Yesterday I wrote an editorial for the Huffington Post on Barbara Boxer's failure to take a stand on Proposition 98. Today I found out the No On 98 Campaign has a signed statement from Barbara Boxer stating she is against Proposition 98. For the record, I called Barbara Boxer's California office and they confirmed to me that she had NOT taken a position on Proposition 98. The original genesis of this editorial is from that phone call. I just called them again, Wednesday, May 14, at 2:20pm, and was told, again, that it falls out of her jurisdiction and she has not taken a position on Proposition 98. I called her office as a constituent, which I am. I then called her press office in Washington to find out her official position on Proposition 98. The press office was unable to tell me and I have not received a call from the communications officer in charge. There's no mention of Proposition 98 on Barbara Boxer's website. I'm glad that there is evidence she is against Proposition 98, but her silence is still very troublesome. The fact that constituents aren't being told she is against the Proposition when they contact her offices is also extremely troubling. That her position is not posted on her website is problematic. This is a major issue affecting a massive number of Californians, and I still can't get someone in the Barbara Boxer offices to confirm the Senator's position. This is not something for our Senator to be silent about. She's supposed to be leading on this issue but her own staff don't know her position on it. Why the confusion?
Update: I got a call from Barbara Boxer's political consulting arm. I was told that her office staff are not supposed to comment on California races. I pointed out that they were commenting and they were giving wrong information, twice. The press office did not return my call and the consultant told me she was returning the call for them, which wasn't exactly accurate as the press office did not contact her and tell her to contact me on Barbara Boxer's behalf.
I still believe a constituent should be able to call a Senator's office and find out if she has or hasn't taken a stand on something. But it's great to know that Barbara Boxer is against Proposition 98, even if she could have shown a little more leadership on the issue and reached out to tenants rights groups on this rather than waiting for them to reach out to her. I'll be voting for Boxer next time around.
If you're a California resident and you want to get your own answer, here's a list of her local offices.