The Record: A Voice For San Joaquin (Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman)

August 03, 2013

By: Kevin Parrish

STOCKTON - Susan Eggman is having the time of her life and working hard at it.

Not since former state Sen. Patrick Johnston, D-Stockton, left office 13 years ago has San Joaquin County had such an outspoken advocate in the California Legislature.

Eggman, a 52-year-old Democrat, was sworn into the California Assembly eight months ago - and immediately found herself involved in leadership in Sacramento.

"With redistricting, it has given me an opportunity to represent our city and region with singular focus on pointing out disparities and demanding that they get attention," Eggman said this week near the end of her first monthlong summer recess.

She gets riled up over the reality of two Californias - one along the coast: prosperous, thriving, improving and the beneficiary of legislative largess; the other in the state's midsection and to the east: suffering from poverty and gaps in education, economic development and air quality.

"Where we live is more similar to Appalachia than the population centers of California," Eggman said.

She has taken it upon herself to point out those gaps and do what she can to close them.

On June 27, in a floor speech on enterprise zone reform legislation, she gave voice to the state's stark economic differences and the consequences they represent.

"I represent the city of Stockton, the largest municipality (at the time) in the United States that has gone bankrupt," Eggman said. "The loss of redevelopment was one of the things that kicked us over the edge. The state handed us a $6 million bill when we were already on the ropes."

Although in her first year in the Assembly, Eggman has scored impressive committee responsibilities and has a list of successes large and small.

She is chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture and is a member of committees on veterans, appropriations, and business and professions. The business panel has been given the task of implementing the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. And a scheduled series of town hall meetings across the state provided Eggman with another opportunity to champion her hometown.

"The plan ... was to do one in Fresno and one in Sacramento, and that would cover the Valley," she said. "And in true Stockton fashion, we said, 'Oh, hell no. We want one right here.' " That meeting was held July 26, and a crowd of hundreds showed up.

Eggman's other successes reflect her pragmatic approach to governance:

» Water hyacinths: "It was ridiculous that our area of the Delta wasn't getting sprayed until August. We started in April, and we have a five-year permit."

» Downtown parking: Spaces behind the State Building, at 31 E. Channel St., have long been closed to public use. Eggman, whose Stockton office is on the third floor, has changed that. The State Building parking lot is now open for events and on weekends for free. "It didn't take a bill, just someone who wouldn't take 'no' for answer."

» Public safety: The California Highway Patrol is actively engaged in helping the undermanned Stockton Police Department. "It took some fist-pounding, along with Chief Eric Jones. I've got the CHP commissioner's cellphone number."

» Water: "I've got a seat at the table for drafting the state's water bond, someone to represent the Delta."

Eggman has spent her first eight months in Sacramento with a grueling schedule that often means 14-hour days. She still returns every night to her home in the Victory Park area and continues to refuse the $141.86 per day pay offered when the Legislature is in session.

"It feels like I'm doing my job," Eggman said. "I love it. I love the civic engagement."

Her biggest surprise hasn't been any kind of partisan divide, but rather the conflict and strife between California's two houses, the Assembly with its 80 members and the state Senate with its 40.

She dreams of accomplishing more. A full-fledged California State University campus, implementation of health care reform and continued economic growth for the region are on her list.

Her priorities, Eggman said, are through the prism of the newly drawn 13th Assembly District.

Speaking about statewide inequities on the Assembly floor, she said, "It has been said that enterprise zones are just mechanisms for Peter to steal from Paul. Well, Paul needs something, too. Peter can't have it all."

Contact the Reporter: kparrish@recordnet.com