California Assemblymember Ash Kalra to run for a fifth term, lays out aims and goals

Ritu Jha–

Indian American Ash Kalra is running for the California Assembly for the fifth time. “I made the conscious choice of serving my community rather than chasing money or entering the corporate world because I wanted a fulfilling life,” Kalra told indica in a freewheeling chat.

The 52-year-old Kalra represents California’s 25th Assembly District, which encompasses the majority of San José, including downtown and open space areas in southeast Santa Clara County.

First elected in 2016, Kalra becoming the first Indian American to serve in the California Legislature. He was elected to a fourth term in 2022. This time, he says, “I’m going to run the way I’ve always run, which is honestly and with the interests of my constituents. I represent Silicon Valley and many of the working-class neighborhoods of this area. We cannot be let people be left behind while Silicon Valley thrives.” This is Kalra’s 16th year as an elected official, but 27th in public service. I was a public defender for eleven years before being elected,” Kalra says.

Back in India, the Kalras were very much working-class. “My father went to public schools,” Kalra says, “and worked hard, and studied. Our family lost everything during the India-Pakistan Partition and ended up in Lucknow as a working-class unit. I think that helped me focus on the struggles of people. There is massive wealth inequality in California. A lot of Indian Americans have done well, but we have an obligation to see how we can lift others.”

KALRA ON THE CRIME RATE IN CALIFORNIA
“Crime is dramatically down over the last 20 years. Just because everyone has cell phones now and information gets relayed quickly that whenever there’s any kind of incident, it feels like we’re surrounded by crime. But the reality is that this is simply not true if you look at it over the last 20 years. In recent years, there has been an uptick in property crimes, especially car break-ins.”

“We’ve seen a reduction in murder rates and violent crimes, California is a safe place, compared with other Republican states. We have to pay attention to retail theft and property crime, but we do that by using strategies that work. Part of that is supporting small businesses. There needs to be partnerships with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that small business districts are taken care of in the same way that big malls are taken care of. Retail crime is prevalent, but it’s not more egregious than in other states. It’s a problem that we’re all dealing with.” 

“I think that there’s a reason why immigrant business owners are not feeling heard because they’re not getting the response from law enforcement that they deserve.”

KALRA ON SMALL BUSINESSES
“A lot of big businesses took advantage of the PPP loans and it was difficult for small businesses to be able to get the attention of government. We reached out to small businesses, to let them know that they do have relief. The problem usually exists on a much larger scale. The problem that small businesses face has much more to do with how easily we’ve allowed online retailers to come in and be able to grow and expand and how we allow companies like Uber and Lyft to come in and destroy our taxi industry. I fought against those companies and I fought on the side of small businesses. But the reality is, as consumers are making their choice, and so consumers are going to the local stores less than they’re going online.”

“We’re trying to protect small businesses, not harm them. But these big businesses take advantage of small businesses by riling them up whenever we’re trying to introduce a reasonable regulation. We have to recognize that there are very sophisticated lobbying efforts that try
to pit my community against me. If people come and talk to me, I’ll be clear as to why I’m doing what I do. And it’s always look out for the interest of the greater community.”

“California is about to become the fourth largest economy in the world for a reason. It’s not because we’re bad for business, but we also have to have a balance there. We see more people struggling to survive, over half of Americans can’t afford rent. Who are we as people if we only care about our personal wealth? And that’s not the way I was raised as an Indian. We’re supposed to care about people and the greater community. I expect better from our community to remember where we came from. To think about those in poverty, to think about trying to uplift everyone in our community.”

KALRA ON CALIFORNIA’S BIGGEST ISSUES
“Peaking costs of housing, homelessness, and retail crimes.”

On housing: Housing affordability and homelessness are major issues that continue to perplex us. I think we’re making some positive strides to address these problems. I don’t believe homelessness has gone up because there are more drug addicts. Is it one of the reasons? Certainly, and that’s the one that gets on the news the most. But the reality is that, and studies have shown this, there are more homeless because it’s too expensive to live here. Housing costs have gone up far too much in comparison to wages. I’ve met hundreds of people who work a full-time job and are homeless. We have a collective responsibility to make our state liveable for everyone. It doesn’t mean everyone has to be rich or have a mansion, but let’s at least have a common moral dignity or some common moral compass so that everyone can live in dignity. There’s no reason why, with the amount of money that’s flowing through our state, everyone can’t have a roof over their head and have a quality of life that we can all be proud of.”

On retail crime: “We will continue to work on retail theft and crime. We’re going to work on actual solutions, not just fear-based tactics. We have to focus on facts over fear only then can we protect families and small businesses and make sure that we’re not wasting taxpayer dollars on solutions that don’t work.”

SB 553 (Workplace Violence Prevention Act) was simply about workplace safety and Governor Newsom signed it after all the major business groups removed all their opposition because we ensured that combating retail theft would not be impacted by the bill. And, I voted for it, just like most people in the legislature did.”

“Studies have clearly shown that the number one reason why we have a large homeless population is because housing costs are too high. It’s simple math. And housing costs have far outgrown wages, especially over the last decade. And that’s why we have a large homeless population. There’s no doubt that there are those who are homeless and have mental health issues or are addicted to drugs. But the reality is that we will be able to handle that portion of the population that is homeless if we are able to bring down housing costs. We need to invest billions more in affordable housing, and we need to build more housing as well. Everybody needs to build housing, not just the big cities, but in places like Sunnyvale. They have to build housing. Everyone has to be part of the solution. We all have to work together to ensure that we’re creating housing for everyone so that people can live with shelter and dignity. We have to make decisions. Budgetary decisions are ultimately moral decisions. We have to ensure that as we’re deciding how we’re going to place our resources, even in a budget deficit, we have to make sure that we’re not allowing folks to slip through the cracks and become homeless.”

On the Mental Health Act: “That’s going to bring billions of dollars for us to actually help those who are going through mental health crisis and are homeless. It’s going to help us get people off the streets and get help, rather than this continual cycle where they get arrested or they get taken to the hospital or the fire department which cost us a fortune. And, it’s not a morally correct thing to do. So, we’re looking to bring billions of dollars to help get people off the street permanently.”

“There are 1000 things that we can work on as a community. When we let any issue divide us, we weaken our ability to get things done as a community. So many other communities have different issues that sometimes divide them, but they don’t let that damage the relationship forever. I’ve been doing public service for 27 years and I’m not doing this for a pat on the back or congratulations. I do it as my life’s mission, and so I do the best I can. A large section of the people in my district are living paycheck to paycheck. That’s one of the things that keeps me up at night. I keep thinking about what I can do to uplift families that are struggling in my community.”

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