Fresno lawmaker must see the obvious: Hawaiian trip in pandemic is a really dumb idea
It is just the thing state Sen. Andreas Borgeas of Fresno would enjoy: A week-long conference bringing together equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats to pore over key issues facing the state and to brainstorm bipartisan solutions for when the lawmakers return to Sacramento.
There is just one problem: The event happened this week in Hawaii at a time when average Californians are admonished by their government leaders to stay home to help stop the rising spread of COVID-19.
“The optics probably are poor,” Borgeas admitted in a phone interview with The Bee.
The journey to Maui occurs in the aftermath of Gov. Gavin Newsom attending a birthday bash for a longtime friend and lobbyist at an upscale Napa Valley restaurant. He has rightfully come under withering criticism for “do as I say, not as I do” behavior.
Borgeas was not the only Republican lawmaker from the San Joaquin Valley at the Hawaiian event. Assemblymen Frank Bigelow, R-O’Neals, and Heath Flora, R-Ripon, also flew to Maui.
Borgeas and Bigelow defend the excursion as an important chance to develop new policies and legislation. But in this case, the optics are the substance, the trip was ill-timed, and they should have sat this one out.
Legislators’ Hawaiian trip
Unlike other colleagues in the state Legislature who represent the ideological far edges of their political parties, Borgeas is a practical Republican who well understands the GOP is the minority party in the statehouse. Of the 40 state senators, Democrats are poised to have 32 of the seats should one final November race go their way. That would mean just eight Republicans in the upper house.
For Borgeas to have any hope of achieving legislative significance, he has to work with Democrats. So the opportunity to travel to Maui for the week to take part in the California Independent Voter Project’s annual policy conference was in line with his own sense of acting in a bipartisan fashion.
As Hannah Wiley of The Sacramento Bee reported, a San Diego-based group hosts the conference to empower “nonpartisan voters and promote nonpartisan election reform through initiatives.” The project’s summit has historically offered a chance for lawmakers, lobbyists and industry representatives to meet, socialize and brainstorm legislation.
This year special emphasis was being placed on bringing California’s economy back from the pandemic.
COVID screenings
Borgeas said he took a COVID-19 test two days before he flew, and was negative; has worn a mask all the time he has been at the event hotel; and has followed the social distancing being enforced by the organizers.
Staying safe is something Borgeas said he understands because his 91-year-old father lives in Fresno and cannot be put at risk.
Borgeas adds that he has conducted countless online conferences via Zoom since the pandemic began in California in March, and while useful, such calls cannot equal the effectiveness of the masked face-to-masked face conference.
“Nothing comes close to having a number of individuals propose ideas, critique ideas, examine ideas, all in real time,” he said.
Those are valid reasons for attending such a conference in normal times.
But tell that to a teacher who has not yet met his or her students in person. Or the office worker who has not actually been at the office since spring. Or a person unemployed because of a layoff due to the pandemic’s disruption.
For legislators to attend the annual Hawaiian conference smacks of hypocrisy and disdain for what countless other Californians are enduring.
As well-meaning as Borgeas, Bigelow and the others may have been, in this instance, the optics are primary because their constituents are struggling under the limitations caused by the pandemic.
Borgeas, Bigelow and the rest aren’t the first elected leaders who create an exception for themselves; sadly, that is routine lawmaker behavior. But it has to be said: Their constituents expect better.
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 1:13 PM.