Introducing Kevin McCarty. Not the Sacramento mayoral candidate — the one in El Dorado County

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

INTRODUCING KEVIN MCCARTY (THE OTHER ONE)

If you’ve done a double-take driving up Highway 50 recently, wondering why Kevin McCarty has campaign signs both in Sacramento and El Dorado counties, don’t worry — it’s not a Vince Fong situation.

The assemblyman and Sacramento mayoral candidate is only running for one seat, but a political newcomer, also named Kevin McCarty, is running for a seat on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.

The young McCarty, 34, moved to Placerville in 2018 with his wife. They recently bought land in Somerset, south of the highway, where they’re building a home and a farm for their organic food-consuming family of four. His wife, he says, is “as crunchy as crunchy can be.”

McCarty decided to run for District 2 — which encompasses Cameron Park, Somerset, and Grizzly Flats — while going through the building process.

“I’ve had a hell of a process getting anything done,” McCarty said. He’s not so delusional that he thought it would be entirely seamless; he works as the Director of Licensing and Compliance for Capitol Compliance Management, a Sacramento-based firm, and his clients include many in the cannabis industry. He is no stranger to government compliance and regulations.

But he said some on the Board of Supervisors, including District 2 Supervisor George Turnboo, are simply not effective leaders — an observation McCarty made when he started attending and watching county board meetings. The consequences of that ineffective leadership, he says, are poor processes and bad decisions for constituents.

The current board is “behind the times,” McCarty said, and he wants to bring “some fresher eyes and some fresher leadership” to the county.

It’s a nonpartisan seat, and McCarty is registered as a No Party Preference voter. It’s what he loves about local politics::To get things done, community members can set aside national issues and put their heads together to address the problem at hand, regardless of party affiliation.

It’s also what he loves about the other Kevin McCarty, who he calls a “moderate, common sense” candidate, and whose views on housing affordability and homelessness crises he respects.

The two actually met last year and a fundraising event, and get along swimmingly.

“There’s been a lot of confusion,” the first-time candidate told The Bee, about running at the same time as well-known legislator with the same name.

“But hopefully 2024 is a good year for Kevin McCartys.”

LGBTQ ADVOCATES PUBLISH ‘PROJECT RAINBOW’ REPORT, POLICY RECS FOR LAWMAKERS

A coalition of health care professionals and LGBTQ+ advocates, under the name Project RAINBOW, have published a dozen policy recommendations for the California legislature, pertaining specifically to transgender, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGI) people..

The Project RAINBOW coalition includes Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, Equality California, the California Academy of Family Physicians, and other similar organizations.

They recommend the legislature work to ensure comprehensive access to information for TGI people, support research and data on the provision of gender affirming care in the state, and enshrine the right to gender affirming care free from discrimination, among other suggestions relating to health care access for TGI people and a discrimination-free experience on college campuses and in medical environments.

“Many states have passed legislation that limits or outright bans access to (gender affirming care),” the report reads. “State law should reflect California’s values — that people are free to live their true lives with autonomy and dignity — and hold lawmakers accountable to those principles.”

The report comes amid a sweep of conservative states seeking to ban gender affirming care for trans people, specifically children, regardless of whether their parents support their medical transition or not.

“Upholding the principles of dignity, respect, and accessibility, we affirm that access to safe and affirming healthcare environments is imperative for all, especially our transgender, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGI) communities,” the California Academy of Family Physicians said in a statement.

Most Republicans in the legislature oppose gender affirming care for trans minors. Working with “parents’ rights” activists, it has become a hot button issue for some conservative lawmakers.

But California at large has some of the most progressive laws in the country when it comes to LGBTQ rights, and Democratic legislators work closely with some of the organizations ho published the report, like Planned Parenthood and Equality California.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Twenty years ago today we began marrying same sex couples in San Francisco. During that time, I walked out of my office and a little girl came up and said, ‘Thank you for giving me two mommies.’ I’ll never forget that moment.”

- Gov. Gavin Newsom via X, formerly known as Twitter.

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• To lower energy costs, California wants to tie bills to income. That plan is making enemies, via Ari Plachta

• Return to office: State workers say looming mandate would cost more than money, via Maya Miller.