Things are heating up in the race for California’s 3rd Assembly District.
Three Republicans are all vying for the open seat long held by Assemblymember James Gallagher, who is termed out.
One of the candidates running to represent the district, which includes Butte and a handful of surrounding counties, is former Chico mayor Andrew Coolidge.
In an interview with NSPR’s Claudia Brancart, Coolidge laid out his plan to address some of the top issues facing residents in the district.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
For voters who are just getting to know you, what life experience or work has best prepared you to represent this region in the State Assembly?
I've lived in the district my entire life. Most people might know that this district is Yuba, Sutter, Butte, Glenn and Tehama counties. So I was born and raised in Yuba County, did a lot of work for many years, actually ran a business throughout Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties, which I still have, and have done that for 32 odd years now. So, ran for city council and won a seat in 2014 here in Chico. And then was mayor. Actually left the council, came back, and was mayor from 2020 to 2024.
We dealt with some very serious problems in my first term. The city was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. We were able to restore the financial health of the city over that four years and bring Chico back. In my second term, we dealt with almost every problem you can imagine, from COVID to the homeless crisis to working to get funding for city roads, Park Fire, you name it. And of course, the after effects of the Camp Fire. And the Camp Fire occurred in my first term, and obviously dealt with the long term-effects in my second term too. So I tell folks that I am the candidate who brings probably the most experience to the table in terms of local government.
What do you see as the main issues residents in our district are currently facing?
We are dealing with a healthcare crisis that's taking place. We're dealing with an educational crisis. Just to cite figures, with the exception of Chico Unified, every school district or every county is in the bottom 13% of education in the state of California, in a state where education is in the bottom of the country. Healthcare, we face several challenges, but we have the highest rate of suicide in the entire state of California right here in Butte County, and also the highest rate of cancer. Both Butte and Tehama counties top the list, and that's really a big impact to the region. That's something I feel really passionate about.
Fire and water, of course, in this district are always a big thing. Having a personal experience in the fire aspect, losing my father in the 2017 Cascade Fire. But also understanding kind of where we are, the insurance aspects, the danger that is still presented in the foothills on the eastern side of this district. And then water, relating to both flooding and storage and ag related. There's a lot of issues there as well. So we are not absent of issues. The highest opioid usage rates, some of the highest drug use rates. And then going on down that list, unemployment — you name it.
You mentioned fire very briefly. What would your plans be for dealing with wildfire in our region?
A lot of people want to point to national and state forests as the problem, and certainly there's an issue there. But the reality is that the Camp Fire didn't start and burn in a national forest. The Cascade Fire in Yuba County didn't start and burn in a national forest. Same thing with the Park Fire. So, you look at these fires over the years, and really the best thing we could do is more wildland response vehicles. Right now at the Chico Regional Airport, we have literally one tanker sitting out there, one air tanker sitting out there, when we should have 15 or 20. So we're simply in the state not running the cost benefit analysis to do this in the right way.
The other thing we could do is a lot of grant funding. They did this, obviously, on things like solar. The state of California issued tax rebates and refunds if you put solar on your roof to lessen the impact to the grid in terms of the power you were drawing. But we could do the same thing with homes. So concrete siding, closeable vents, new roofs that are fire retardant, clearing around your house. Give people benefits for their insurance. That could help lower insurance rates. Could also home-harden all these houses in fire prone areas.
So, there's a lot the state can be doing that they're not doing, and that's really where I see we can make the most progress, but it has to be done in a way where the urgency is recognized because every time one of these fires start, people die and people lose homes.
Affordability is also a really big issue for most Californians, that includes housing, groceries, healthcare, insurance. What would you push for in the Assembly that could maybe make a tangible difference for families here?
We need housing across the board. We need low-income housing, but we also need housing for professionals, especially if we're going to keep professionals in the state and lower home prices overall. One of the things, and this is in regard to fire, is you'll see after the Palisades Fire, the state comes in and waives CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) immediately. That process has not necessarily taken place with Northern California fires, and certainly not as quick when it did. So that's something that we need to move through too, so the folks who are actually losing their homes, we eliminate the barriers of them rebuilding as fast as possible. That would help.
But that's barely scratching the surface on your overall question, and the reality is that we need to streamline the building process in California. We need to make sure that cities and counties both respond to and approve building. Without adding homes to the list, it simply cannot be done with infill development. As much as a lot of folks would like to think that that's the way forward, whether it's adding ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Unit) or infill development, that is not the way forward, we have to build homes. We have to do it quickly. You have a lot of cities, particularly on the coasts, who are resisting building. Those need to be approved. Need to move through it, or otherwise we're simply not going to have the homes for the next generation.
Democrats hold a super majority in the California State Legislature. As a Republican, how would you plan to work in the Assembly?
I think there's a lot of progress we can make. I talked about these lists that we're on, that aren't great lists to be on. But the thing about it is, the areas that usually mimic our area — rural California — are urban inner-city areas. So you go into urban inner-city areas, and they are facing doctor shortages. Go into urban, inner-city areas and they are facing high cancer rates, and they're the other ones on that list. They're facing the high suicide rates, and they have those same problems that we're dealing with. So I really think that's our opportunity to reach across the aisle, is looking at these lists and going look, anyone in the bottom 60% of any of these lists, their representatives are going to want to talk about this down in the legislature.
Obviously you have to reach across the aisle. I think we have to tone back the rhetoric. I'd like to see that, of course, nationwide. I think it contributes to a lot of just hate between groups. People are more caught up yelling and screaming than they are getting work done. And the reality is this job is getting the work done, and that's really what I want to go to Sacramento for.
What's your message to Independents and Democrats out there who are deciding how to vote in this race?
My message to them would be the same as messages to Republicans. Look, as a Republican, I am for things they may not be crazy about. I am for secure borders. I'm not crazy about tariffs, obviously. But, there's some core principles. The Second Amendment is certainly one where I would probably disagree with folks on the left side of the aisle.
But what I would tell them is, look, when I was mayor, I was respectful to all sides that came before me. Anyone who came forward got the same amount of time as anyone else. Everybody was able to have their voice in a chamber where I was presiding. And my thought has always been, you really don't get representative democracy without having people come forward and offer their opinions. These are real issues that we're all dealing with.
Am I going to be a Republican who goes down to Sacramento and screams and yells? No. Honestly, Republicans have made a mistake sometimes in the state of California and nationally, too, and that is when we have a real problem and a real issue that's distracting us from what we need to do, so yelling and screaming about it doesn't get us anywhere.
