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By Sean Abajian, Vice President of the South Pasadena Democratic Club
A fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate John Chiang was held in South Pasadena last Sunday, April 15 at the home of Ellen Daigle. He was introduced by Mayor Rick Schneider and Senator Anthony Portantino. The event was well-attended and included no fewer than twenty-one hosts and co-hosts.
John Chiang is the only person who has ever served in all three of California’s financial offices, including on the Board of Equalization, as State Controller, and currently as the California State Treasurer. As the state’s banker, he oversees trillions of dollars in annual transactions, manages a $75 billion investment portfolio, and is the nation’s largest issuer of municipal bonds.
According to the official California State Treasurer’s website Chiang’s accomplishments include: saving the state of California and its agencies $5.5 billion over the life of the bonds through refinancing of older debt, cutting red tape and accessing billions in untapped federal resources for the state’s largest affordable housing program, and cutting off Wells Fargo from its most profitable lines of business with the State of California after it was found to have fleeced thousands of its customers.
“I want to go up to serve in Sacramento and transform what governance in the 21st century looks like. I bring new people to the fold. A lot of this campaign is the old, same institutional powers who want to control Sacramento and lead with the same policies. We need a California that is much more ambitious than that. We’re going to open up the doors,” Chiang stated.
On June 5 John Chiang will face off against Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, businessman John Cox, Assemblymember Travis Allen and former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin in the primary election. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the November election.
