County’s Rob Bernosky hopes second time is a charm
Despite having been outspent nearly 4-to-1 and now having to face an incumbent that defeated him by 22 percentage points in the 2010 election, Hollister Republican Rob Bernosky is hoping a pro-education, lower regulation message will resonate with voters in the redrawn 30th Assembly District during the fall election.
"Things have got worse in the state since I ran, not better," he said. "It makes a difference because (Democrat Luis Alejo) has a horrible track record. He has made a lot of votes and authored a lot of bills that have nothing to do with what people are most concerned about."
Alejo, then-mayor of Watsonville, defeated Bernosky 61 percent to 39 percent two years ago to win the 28th Assembly seat in a Democratic-leaning district, which since the last cycle has dropped San Jose, now includes Morgan Hill, and is changing from the 28th to the 30th district after districts were redrawn as a result of the 2010 Census.
"People are worried about when they're going to get back to work and they're worried about the quality of education their children are getting," said Bernosky, a chief financial officer of a local company and a former board member of the North County Joint Union School District - where his wife, Jenny, is principal. "Mr. Alejo has voted for bills that divert resources from the core curriculum."
Bernosky said California needs to spur investment in the state in order to encourage job creation.
"The way you do that is by decreasing regulations and making California a more business-friendly state," he said. "California has to compete with other states and other countries. In the past year, we've added more burdens to businesses instead of taking them away. There is so much uncertainty about future regulations that businesses naturally contract. Until we fix that, more businesses will leave the state."
While he acknowledges that running against an incumbent "is typically against conventional wisdom," Bernosky said he believes his opponent's "dismal" record affords a chance for "a CFO with a track record."
With an open primary meaning voters of any party can vote for the candidate of their choice, Bernosky said he plans to highlight Alejo's voting record and address "what is most important to people," including job creation, education and long-term pension reform.
Bernosky's campaign plans to highlight how in 2010 he raised only $30,000 and still received nearly 40 percent of the vote, while Alejo spent more than $415,000.
"My message resonates with the voters; his does not," Bernosky said. "He was pretty connected before. That's what's broken about California. You have a shadow government of union-based money. But even union members' kids are sitting in classrooms with 38 or 40 kids. If there is no job creation, there is no need for unions to be there."
Addressing lessons he learned from his previous campaign for Assembly, Bernosky said he hopes to raise more money to help get his message out to more people and he wants to debate Alejo.
"In the last election, he did not debate me," Bernosky said. "If he doesn't debate me, we're going to be yelling that loud and clear because we have to talk about the real issues. I don't know too many people that are happy with the education system or being unemployed or underemployed. I don't know too many people that are happy about their home values being so under water and nobody is doing anything about it."
Bernosky said he will send mailers to voters this year - a strategy he was not able to employ in 2010 - and he will do more precinct walking.
With one daughter as a sophomore at UCLA, another a senior at San Benito High School and an eighth-grade son at Spring Grove Elementary, Bernosky said improving education is a staple of his platform.
"In the past quarter century, we have dumped a lot of money into education but we are graduating kids from college that do not have relevant majors," he said. "I have a daughter in the U.C. system and we've had three tuition increases since she's been there. The university system has become too bloated with non-relevant majors and administrators that have to merit that. Where is the legislature on this? They should be reigning in the spending and making sure students are thriving in college."
He said he is also a proponent of restoring vocational training in high school for students who don't plan to go to college, giving them "skills that are needed in the marketplace."
The biggest problem with your endorsement of Alejo's minimum-wage bill is in your own words, "Alejo's bill won't fix this dynamic, but it will help staunch the bleeding until a better solution can be crafted." Until? Once we grant something as big as what he is proposing, it is impossible to take it away. I am also disappointed that the Californian believes that Alejo is walking a fine line between conservative and union interests. His campaign for Assembly was primarily funded by out-of-district union money, and his voting record is virtually 100 percent anti-business. This is a bad bill because it will raise the cost of living on all and will price youth and otherwise inexperienced and unskilled people out of getting that entry-level job they need to move up to higher-paying jobs.
If Alejo truly believes that we have a moral obligation to create a middle class, here is my advice: the state legislature should make California friendly again to employers, especially manufacturers. Sunset rules and regulations that make us grossly uncompetitive with other states and countries and stop enacting new ones like indexing minimum wage to inflation. Remove the uncertainty of more government regulations, and businesses will invest more in their employees. They will then come and expand in California.
Alejo has never had anything but a government job, so it is impossible for him to understand how hard operating a business is and the regulatory burdens an employer in California has. The Californian should ask Alejo this next time around what he has done to better the economic climate and increase the number of jobs in California.
