Joseph’s grandparents immigrated to California from Mexico to labor in tomato fields and canneries in the 1960s. Through hard work and determination, they climbed into the middle class to build opportunities for their family. Joseph’s mother struggled with addiction, so he spent most of his childhood living with his father, who raised a family of five in Riverside on a truck driver’s salary. But when Joseph came out as gay at 17, he had to move out. Though his early years were marked by hardship, trauma, and housing insecurity, Joseph excelled in school, participated in the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Conference, and worked part-time as a dishwasher.
We are all impacted by a changing climate, from the wildfires that continue to happen with increasing frequency to issues surrounding Southern California’s access to water. We owe taking climate action to our firefighters who are faced with endless deployment cycles to brutal fires, to our seniors who face increasingly deadly summer heatwaves, and to the future of our children. We can protect our environment and grow sustainably. In the State Senate, I will push to find commonsense solutions that will tackle climate change while delivering high-paying and sustainable jobs to our community