Leadership to me is about tackling tough issues and stepping up for the people. I call it people-centric policies to protect the people, especially the most vulnerable. My track record speaks to that. For example, we stepped up to successfully push back against 8 rate increases by the San Jose Water Company that benefited a million residents of Silicon Valley, including many seniors who were hurting due to these rampant rate increases.
What happened in the pandemic? When the COVID-19 crisis hit our area in mid-March this year, I immediately suspended our campaign and repurposed our grassroots team to help our neighbors. For me, it was a very easy decision.
We launched the Neighborhood Pandemic Preparedness Team (NPPT), modeled after the Neighborhood Safety Watch program. We were able to empower new neighborhood leaders to help their own communities get through this pandemic.
Our first task was to reach out to the senior citizens of our district during shelter-in-place to make sure that all their needs were met — whether it was picking up prescriptions or delivering groceries, we had a neighborhood volunteer ready and excited to do it. We called 86,00 seniors of our district.
Here is a heartwarming story: Paula was delighted when she found the grocery bag sitting on her porch. “It was a wonderful service for our household of 70 somethings to get groceries delivered today by a volunteer! With our shopping list, she got what we needed and delivered it to the porch where I had set out the cash reimbursement. We are now set for many more days! I hope more people who are sheltering in place (our middle-aged children are insisting on it!) use the service. It's a way to make this big metropolitan area feel like a small, friendly neighborhood.” - Paula Rochelle
“Dear Rishi, Someone from your team called my (senior) mom to see if she needed anything. My husband and I are here available to help both my parents with groceries or whatever they might need. It was nice that someone reached out to check on them, as not everyone has that. It doesn't matter what our political party is....thank you (and your team) for all that you are doing to help others!” - Leslie Johnson Lopez
“I appreciate your support. My wife's name is Jan and I have known her since I was 12 years old. I want to thank you and your wife for the generous gift of the coffee (Coffee ground to cone— Arabian Mocha Java from Peets Coffee). It is one constant that my wife loves in the morning in a world that is changing too rapidly.“ - Errol Schbot
Heart warming stories indeed!
Together, hundreds of our volunteers helped thousands of neighbors. We helped our seniors stay quarantined.
In a crisis, we help. And we do our best.
This is what I did many years ago when our Saratoga Senior Center was financially strapped. We launched “Saratoga's got Talent” -- a fun community event creating a close synergy between the youth and the seniors of Saratoga, that raised tens of thousands of dollars between 2012 and 2015.
During my time on the Saratoga City Council, I voted in support of an age-friendly city designation for Saratoga and various senior center initiatives.
With your support for my run I will continue to improve healthcare nationally for our Senior Citizens, controlling costs and expanding coverage. I have pledged never to accept PAC or special interest group money. I will fight for our interests, not special interests. Read the difference between Anna and me here.
As your next Congressman, my plan to make quality healthcare accessible to all Senior Citizens includes the following:
Support for our seniors.
My plan for seniors includes expanding programs that will protect our seniors, increasing their quality of life and happiness index. I will fight to prevent ageism in the workforce and promote ruthless penalties for fraud committed against seniors.
Accessible to the people of the community.
I believe in listening to our constituents. We have been hosting at least three town hall meetings a month in our congressional district.
It’s time we had someone in Congress working for us.
If you are a senior or have a senior that you care about, please help us stand up for the rights of senior citizens everywhere.
