He could have been mistaken for Santa Claus, and he will be later this month.
State Sen. Curren Price (D-Culver City), ever elegant and dapper, glided through a throng of well-dressed well-wishers last evening at a Christmas Party he threw for his constituents, at the glistening, spacious African American Museum in Exposition Park, adjacent to the USC campus.
Every party-goer was asked to bring a new toy, many complied, and in a few days, they will be distributed to children for whom this will be their only Christmas gifts.
Chanukah, which has just passed, and Kwanzaa, which is knocking on the door, shared the holiday stage with Christmas amidst a sea of Santa Hat-wearing party-goers in the cavernous entry to the museum.
Meanwhile, both recorded and live traditional Christmas music, like a happy, evolving mushroom cloud, encircled the high ceiling and tall walls.
This was the sparkling red-and-green setting when Sen. Price addressed the crowd on the sobering business of Sacramento.
When the Legislature returns to work next month, with Sen. Price beginning his first full time, the ladies and gentlemen of both chambers will welcome a new/old governor, Jerry Brown.
“We are excited to have a new governor,” he said, “but, unfortunately, we still have the same fiscal holes we have to dig ourselves out of,” a deficit pegged at $28 billion.
“Obviously, we are taking this situation very seriously.
“I am not sure — yet — how things will be different with Gov. Brown. Hopefully, he will be a lot more sensitive to the negative impact of cutting the safety nets, health, education and social service programs.
“Still, together, we have to address revenue. Something has to be cut or something has to be generated.
“Raising taxes is a possibility. The governor-elect has said, though, he is not going to do it unless he goes to the people first.
“Based on the discussion we had yesterday, there will have to be something done.
“Both houses of the Legislature met with the governor-elect. The theme was, ‘This Is the Situation.’
“We were already talking about solutions, and providing an overview to make sure we are on the same page in determining what the problem is.
“Right now, it is a $28 billion hole we have to work out way out of.”
As for a solution, Sen. Price bore bad news he says is inevitable.
“I think we are going to have to raise some taxes,” he said. “And it is going to be across the board so everybody is feeling it. We also need to be creating more jobs. We must create an atmosphere conducive to investment in businesses that will produce green jobs.”
Sen. Price said community colleges will play an unprecedented role in seeking to rescue California from the fiscal brink by serving as headquarters for massive retraining of adults whose first careers were abruptly interrupted.
