Governor speaks in Palo Alto
Demonstrators both for and against Davis rally outside the Technet Forum
Katherine Liu Governor Gray Davis speaks during the Technet Forum at the Hyatt Rickeys Hotel last night. He discussed his political platform and emphasized recent successes in health care and education.
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World & Nation EditorWednesday, October 23, 2002
last updated October 23, 2002 2:09 AM
Gov. Gray Davis, Class of ’64, discussed his political platform — emphasizing his successes in education, labor and health care — in front of hundreds of technology industry employees yesterday evening during the Technet Forum at the Hyatt Rickeys Hotel in Palo Alto.While his speech jumped from topic to topic, Davis repeatedly returned to a theme of investment — in education, medical research and California workers and businesses.
Prior to the speech, dozens of demonstrators for and against Davis loudly exchanged their respective viewpoints concerning the upcoming gubernatorial election.
David Shashoua, treasurer of the California Young Republicans of Silicon Valley, declared that Davis’ record as governor “speaks for itself.”
“We need to help show how much government corruption has been happening with Davis,” Shashoua said. “Our roads are sick, our education system is a flop — if you turn a $12 billion surplus into at least a $24 billion deficit with more regulations causing small businesses to leave and move out of our state, there are hardly any jobs at small- to mid-sized firms.”
Kathleen Sundaram, who supports Davis’ Republican opponent, Bill Simon, said that she was not associated with any specific organization, but was protesting on her own initiative.
“I am concerned how Davis has driven the state into the ground — union members being fooled, taxing anything that moved,” Shundaram said. “The economy will be more depressed with no building or construction projects for the workers to work in. They are all fooling themselves. We have had it.”
She went on to explain that “the press has just been putting up the image that Simon is a flawed candidate . . . but to elect Davis is like a woman who goes back to her abusive spouse.”
Joe Keys, a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (District Council 16), was among the pro-Davis supporters on the street.
“We are out here to come to Davis’ [speech] tonight,” Keys said. “Upon noticing the Simon supporters, we brought out our signs to show our side of the issue.
“I found out [about this speech] from my union meeting,” he added.
Keys explained that he and his fellow Davis supporters have done all they can to back the governor in his reelection bid, and that sometimes they even go to protest at Simon’s speeches.
According to Steve Havens, the political director for IUPAT, the union members are in support of the governor because “he has been a big help to the working folks.”
Havens went on to explain that Davis has signed a number of important bills, including the reinstatement of an eight-hour work day and increasing worker compensation, as well as ensuring prevailing wage compliance — “everything that makes it fair for a worker.”
Keys said that he felt the pro-Davis supporters’ presence was important as a counterbalance to the anti-Davis protesters.
“We, just like them, use our right to free speech and make sure that people hear us and hear our voice,” Keys said. “Anywhere that the governor shows up, we are looking to be there to support him and to have our unionists and fellow working families realize that Davis is the candidate that supports working people.”
In his speech, Davis stressed the importance of implementing plans that are both advantageous in the short term, yet also viable long-term solutions and improvements on the status quo.
“I am a great believer that we all stand on someone else’s shoulders,” Davis said. “The opportunities we have today are the result of someone else’s hard work. We have an obligation to make such investments in our children, to give them opportunities we won’t have, just as those who invested in our future did not have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the investments they made.”
He addressed the improvements in public education his administration has striven toward during his four-year term.
“By all accounts, California schools were [ranked] 50 out of 50 or 49 out of 50 when I entered office,” Davis said. “We have invested in teacher training, in more technology, new textbooks, and test scores are up four years in a row—people are excited about learning. Spending-wise we were last, now we are about 26th.”
The governor explained that he wants “to make sure that every child’s dream comes true; I want you to be happy.” He also brought up the statewide college-merit scholarship programs that were introduced during his term.
“Do your part, and the state will do its part to pay all the academic costs to go to a four-year college,” Davis said. “That child will get motivated, go to school and widen his horizons.”
In addition to state money that is going toward supporting students’ college educations, Davis added that he is simultaneously trying to maintain college costs.
“One of the things we have done is to keep the fees and tuition for our Cal states and [community colleges] and UCs as low as they have been since 1992,” Davis said. “I am asking the legislature not to raise the fees, because when you raise the fees, you freeze out students who cannot afford it. I am convinced there are productive students who will bring us joy and pleasure and pay us back many times more.”
Another key point of his address was the investments being made toward medical research.
“You will see drugs that will extend life and improve life,” Davis said. “I am not going to create the cure for AIDS or Parkinson’s disease or cancer, but I want to create the atmosphere here for world-class scientists. We believe in investing in people.”
He also commented that innovative scientific research centers have been established at various schools within the University of California system and wished to “thank the legislature for giving me the honor to allow the full scope of research on stem cells.”
Davis emphasized the progressive nature of California.
“I am very proud that we have invested in enhanced workers’ compensation, a strong new prevailing wage law and paid family leave — we are the first state in America to do that,” Davis said. “Our HMOs were the first reforms in the country. We have given you and every patient a whole lot of rights you wanted.”
He explained that the state should take advantage of its unique character by urging both other states and those overseas to purchase the distinctive products that California has to offer.
Overall, the governor expressed that he believes the state is on the right track.
“We are where the American dream is most alive and well . . . We have a great future, my friends. We are going through a natural recession, but the sky is the limit on where we can go,” Davis said. “It is our obligation to make investments — and it is amazing how quickly such investments can pay dividends.”
