The best thing about Silicon Valley is its people. We have a large contingent of very liberal elected officials who strive daily to deal with the complexities of an area that foments creativity, but that also leaves many behind. This extreme inequity threatens the very existence of the area.
Santa Clara Valley relies on many people who are not engineers, marketing professionals, CxOs, coders, etc. It also needs the people who sustain the work those professionals do. Everything from teachers for their kids, supermarket workers who provide them essentials, store clerks of all sorts, cooks and servers, crossing guards, dry cleaners, gutter cleaners, gardeners, and any other kind of workers on whom the tech community relies on. The professionals change -before Silicon Valley, this was the Valley of the Heart’s Delight, and none of the canneries or orchards remain. Silicon Valley is slowly shifting from high— tech to gene and pharmaceutical research and investment. Maybe in the future we won’t be talking about engineers, but about chemists instead— the ones who will remain are the workers that support the lives and lifestyles of these professionals.
This is why we need progressive elected officials representing us in Sacramento. And when I think about progressive politicians, I think about Ash Kalra. I have always been impressed by him. His political career is the spitting image of what a progressive politician looks like, but I like him for other reasons as well.
For instance, he told me that his family needed housing assistance when he was a very young boy. Fortunately, they obtained it. I didn’t find anything remarkable about this since so many need that assistance. What he told me next is what I found remarkable. Through this experience, Ash learned the importance of standing up not just for yourself, but for others as well. He knew it was about justice and not just us.
He began paying back to the community from an early age. He started working to improve his community, and that led to a life of commitment to social justice. He has always advocated for the underserved in our county, but particularly in San Jose where he lives. He became a public defender working at the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County. I find this line of work very honorable. Public defenders are more than simply upholding of our constitution. Public defenders have to put their biases aside, and do the best they can to ensure that their clients obtain the best outcome possible. And this I why I admire Ash for having chosen that particular profession. His desire for justice ensured that he dealt with these situations so that that those who could not afford a lawyer had the best representation possible. I truly admire him for that.
These are just two of the many reasons for which I find that Ash Kalra will be the best representative in Sacramento that District 27 could wish for. He not only has the experience and the knowhow, but he also has the heart and much needed passion and perseverance needed to continue to advocate for those who keep Silicon Valley alive.
