By Don Pelton

As luck would have it — and entirely by accident — we shared a table with Jim Reed and his wife Carol at breakfast this morning at the Nevada County Democratic Women’s Club meeting at the Trolley Junction restaurant in Nevada City. Jim was there to address the meeting, as part of his campaign to represent the newly re-mapped 1st Congressional District.

First impressions are often quite telling, and our first impression of Jim and Carol was of two proud parents of a grown daughter whose fiancé had recently proposed to her in Paris! They were so excited, as if nothing was more important to them today than this beautiful family matter. These are two people after our own hearts, whose priorities are much like our own. We shared some stories of our grown children, before getting down to matters of state.

Jim is an attorney and tax expert who has been called to public service for a complex set of reasons, not the least of which apparently is a real sense of joy at being in the vital mix of things. His ready laugh and quick wit are a refreshing change from the McClinctock style of mean-spirited discourse that we have suffered through in the last few years.

He spoke for over half an hour on a number matters, including the plight of the middle class, the need to “tweak” Social Security, financial sector reform (including a stock transaction tax), his poltical strategy in the 1st district, etc.

He wants to be in Washington to participate in the reform that must take place in order to return our system to fairness. He feels that he has the exact skills needed for that reform, and — after listening to him — we believe he does too.

Check out Jim’s campaign website here: “Jim Reed for Congress“.

Click on the following radio icon to listen to Jim’s interview with Paul Emery on the KVMR Evening News last Wednesday (February 1st):

The following is the video I captured of his speech this morning: