Butler: McClintock focuses on issues of little concern to the Fourth District

Rep. Tom McClintock's e-newsletter shows a keen interest in San Joaquin Valley water issues.

Our Rep. McClintock of Southern California assured voters again and again while on the campaign trail that just because he was being termed out of his state senate seat and had run for practically every statewide elected office in California, it really was all about this district.

When Tom McClintock of Southern California announced in 2009 that he was running for our Northern California district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, he pledged to represent our interests in Congress.

It was an important issue since he was running against Charlie Brown, an Air Force veteran who lives in the Fourth District. The question was raised by the media and others because we needed to know if an out-of-district career politician could identify with our needs, especially during these trying times and while lawmakers seem more interested in partisan affairs and serving special interests.

McClintock assured voters again and again while on the campaign trail that just because he was being termed out of his state senate seat and had run for practically every statewide elected office in California, it really was all about this district.

But sadly for his now largely orphan constituents, McClintock’s interests remain more focused on another part of the state. A recent e-newsletter from his office lists the “San Joaquin Valley Water Crisis” as his top California issue.

His web site has four separate entries touting his concerns about the valley while congratulating fellow Republicans for scheduling a hearing on Jan. 25 to raise public awareness of a problem that is certainly not near the top of any list in the Fourth Congressional District.

 To quote the congressman’s web site: “There is no time to waste on reversing the plight of the San Joaquin Valley. Time and again, we have asked the Democrat Majority to hear the concerns of residents and to act immediately to turn the water pumps back on…. The Pelosi-led Congress is not listening ….”

 While I won’t disagree that Northern California water is essential to the success of the corporate farms in the valley, I don’t understand why this problem is a more pressing priority to our congressman than what is going on in the Fourth District, which is experiencing double-digit unemployment rates.

If our congressman is going to engage in political rhetoric while fighting for a regional economy, is it too much to expect that Northern California interests will at least get equal consideration when he uses the overused and sexist Pelosi card?

Let’s also not forget that McClintock has constituents who have their own concerns about the California’s most valuable resource such as those who rely on salmon to make a living or have agricultural interests that are more along the lines of small businesses than corporate interests with deep pockets.

 McClintock, however, has taken a position on solar power, which many in this area have embraced as part of the solution to our dependence on foreign oil and the threat it poses to the environment while boosting the local economy.

 He has entered into the congressional record his written opposition to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act of 2009, which received bipartisan support when the House of Representatives approved the measure on a 310-106 vote. McClintock instead makes the case for investing in nuclear power.

In the January edition of the Nevada City Advoate, you can read McClintock’s arguments against solar power and a rebuttal by Ray Darby of the Sustainable Energy Group of Grass Valley.

In the meantime, let’s hope that Rep. McClintock begins to put the same sort of energy into Northern California issues as he has for the San Joaquin Valley in the second and final year of his first term as our elected representative.

Pat Butler is the editor and publisher of the Nevada City Advocate. He can be reached by e-mailing pat@nevadacityadvocate.

Editor's note: The January edition of the Nevada City Advocate is now available at newstands in Nevada City, Grass Valley and the San Juan Ridge.