Aaron Klein, Trustee
It is a great privilege and a high honor to have represented you as your Sierra College Trustee for the last four years. We’ve accomplished a lot, but we’ve still got more to do, and that’s why I’m running for re-election.
Thomas Jefferson summed up why I’m so passionate about public education, when he wrote, “perhaps the most important bill in our code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people…there is no greater foundation for the preservation of freedom and happiness.” The opportunities that we have in this community are built on education, and particularly, Sierra College.
Four years ago, that opportunity was at risk. Three straight years of deficits totaling $850,000. Courses cut, library hours slashed, student tutoring and labs decimated. I looked at that and said, we need change. And 90,000 people stood up, and change is exactly what we delivered to Sierra College.
Four years later, Sierra College is on the move. We brought fresh new leadership to the table. Balanced the budget four years in a row. Built $2 million in new surpluses. Grew our reserves from $6 million to $8.1 million dollars. And through all of that, we have steadily increased access to college. More students than ever before are being equipped with the skills they need to thrive in a four year university, or secure a real-world, high-paying job.
As much as we’ve turned the ship, we still have more to do. When I came into office, we had no strategic plan. No way to link our priorities to our budgeting. And no plan to pay for the retiree benefit promises made by trustees many, many years ago.
I’m very proud that the state accreditation commission came in, endorsed the course we are on, commended the college on a variety of fronts, and gave our staff a sense of urgency about getting them accomplished. And we all ought to be proud of the incredible work our faculty and staff have done in response. They are faithful public servants who deserve our thanks.
Now, our opponents are grasping at straws, desperate for some way to make the last four years of balanced budgets look worse than the years of deficits before them. That’s a tough job, and I don’t envy their task!
They’ve tried to do this by redefining the words “balanced budget” as “spend however much you want, as long as you can borrow the money to make up the difference,” and their argument for this is that the rest of the State of California does it that way. I think our taxpayers deserve better than that.
So we have a profound choice in this election: we can either return to the policies of the past that gave us runaway spending, massive deficits, cut courses, lost opportunity, and proposals for mountains of new taxes.
Or, we can continue the agenda for change that we started four years ago. Continue balancing the budget, continue increasing access to college, and continue building a more prosperous future for all of our citizens.
For those who believe in a stronger Sierra College, I ask for your vote. You can learn more about our cause for change at www.AaronKlein.com, or give me a call at 530-323-2607.
Aaron Klein is a Sierra College Trustee, and has made his career in entrepreneurial business. He resides with his wife and son in Colfax.
[gjr – Aaron Klein is a friend and colleague whose campaign Jo Ann and I have supported financially.]
• ‘A Looming Policy Disaster’ by Jason Scott Johnston of the University of Pennsylvania presents a cool-headed look at the current climate change issue. In it this paper makes the point that a “sustained, critical look at climate change economics and science is long overdue.” For those still seeking a reasonable answer to this enviro-political conundrum, Johnston’s readable contribution is strongly recommended. In it he examines the costs and benefits of various proposed responses including the difficulties in implementing the Lieberman-Warner bill and the potential tsunami of litigation it would start.
