Countdown to the Election

I moved to Merced County because it seemed like a great place to buy a home and raise a family. Almost 20 years later, my personal vision has not changed. Even though we have been plagued with challenges, Merced County residents still see the value in remaining here. My vision for the future would be to have thousands of individuals that feel the same way as I do. We do this by investing in our future. This will take a major cultural change for the leadership of Merced County, who spend a great deal of their time resolving short-term matters and immediate crises. Please understand, there SHOULD be time spent on short-term matters and immediate crises, but there needs to be a dedicated effort to invest in the future. Quite frankly, our leadership is making strides in that area: UC Merced and the new Hospital being built by Catholic Healthcare West are examples of “thinking about the future”. But (and you know I’m going to say it) “What Now?”. We can certainly invest MORE in our future by helping CHW get trauma center status! We can invest MORE by helping bring a medical school to UC Merced! And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I see the Merced of 2020 on the same level as Davis, California: where the people ride bikes around town, and it’s difficult to tell where the university begins and the community ends.