Rob Bernosky
Hollister
(Rob Bernosky is a candidate for state Assembly)
Rob Bernosky renews bid for Assembly seat held by Luis Alejo
Hollister resident Rob Bernosky is renewing his bid for the 30th District Assembly seat, challenging an incumbent who bested him in the same race two years ago.
A food company executive and political conservative, Bernosky said he believes he can win the race, despite losing the 2010 race to Democratic incumbent Luis Alejo by 22 percentage points, 61 percent to 39 percent. Bernosky, 48, said if elected, he would focus on job creation, education and budget reforms such as overhauling the state's beleaguered pension systems.
"I'm running, quite frankly, because as a family man and a business person, and a citizen of the state of California, we're crumbling here. We're driving businesses out. We're foreclosing on a lot of homes," said Bernosky, a Republican. "And our Legislature continues to make it worse, not better.
"People in general no longer have faith in their elected leaders because we're not doing our job."
Though Alejo's seat in the strongly Democratic and overwhelmingly Latino 30th Assembly District is considered safe, Bernosky said he could win if he gets his message out. He was heavily outspent in the last election, but plans to challenge Alejo's record on improving the state's economic climate.
"When I study over the bills that he has authored and the bills that he has voted for, they make it harder" to do business, Bernosky said.
Bernosky is a former member of the North County Joint Union School District, and now sits on an agency that sets school district boundaries.
His wife, Jennifer, is the principal at Spring Grove Elementary School. The couple have three children: two daughters, ages 19 and 17, and a 13-year-old son.
A first-term Democrat, Alejo is running for a redrawn district that includes the cities of Watsonville, Salinas and Hollister and vast swaths of the Pajaro and Salinas valleys
Rob Bernosky to run for state Assembly Rob Bernosky has announced his candidacy for the State Assembly in the 30th District.
Bernosky previously ran for the 28th Assembly District, a seat now held by Luis Alejo, D-Salinas.
Bernosky said in a statement that his main focus will be to make California a business-friendly state, make education deserving of the reputation it once had and reduce the impact that the "out-of-touch people" in Sacramento have on local government, businesses and people's lives.
Bernosky is chief financial officer of a national food manufacturer on the Central Coast. A former school board member, Bernosky is president and member of the county committee on school district organization. In addition, he is the president and board member of a community water company as well as a board member and secretary of the San Benito County Heritage Foundation, supporting the agricultural community.
From The San Jose Mercury News, April 2, 2011:
State GOP should stick to its guns
I had been personally very disappointed in the budget stalemate that exists between the GOP legislative leaders and the governor, and was initially not that impressed with my fellow Republicans' seven-page list of 53 demands in order to agree to put the proposed tax increase on the ballot.
However, after perusing through the governor's budget, I have a much better understanding of why the Republicans are playing hardball and would urge them to continue to seek structural change in our great state.
The GOP leaders are being brave and showing leadership on an important range of issues that could be giant leaps in beginning to improve the overall problems in California.
I urge your readers to ask themselves if they really believe that reducing the number of cellphones will solve the problems, or do we really have to tear down the existing structure and build something sustainable?
Robert E. Bernosky
Hollister
State needs regulation reform
When discussing the state of California and why so many private-sector jobs have been lost, the regulatory burden we have often comes up as a big reason companies close plants, move out of state or do not start here at all.
I do not have any better example of California's business-unfriendly ways than when I perform research on regulations I am subject to as an employer. For example, today I was looking up a subject on the state Department of Industrial Relations website because I wanted to make sure my company was in compliance with a particular regulation. I Googled the subject matter and the websites of several plaintiff attorneys identified with the regulation came up. This is indicative of itself.
However, when I did go to the state website, there was nothing there to help the employer beyond the text of the regulation. All of the FAQs were for helping employees sue the employer or file claims with the state.
Do you see a problem here? Nothing to help a business comply, but plenty of help for the business to be fined and pay damages (and plenty of attorneys to seek fees from an employer).
The state of California is going to have to change its ways if it is going to encourage taxpaying jobs to start, stay and grow here.
Robert Bernosky
Hollister
From the San Jose Mercury News on February 12, 2010:
With all due respect to the honorable Sen. Joe Simitian, it is ridiculous to warn of big cuts to education as they simply do not have to occur and should not come into play in the budget crisis. We simply have to ask the question why education is less important than such things as funding the burdensome regulations that not only take money away from education, but drive businesses out of the state or to not start here at all.
Gov. Jerry Brown and those in the Legislature of like mind are using the K-12 system as a hostage. Why not go after the California Environmental Protection Agency, its $1.8 billion budget and 4,702 positions and similar agencies instead of cutting our beleaguered education system? Tax revenues need to stay local and not be absorbed by the bureaucracies of Sacramento, and be spent in the schools and on public safety.
