Plumas County Democrats gathered at the Veterans Hall Tuesday April 14 for a townhall meeting with Mike McGuire, the Democratic frontrunner for the U.S. House of Representatives representing California’s first congressional district (CA-01). The gathering marks the former state senate majority leader’s third visit to Plumas County since hitting the campaign trail this year – a fact McGuire says reflects his commitment to “listen and deliver” for his constituents. 

Like his fellow candidates, McGuire faces the challenge of representing the newly formed first congressional district following voters’ approval of Proposition 50 at the Special Statewide Election in early November. Prop 50 established that the state’s district lines will be determined by Congressional district maps drawn by the legislature, rather than by the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission. 

After an introduction by Plumas County Democrats Chair Faith Strailey, McGuire kicked off the town hall by calling on Democrats to “take back America.” The approval of Prop 50 is likely to flip the state’s first congressional district from red to blue in what McGuire called “the most important election of our lifetime here in the United States of America.”

“We have to take the fight to Donald Trump — that the era of ‘go along, get along’ is long gone. Democrats have to grow a spine and we have to show America what we stand for,” McGuire said, amidst rising echoes of support by the town hall’s attendees. 

McGuire touted California Democrats’ recent gains in public education, reproductive healthcare, housing, immigration and emergency wildfire response. Key highlights included the implementation of California’s Universal Meals Program, the doubling of CalFire firefighters and fire engines responding to wildfire emergencies across the county. He also discussed the anticipated expansion of local labor and delivery services, referencing the planned opening of a standby perinatal unit with the Plumas District Hospital in Quincy following the passage of SB 669. 

“Flipping this district — it’s not symbolic. It is strategic,” said McGuire, bringing his address back to the upcoming election in November. “This is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump, ladies and gentlemen.”

During the question-and-answer portion, Plumas County residents shifted the focus from McGuire’s vision for sweeping changes across California and the country to local realities on the ground. Among the more pressing concerns raised was disaster recovery and wildfire mitigation. 

One resident brought attention to the high cost of homeowners’ insurance, saying, “I’m here because I got this email saying about the home insurance solutions…which is one of the problems right now.” 

She asked McGuire what Democrats in office are going to do about “skyrocketing” home insurance costs.

Responding to the concerned resident, McGuire referenced two bills introduced in the California state senate last year. One of them, the California Public Wildfire Model Act (SB 429), was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in October and seeks to increase transparency to the public. SB 429 will create a wildfire risk mitigation model that provides residents with a risk score for their own properties, as well as guidance on how homeowners can create more defensible space, or buffer zones, against wildfires and better protect their homes. At present, such proprietary disaster risk modeling is accessible to insurance companies, but not to the homeowners themselves.

The second bill, the California Community Fire Hardening Commission Act (SB 616), seeks to create a Community Hardening Commission independent of the Department of Insurance. It would revise the wildfire mitigation program “in accordance with…community hardening standards and home hardening guidelines.”

McGuire later expressed frustration over the Trump administration’s restructuring of the U.S. Forest Service and the proposed 60% cuts to the federal the agency’s budget.

“We kick butt when it comes to firefighting. Ninety percent of all fires are put out at less than 20 acres. It’s an honor. But the United States Forest Service also needs to focus on prescribed burning… wildfire mitigation, dead and dying tree removal — which is absolutely critical. We need to be able to have fire breaks around fire-threatened communities. The federal government needs to fund that,” he said.  

Bill Martin, a former Feather River College instructor and founder of residential energy consulting services Martin Energetics, has lived in Plumas County for 54 years. “My biggest concern for Plumas County is the economy has spiraled way downward in the last 15 to 20 years. When I first got here… there was a lot more money moving around. Part of the reason for that was there was a lot more timber cutting in the forest,” said Martin. 

“I’m not nuts about too much timber cutting, but one quarter of all the revenue from that was split between the school system and the county’s road department, and most of what’s being cut right now is salvaged, and that doesn’t bring in any money.”

Martin has been actively working to employ wildfire mitigation techniques and invest in protective infrastructure for his own property, efforts that he hopes more Californians can work towards. 

As for whether he believes McGuire has what it takes to represent California in Congress and tackle the many challenges faced by Plumas County residents, Martin seems to have already made up his mind. 

“My wife and I pretty much decided after the first townhall that we went to that he was the candidate we would support. I think that’s still the case.”