Valley Solutions: Labor Day Edition

Adam Gray: Getting the job done

For too many politicians, “Labor Day” is about attending a picnic, biting into a hot dog and shaking a lot of hands. For others, the reasons we celebrate Labor Day are to be devoutly ignored.

A few elected leaders, however, know that Labor Day is about honoring those who work for a living. About putting in the effort. About standing with Labor. About doing their jobs.

Adam Gray often talks about “doing the work.” That’s partly because the last Congress – the one John Duarte was part of – got so little work done. Mainly, though, Adam talks about “doing the work” because that’s what he does.

Elected leaders are expected to do big things. Like finding ways to help build a medical school. Bringing commuter trains into the Valley. Making sure clinics in small towns can remain open past 5 o’clock. Protecting our water for growing food and creating food security. Funding technical education in places like Modesto’s Volt Academy and creating projects that protect people living in communities like Grayson, Lathrop and Patterson from floods.

Adam Gray accomplished this work while serving a decade in the California Assembly. There was more.

Firefighters remain grateful to Adam for providing them with top-flight radios. Why? Because the No.1 cause of death and injury for firefighters is communication failure. Carpenters support Adam because he secured the funding for projects like the Campus Parkway near UC Merced, the Dos Palos water-treatment plant, fire stations and medical buildings – all jobs that use union labor.

This year’s election is about making sure their work, their families and their lives are protected.

As one union member put it, “Now is the time.”  

Adam Gray can talk about politics. He can talk about party and partisanship. But he’d rather talk about doing the work.

That’s why, on Labor Day, several of his union friends talked about Adam.