The VOMB Squad: Episode 10

| PODCAST

Check out the rest of the podcast series here.

Sen. William Monning hustled his final day in legislative session Aug. 31 by getting the California Senate to pass legislation he wrote that protects H2A guest workers during the COVID-19 crisis. It was a fitting end to his 12-year run in the statehouse because Monning cut his teeth in public service more than 40 years ago as a volunteer for the United Farm Workers union.

Monning’s term expires at the end of November. Monning told The VOMB Squad host Joe Livernois that, after cooling his jets for a bit at home in Carmel, he is open to any new challenge, though his future is somewhat dependent on what happens in the November election.

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The senator is The VOMB Squad guest this week. During our interview, he reflects on his career in public service, starting with his time with the UFW to his work in Peru and Chile to the time he spent as director of the Salvadoran Medical Relief Fund. He talks about his first foray into elected politics, a daring run for U.S. Congress that fell a few votes short. He talks about his legislative legacy and the disappointments along the way.

By the way, Monning kicks off the podcast talking about the Zoom background photo Livernois was using during the interview. The photo had been used at a Smithsonian Institute exhibition about César Chavez. And since listeners obviously can’t see the photograph, we’re dropping an image of the exhibit here. (That’s Livernois, with the big mustache in the lower left of the photo.)