Your reporting was brilliant. The page (Oct. 25) leads with an article on the recently passed opioid bill authored by Rep. Steve Knight and goes on to cover the Aliso Canyon campaign event by the Democrats, apparently for the purpose of criticizing Knight and Assemblyman Dante Acosta on their response to Aliso Canyon. However, as the article makes clear, Knight introduced bipartisan legislation that was adopted in 2016 concerning the leak.
Candidate Smith had her moment in criticizing Acosta for taking money from SoCal Gas and Sempra Energy, when it turns out he has not done so. Finally, Sen. Henry Stern was criticizing Knight for not doing something for the Porter Ranch residents, when Knight had successfully passed legislation on the issue, while Acosta was a co-author with Stern of Senate Bill 57, which the Democrats in the state Legislature refused to consider.
This is almost surreal: The Democrats criticize Knight when he is the only one who has been successful in getting legislation passed on the issue, and Acosta who co-authored an unsuccessful bill by Stern, in connection with a state problem, which the Democratically controlled state Legislature refused to consider.
Aliso Canyon is controlled by the state utility commission, which has undertaken to allow and to regulate its reopening.
Clearly, the attendees at this campaign event, which was designed to take advantage of the angst of the Porter Ranch residents, need to look to the Democratic-controlled California Legislature and the California Public Utilities Commission, who control Aliso Canyon, on whom any blame lies, not at Republicans who have supported the effort to address the residents’ concerns.
Stephen Maseda
Valencia