Robert E. Bernosky
Hollister
From the Freelance News
Letter: Sounding off on county fair news
Feb 8, 2011
Dear Editor,
The news that the county fair is at risk will no doubt lead to a campaign for the public to contribute directly to saving it. The county fair has deep roots in this community and is part of our agricultural culture and heritage. Unfortunately, this latest need is on top of causes to save San Benito High & middle school athletics and elementary & middle school music programs in the county. Many schools already hold substantial private fund raisers to pay for things needed to provide an adequate education and learning environment. On top of all of these are the potential closures of Fremont Peak and San Juan Bautista state parks. Do we not pay taxes to make sure these things are provided for? We surely do.
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget includes increasing taxes with the threat of the cutting more funds from K-12 education if they do not go through. He has chosen his target carefully. As demonstrated by our community's willingness to step up to the plate time after time to save our individual schools and programs, he going after what he knows is most near and dear to us by using the K-12 system as a hostage.
We should resist this tactic and ask the governor to take a look in other areas such as the California Air Resources Board's budget at $652 million before cutting funds from education and state parks. Examine the California Water Resources Board's budget of $794 million before taking more money out of the classroom. In fact, let's question the entire $1.76 billion and the 4,702 positions in the California Environmental Protection Agency's budget and why they are needed on top of the federal agencies that basically provide the same function. Even if the agency and its boards were not completely eliminated, let's ask the governor to take a look at their true usefulness and efficiency. Are the pay & benefits packages and job security arrangements in line with the private sector or do they exceed it? This would be a quick study and I suggest that your readers would find that there are too many positions that are way out of line with the private sector.
California's reputation of over regulation, irresponsible spending, rich pension plans and employment arrangements is well understood and deserved. It is time to for the public to become more aware of the true costs of too many years of irresponsible California state legislatures and pay attention to what is near & dear to us without using it as a tool to fund the very programs that cause businesses to leave, not expand, or not start in California. Reducing regulations and checking all state agencies for alignment with the private sector for both function and costs will lead to much more dollars being available for those things we actually need and enjoy. It may also lead to tax rate reductions and will have the additional benefit of creating a friendlier environment for private sector, tax paying jobs to be created in California.
Robert E. Bernosky, Hollister
From the Salinas Californian (January 14, 2011)
Make education a state budget priority
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget is a great start! It shows he understands the horrible situation our once-vibrant state is in. Clearly, UC President Mark Yudof, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and Jack Scott do not get it, as evidenced by their comments indicating raising tuition and restricting enrollment in the fall. Now is the time for higher education to force its expenditures to fit a realistic budget.
As a tuition-paying parent in the UC system, it is frustrating to be subjected to a 40 percent increase in tuition and fees over the past two years while seeing how much money is spent on non-academic activities. For example, we receive glossy magazines telling us about trips abroad professors are taking on our dime. What is that doing for my child?
Being married to an educator, having grown up in a university town and being a chief financial officer, I know first-hand what is involved with being a university administrator and what their jobs are worth in private industry. They get too much in salary and benefits.
I urge Brown and the Legislature to let the temporary tax increases expire, cut further to bring all state expenses in line with the private sector and direct the cost savings resulting from such actions to improving the K-12 system, and police and fire protection. This will lead to a higher quality of life and more jobs for those in the Salinas Valley. Robert E. Bernosky
Hollister
From the Wall Street Journal (November 20, 2010)
In regard to Eliot Cutler's Nov. 17 op-ed "Who Stole Election Day?": Like Mr. Cutler, I learned firsthand how election day was stolen as well, albeit on the West Coast. Races for California state assembly are more or less predetermined. As a candidate, your race is either on a targeted list or it is not, which is determined by legislative leadership. If one's race is not targeted by the Republicans, in my case, the traditional sources of support are nonexistent.
At a meeting with campaign funding sources, my hosts looked at a list and told me my district was not on it and that no support would be possible. Even though I was a private-sector, chief financial officer candidate with a successful track record both in business and as a former school board member, and ran a community water company and otherwise was a productive member in the district in which I was running, the California Chamber of Commerce, for example, would not even return a telephone call and the Association of California School Administrators backed my heavily teacher-union-backed opponent. If nothing else, the irony of my opponent being backed by both teachers unions and the school administrator membership organization clearly spells out the problems a candidate has in California.
Considering that the 28th Assembly District has only a 23.09% Republican registration, and it looks like I will end up with 40% of the vote, the support the traditional groups could have given me might have pushed me over the 50% mark.
Regardless, if I am indeed a viable candidate, I should have done my homework and known what the playing field was and worked even harder to overcome the obstacles that apparently were well-known. I lost the race because, in spite of my great message, I did not get it out to enough people in enough time, just like Mr. Cutler should have known when ballots would be available. Election Day for him was not Nov. 2, but rather the first day the polling places were available for Maine citizens to vote.
