PD Editorial: Damon Connolly is best pick for 12th Assembly District

With Marc Levine giving up his seat to run for insurance commissioner, North Bay voters will be picking someone new to represent them in the state Assembly.

Four candidates, all of them Democrats, are running in the newly renumbered but only moderately reapportioned 12th Assembly District, which includes all of Marin and southern Sonoma County. The top two finishers in the June 7 primary will advance to the general election in November.

The candidates are Sara Aminzadeh, a California coastal commissioner from Kentfield; Damon Connolly, a Marin County supervisor; Steve Schwartz, an organic farmer and nonprofit executive from Sebastopol; and Ida Times-Green, a Marin City school board member.

All four are knowledgeable and experienced, and their views on climate change, affordable housing, shelter for homeless people and single-payer health care largely align with the progressive electorate in a district where just 1 in 7 voters is a registered Republican. Each of them could hit the ground running in Sacramento, but voters can only choose one. In our view, Connolly is the best pick to represent this North Bay Democratic stronghold.

Connolly brings extensive experience on topics salient to North Bay voters, including transportation, fire prevention, open space and energy. His base is in Marin, but he has ties to organizations in Sonoma County — working, for example, with the Climate Center on microgrids and other technologies to lessen the impact of public safety power outages. As a cofounding director of Marin Clean Energy, he assisted in the creation of Sonoma Clean Power.

Connolly also has a breadth of experience in local and state government unmatched by his opponents, having served on a school board, a city council and as a deputy state attorney general in addition to his two terms as a Marin County supervisor. He also is a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Aminzadeh, an attorney specializing in environmental issues, has helped draft legislation on climate-related topics as an advocate for organizations such as the California Coastkeeper Alliance, whose members include Russian Riverkeeper. As a member of the Coastal Commission, she helps make land-use and public access decisions along 1,100 miles of California’s shoreline. Aminzadeh’s environmental credentials are impressive, but we are troubled by her support for yet another tax increase when the state has a surplus approaching $100 billion.

Schwartz was chief of staff for former Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin of Duncans Mills and another legislator before settling on a farm outside Sebastopol. Since then, he founded two nonprofit groups, California Farm Link and the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative. He also served on the Gravenstein school board. Schwartz’s experience with food and farming and his familiarity with Sonoma County are real attributes, yet he was unprepared for our questions about Highway 37, a major piece of 12th District infrastructure that could be inundated by rising sea levels — a looming challenge for the next Assembly member.

Times-Green, a big-hearted social worker who grew up in Marin County and attended local schools during desegregation, is helping to integrate them once again as a school board member. She has the least state government experience of the four candidates, but she brings a passion for children’s well-being and the tenacity of a boxer — one of her hobbies — to the campaign.

While there is an abundance of potential in this field, we believe the breadth of Connolly’s experience and the depth of his knowledge give him an edge. The Press Democrat recommends Damon Connolly in the 12th Assembly District.

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