat vacated by Assembly Member Sally Leiber.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen fantastic turnouts at all of our campaign events, including: Saturday Barbecues, house parties, coffee chats, and meet-and-greets. This outpouring of support is extremely encouraging as we get ready to make a huge push in the last month before Election Day.

Over the course of the next month, we will be updating this Blog weekly in an attempt to keep all of our supporters up to date with the happenings of Dominic's run for the State Assembly.

Thank all of you who have contributed already whether it be in the form of time, money, or spirit. We sincerely appreciate all of your support and look forward to seeing you soon.

If you have not been involved up to this point, and would like to be in the future, please feel free to contact us at Headquarters where the number is (408) 748-1890.

Best Wishes. More Soon.

36 Days and Counting...

Op-Ed: Let's prepare valley kids to ride wave of green-collar jobs

The following op-ed by Dominic ran in Sunday's Mercury News:

Let's prepare valley kids to ride wave of green-collar jobs
by Dominic Caserta

Every time I start teaching a new section on civics or American history, her hand is the first to shoot up. That bright puppy dog of a kid who volunteers after class, reminds everyone to recycle - and should be headed to college.

Like many smart kids, she might not get there: Just 25 percent of high school freshmen in California graduate from college. So, will our budding environmentalist end up wearing a blue or white collar?

Fortunately for her, along with our ailing environment, manufacturing base and overall economy, there's another collar to choose: green.

Renewable energy, environmental protection and green building are creating a boom in jobs, many of which require no college degree and can't be outsourced. But they can be imported, and if Silicon Valley and the rest of California fail to keep pace, much of this work won't go to our sons and daughters. Starting with the state's public education system, we must commit ourselves to green-collar job training.

Environmental stewardship, long derided by Republicans as economic suicide wrapped in feel-good sentiment, is poised to power the economy. Consider:

• The Apollo Alliance, a labor-environmental partnership, says an annual clean-energy investment of $30 billion over a decade could create 3.3 million jobs nationwide and increase the gross domestic product by $1.4 trillion.

• Up to 500,000 green-collar positions could be created by 2010, estimates Cleantech Venture Network, a venture capitalist fund.

• The federal Green Jobs Act, which provides $125 million for training, was signed into law late last year.

Raquel Pinderhughes, a San Francisco State University urban studies professor, has identified more than 20 green-job sectors, including solar panel installation, urban agriculture, recycling and the manufacturing of everything from bike cargo systems to green waste bins.

But many positions go unfilled. At a January new-energy summit in San Francisco, corporate and government leaders bemoaned the shortage of qualified workers. "We're not going to be able to build anything and do any green retrofits until we have a workforce to do that," Jay Hansen of the State Building and Construction Trades Council said in a published report. "If we wait until they're out of high school to start training them, we're going to lose a lot of people."

Our vocational and career-tech system should spearhead such training, but it's not known or stigmatizing for many students. And while community colleges can help fill gaps, many young people never set foot on another campus after high school.

Here are some ways, on campus and off, to prepare our youth for the new green economy:

• Expand and improve vocational and career-tech training so that it includes green-collar jobs. Public schools need to promote this path as a sound alternative to college.

• Develop on-campus green-collar studies in the vein of English and math. It would include a required environmental-awareness course that guides interested students to job training.

• Create a statewide program, based on Oakland's Green Job Corps, for students left behind. The city in 2007 earmarked $250,000 for green-collar job training and paid internships for low-income and at-risk youth.

• Expand labor-environmental partnerships - like the Blue Green Alliance, in which the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club promote job creation and alternative energy - to include business. As manufacturing jobs dwindle, such alliances will help train and employ people while affirming worker rights.

In Santa Clara, our Green Power Program allows city residents to choose solar and wind energy. A lack of solar panel installers, however, would cast a thick cloud over these efforts.

There's no reason why we in Santa Clara, Mountain View or anywhere else in Silicon Valley can't fill green-collar jobs. Every day, I see students with the enthusiasm and smarts - call it wattage - to make our journey into the new economy sunny indeed.

DOMINIC CASERTA, a high school teacher and Santa Clara City Council member, is a Democratic candidate for state Assembly in District 22. He wrote this article for the Mercury News.

Great Saturday for District 22!

Over 40 people were out walking precincts, enjoying the sun, and eating great BBQ over at headquarters this Saturday. Come out and join us this Saturday and every other Saturday till election day on June 3. The Mass precinct walk and BBQ goes from 9:30 AM -1:00 PM at headquarters (1825 De La Cruz Avenue, Santa Clara).

Dominic on the air

Dominic was recently invited to record a brief radio message about who he is and why he's running for office. You can listen to it here.