Congressman Jerry McNerney speaks to a full house Thursday afternoon at the School Street Bistro in Lodi. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

'We have to preserve farmland'

Congressman McNerney stops by to address concerns of Lodi residents

Lodi's congressional representative spent most of the day Thursday discussing local issues that included Highway 12 safety improvements and preserving farmland.

Congressman Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, started the day meeting with the San Joaquin Council of Governments in Stockton before a round of meetings with business leaders and residents in Lodi.

McNerney addressed about 100 concerned citizens at the School Street Bistro on a variety of topics ranging from growth in the San Joaquin Valley to universal health care and the war in Iraq. He said he supports an agricultural greenbelt around Lodi to preserve the city's personality.

"We need to keep a good swath of open space between Lodi and Stockton," he said. "We have to preserve farmland. We have to fight the desire of some local developers to pave over our farmland."

McNerney defended Congress's $124 billion Iraq war spending bill, which calls for a timetable for withdrawing the troops within a year-and-a-half.

"We gave the president his money," he said. "Now what we want is the president to end this war in 18 months. If he disagrees, then we will have a stand off. A president without oversight is a dictator."

Paul Underhill claps to a response made by Congressman Jerry McNerney Thursday afternoon at the School Street Bistro in Lodi. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

The congressman, who sits on the Transportation Committee, said he was aware of safety problems on Highway 12 and vowed to try to get federal funding for improvements.

Earlier in the day, he met with the Council of Governments to discuss transportation and infrastructure issues in the region.

He said bringing commuter rail to Lodi is a priority and he promised to use his influence to bring the Altamont Commuter Express train to Lodi.

McNerney had lunch with the Lodi Chamber of Commerce's Governmental Relations Committee. The congressman, who is also on the Science Committee, said global climate change could affect Lodi's agricultural community and he pledged to work on the problem.

"I think global warming is a very serious threat to us," he said. "We don't want to lose the grape industry to Washington State because the environment is too hot to grow grapes."

Committee Chair Eric Daeling said immigration reform is an important issue to local agri-business leaders, and McNerney informed the group that Congress is working on an immigration reform plan that could include a guest worker provision.

On universal health care, McNerney said Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposal is good for small businesses and envisioned a similar proposal at the federal level.

"I have a great deal of respect for the governor's plan," he said. "Health care is killing us. It's killing our businesses."

Chamber President Pat Patrick said McNerney has a good understanding of local business needs.

"I like his stance on bringing jobs to the valley," he said. "He recognizes our agricultural heritage and wants to preserve it."

McNerney, who also met with a newly created Small Business Advisory Board at the Lodi Public Library later in the day, said he is well-equipped to help Lodi at the federal level.

"I thought today's meeting was very productive," McNerney said. "I heard a wide variety of perspectives from business owners to business organizations. The information I heard today will help me when I'm back in Washington analyzing and crafting legislation."

Mayor Bob Johnson applauded the congressman for his accessibility.

"You could have spent more time with the congressman today than with your spouse or family," he said.

McNerney's meeting with residents at School Street Bistro was part of his "Congress on your Corner" outreach program. Residents appreciated the access to their representative, who was elected in November.

Kate Tscharner, a Lodi High School senior said she wanted to hear the congressman's stance on resource and wildlife conservation.

"You can tell he is serving his community," she said.

Mary Bagnell said she was impressed with McNerney's depth of knowledge on a number of diverse issues.

"I liked the way he responded to the variety of issues," she said. "I liked his goals. They were key to people in this area."

Contact reporter Matt Brown at mattb@lodinews.com.