Assemblymember hosts second Cypress meeting

California State Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva joined with Cypress residents this morning for the city's second community meeting in two days.

Whilst yesterday’s meeting featuring State Treasurer John Chiang was Standing Room Only, today’s event at Cypress Community Center was decidedly more low key.

Local council members joined some 40 residents and staff to hear the Assemblymember report back from the last twelve months in Sacramento and sketch an overview of issues to be faced in the months ahead.

With a record number of Californians being affected by ongoing wildfires Quirk-Silva spoke of a new bill designed to waive certain fees for fire-related reconstruction projects.

Education topics also featured large in the conversation. The Assemblymember reported that was lead author of a bill designed to protect Career and Technical Education funding and was still seeking a moratorium on community college fee raises.

Regarding trade issues Quirk-Silva confirmed that tax credits remained a vital tool in persuading companies to locale their projects in the Southland, with particular successes being registered in the aerospace and entertainment industry.

The greater part of the morning though was given over to issues of housing and homelessness. The Assemblymember discussed her attempts to triangulate current contractors and resources to create solutions to meet the county’s needs.

However, with the county recently announcing plans to raze yet another riverbed encampment whilst still refusing to provide funding for affordable housing options it was hard to see just where those solutions might be found.

The next community meeting will be held February 2nd at the Brookhurst Community Center in Anaheim. State Secretary Alex Padilla is slated to attend.