The Valley Progress
Friday, March 02, 2007
Brawleyite to Run for State Assembly

by Mario Conde, Reporter

Brawley resident Rick Gonzales announced his candidacy for the State Assembly Saturday morning as he will seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the November 2008 election.

Gonzales was born and raised in Brawley and graduated from Brawley High School were he was the captain of the wrestling team.

After graduation, he attended San Diego State University and received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science. He then went to Washington and worked with Senator Ted Kennedy and the later on was appointed to be the main liaison between the House of Representatives and Vice President Al Gore.

Gonzales also holds an MBA form the University of Southern California, worked as a lobbyist, and currently works at Well Fargo as an investment manager.

He says that his leadership style is to delegate responsibilities and work with people to obtain the goal.

The three issues that he wants to promote in his campaign are jobs, education, and water rights.

When asked about his position on the All-American Canal, Gonzales said that the most important thing is to look for the good of the valley.

“Water is one of our most precious resources and the advantage that we have here in the Imperial Valley is that we are close to were the water comes from. You have to be careful what you do with the water because it’s necessary for the growth of the valley.” Gonzales said.

His plans to bring more jobs to the region are to have high skill jobs like biotech and marry those high level jobs with people that have the skills to do it. Gonzales also emphasized that the valley needs to grow in education in order to bring better jobs.

Asked about how he plans to support community colleges, Gonzales said that community colleges are vital for California.

“Cutting funds is not a good thing for community colleges. The hallmark of the California educational system is the low cost of education. Other countries have modeled our educational system which I think it’s fantastic.” He said.

Community Colleges serve a value purpose and I think they are sometimes misunderstood. People think about community colleges as the place before they go to four year university but it’s also is late stage career training were people go and get trained for the job that they want.” Gonzales said.

Gonzales has already been endorsed by some local elected officials. Among them are El Centro Mayor Rosanna Bayon-Moore, Steve Vazquez from Brawley, Council member Ben Salomon of El Centro, and Calexico city councilmen David Ouzan.

“I have a true passion for the Imperial Valley.” Gonzales said. “What I bring is high level governmental responsibility at the highest level of the federal government from the capital hill to the White House and I also bring substantial responsibility in finance in the private sector.”

Gonzales said that this race is like applying to a job and the voters are the once who will hire the person they feel is qualified for the job.

“I want to have the trust of the voters. I know a lot of the public and the private sector. This is an area that has a lot of hope and promise and I would like to shape that for the future.”

Contact Mario Conde at (760) 562-9549 or mariobox12@yahoo.com

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