SUSANVILLE, California (STPNS) -- California State Senator Dave Cox and his staff visited Susanville on Wednesday, Jan. 24, making stops at the Susanville Rotary and the Lassen County Times.

Cox, who represents District 1, acknowledged his district covers a large geographic area that extends from the Oregon border along the eastern edge of the Sierras all the way to Sacramento.

?I represent 12 counties,? Cox said. ?We have the same 850,000 plus constituents as every other senator. There are 40 in the state and we all represent the same number of constituents, give or take a few.?



Despite its large geographic area, Cox is proud of his district and the diverse group of people he represents.

?It?s not called District 1 for nothing,? Cox said. ?It?s the number one district in terms of quality of people and opportunity, no question about that.?

Despite the diversity, the state senator said every constituent is important to him.

?There isn?t any question that some of our constituents would just as soon be residents of the state of Nevada or Oregon or Arizona,? Cox said, ?but we?re doing our best to address the needs of the people in our district. We felt very strongly about the need to have a representative in the area, so Dave Keller is our district representative. He resides in Plumas County and takes care of four counties for us.

?Look at Northern California. What do you have to do to get 850,000 people? I knew the size of the district when I ran. We have a commitment to our communities of interest. We will always be available. We will, in fact, have local representation.?

Cox said when local government officials or constituents call his office he and staff try to help.

For example, on a local note, Cox said he talked to two members of the board of supervisors regarding the county ?being the banker? for the criminal prosecutions of inmates at the county?s two prisons. He said the district attorney?s office prosecutes the prison cases and is later reimbursed by the state. Sometimes it takes a long time for the state to reimburse the county for the cost of the prosecution.

?We?re going to try and address that,? Cox said. ?Their concern is they?re waiting a protracted period of time, and they believe they ought to be paid on a timely basis. It isn?t right for the state of California to use local governments as the bank.?

It?s easy to contact Cox and his staff. Keller can be reached at 283-3437 in Quincy, and Cox?s Sacramento number is (916) 651-4001. The state senator and his representative can also contacted on the Internet at dave.keller@sen.ca.gov or at sen.ca.gov/cox.