For the record 

I write to correct the record in response to Steve Belasco’s letter printed on Feb. 2 (“Radicalism on the Central Coast”) wherein he calls me “radical,” “alt-right,” and claims that I have a partisan agenda.

These notions are patently absurd. My legislative platform for the Central Coast includes job creation through promoting small business, expansion of our water supply through technology and infrastructure investments, helping our kids prepare for the workforce by promoting career technical education, preparing for the closure of Diablo Canyon, making sure our roads and communities are safe, and promoting government transparency and accountability. In fact, I am proud that my first official act as an Assembly member was sending a letter with Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) to advocate for an important local wastewater recycling project.

That is the platform I ran on and what the voters chose. Those are the issues I am working on in the state Assembly. I look forward to working with anyone and everyone who wants to solve problems for our community.

Part of the reason that our politics has devolved so much is baseless labeling, misleading parsing of quotes, and pejorative attacks. These tactics often substitute for actual thought and impede the important work of coalition building. Especially now, it is critical that we approach politics with cool heads and common sense.

I encourage anyone to contact my office about this or any other issues: 549-3381.

-- Jordan Cunningham - Assembly member , 35th District