Don’t treat Valley’s people as if they are disposable

Agriculture is as important to the city of Livingston as technology is to the Silicon Valley. Our farming way of life has always been the backbone of the region; it provides a career ladder up for families starting at the lowest employment level and an opportunity for many to start their first humble family business.

As city manager of Livingston, I take great pride in the efforts our residents have made to recover from the recession and the housing crisis. But we cannot have a sustained recovery without a recovery in agriculture. Thousands of acres in our region have been left fallowed. Some of that has been the result of hard times suffered by local farmers due to the recession and other variables. But most of it is due to the hardships resulting from no relief, in the form of making water available for agriculture.

Unfortunately, despite all the attention paid to the drought, we still have no solution that will help the residents of Livingston. There have been several attempts by Congress to put together a bipartisan solution, and we have been given years of assurances that our desperate situation will be addressed. These assurances are not secondhand knowledge because I have heard everything firsthand.

Now we are less than a week away from the end of this Congress. There appears to be one last chance to provide relief to our region. We urge policymakers to remember us, and take action. We don’t want to be left stranded, like we were back in 2009. I was the city manager for the city of Firebaugh from 2003 to 2011 and I can attest to the human suffering.

Livingston is a town of 15,000. In terms of numbers, we’re roughly the same size as many towns in Southern California. But when a mudslide hits, or a fire threatens homes, heaven and earth is moved as policymakers rush to secure emergency funds to assist. Don’t we deserve the same consideration in the form of temporary emergency relief?

We’re not disposable. Livingston is an ethnically diverse, residential, commercial and industrial center in Merced County and the Central Valley. It is strategically located along one of California’s major freeway arteries and is just two hours from San Francisco, the Pacific Coast and the majestic Sierra Nevada. Many residents relocated to Livingston because they saw the opportunity to create a future for themselves and their families; over 56 percent are Latino. How is it possible that politics has prevailed over duty, and that the water crisis affecting our city and region has been ignored?

Even more perplexing is the willingness on the part of some elected officials to tolerate the economic impact of the drought in this region. Are we so unimportant that policymakers refuse to consider any change to environmental laws that might provide some relief to our region as we reflect on the human impact?

Apparently for some California leaders, the impact of the drought, especially for young people looking for jobs, does not rise to a level that requires a solution. Rather than participating in a solution, they simply condemn any proposal that is offered. Our representatives have fought hard for a solution, but their efforts have fallen victim to politics.

For years, we have heard platitudes and promises – but now we need follow-through on the commitments. The people of Livingston and the Central Valley need California elected officials to support drought relief legislation. There are seven days left to take action. Please use them to show your colleagues from other parts of the country that we do matter.

Please support drought relief!

This story was originally published December 7, 2014 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Don’t treat Valley’s people as if they are disposable."