SALINAS, Calif. -- The elections are over and the results are in. All Central Coast votes were officially certified on Tuesday. Now that the results are in, Central Coast News is holding the winners accountable, starting with the Senate seat for District 17.
Bill Monning moved from the Assembly to the Senate to represent a large portion of the Central Coast in the newly-drawn district.
The final number shows Monning won with 208,000; that's about 61 percent.
His candidate statement to Central Coast News focused on four areas: the economy, environment, education and health promotions.
One of the first things he said he's doing is to implement the national Affordable Care Act at a state level, so more people on the Central Coast can have access to healthcare.
He said he plans to be heavily involved by sitting on a Senate health committee.
"So we're going to see an expansion of people in the Central Coast region who for many for the first time will have access to health care for themselves and their families," Senator Monning said.
He said another top priority will be to implement legislation for Proposition 39 expected to help disadvantaged communities to develop alternative energy resources.
Next on the big to-do list is directing revenues from the passing of Prop 30 back to students.
"I would certainly be supportive of directing some allocation of future revenues to restoring funding to education," he said.
He's also focused on getting federal support to construct the Fort Ord cemetery project for veterans.
And as far as the environment, he wants to extend the coastal trail through the Big Sur area from the Oregon border to Mexico.
Central Coast News will not only check back with Senator Monning on how he's doing on accomplishing his goals, but also checking in with all of the candidates who chose to provide candidate statements with their priorities.
