By Kelsey Meksto
By Kelsey Meksto
Sen. Joel Anderson invited the public to his community coffee held on August 11 in Santee. This event, hosted by City Council Member Ronn Hall, was a chance for the people of Santee to share their important issues directly with Anderson. The purpose of every community coffee is for the needs, opinions and issues of the community to be heard and discussed. More than 120 people attended the event at Santee City Hall to discuss various state and local issues with Anderson, including how Senate Bill 1146 will affect faith based colleges, college funding for veterans, and gun control and the 2nd amendment.
This town hall style meeting allowed people to come together and enjoy complementary coffee, cake and snacks, all while connecting with their neighbors and other local elected officials. Representatives from the Santee School Board and the Padre Dam Municipal Water District were also present, in addition to City of Santee staff, and attendees were able to engage in quality conversation about state and local government.
Anderson expressed how important it is for him to hear every issue important to his constituents. “I want to thank everyone for taking the time to attend the Santee Community Coffee. It’s my priority to make each of my constituents aware that they have access to me and their state government,” he said. “I am also thankful for Council Member Ronn Hall and his tremendous assistance in making this event so successful. Santee is lucky to have a dedicated public servant like Ronn.”
An attendee at the Santee Community Coffee, Colleen Grimson said her favorite part was “the openness of being able to talk directly with the Senator.” Grimson recommended others to attend the future coffee events, and continued saying, “You learn a lot about what’s going on in Sacramento and how it affects us, and what we can do about things we care about.”
For those who were not able to attend the Community Coffee but would like to share their opinions and ideas with Anderson, his El Cajon District Office can be reached at 619-596-3136 or via email at senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov.
