COLIN PARENT KICKS OFF HIS RUN IN THE 79TH STATE ASSEMBLY RACE

By Jessyka Heredia

June 2, 2023 (La Mesa)-State Assembly candidate Colin Parent kicked off his campaign for the 79^th State Assembly  at Bolt Brewery in La Mesa on Wednesday with approximately 35 supporters in attendance.

Parent spoke briefly to the crowd, noting that in 2016 he became the first Democrat elected to the La Mesa City Council in years. “We have accomplished a lot already,” he said.

For example, he noted that the city “broke ground earlier this year on the first 100% affordable housing project in the city in decades--right next to the trolley, right caddy corner to city hall. It’s going to create hundreds of units for low- and moderate-income families.”  He added, “We also adopted some rules to make it much, much easier for homeowners to build Accessory Dwelling units (ADU) in their backyard.”

Parent also addressed equity issues, stating, ”Three years ago we decided for the first time to fly the pride flag and just this week, we fought back a proposal to eliminate that.”

Running for the Assembly is far different than seeking a City Council seat, he noted. Parent joked that the Assembly 79^th District has six times the size of La Mesa’s population and that he needs to “knock on six times as many doors, and [make] six times as many phone calls”.

ECM asked the candidate what his top  three goals are if he wins the 79^th district seat. Parent responded “The first one is addressing homelessness, and the second one is housing affordability. They’re kind of similar, but they are often times really distinct solutions. And the third is climate.”

When asked about the building of luxury apartments around the county raising the prices on older complexes that would traditionally be more affordable, and if he has a plan to balance building more housing and keeping housing more affordable, Parent replied, “All of the most reliable research on housing affordability says that we have a supply and demand problem--and the best way to insure housing is more affordable to more people is to have more homes, and that is going to make the overall market more affordable to more people. But in addition to that, we also need to have more subsidized affordable homes for people who are not able to afford homes on the market.”

ECM asked the candidate about the recent controversy in regards to $700,000 in behested donations that he raised for the non-profit Circulate San Diego, including a donation of $5,500  from a major developer. The nonprofit has a mission is “To create excellent mobility choices and vibrant, healthy neighborhoods.” Parent serves as chief executive officer of Circulate San Diego.

He responded, “I follow 100% of the rules that the state of California requires and fully disclose any of the donations that I have brought into my employer, but I think its really important for everyone to understand that one out of every 10 people in San Diego works for a non-profit, and raising funds is one of the most important things for keeping the lights on for any non-profit whether it’s mine or the Sierra Club or the YMCA. As someone who has a leadership role in a non-profit, I do fundraising and because I’m also an elected official I currently file any of the necessary reports to make sure the public has full knowledge and access to that information”.

The State Assembly candidate noted that he was getting an early start on his campaign and said, “Some people have asked when is the special election?” Parent clarified that There is no special election and that the primary is in March of 2024 and a general [election] in November of 2024.”