By Clyde Noel

It wasn’t a bolt from the blue, but Toni Casey told the Los Altos Rotary Club last Wednesday she will run for Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat in the next election.

“Last Friday I resigned my Director of Intergovernmental Affairs position in the U.S. Small Business Administration,” Casey said. “It will give me more time to get organized for the run.”

In her position at the SBA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., she helped develop outreach and communication efforts to strengthen ties with federal, state and local governments.

She served as the principal adviser on matters relating to intergovernmental efforts designed to support small business and coordinate interagency task forces.

“Over the last 18 months, I have traveled more than 100,000 miles and given more than 30 addresses for the SBA,” Casey said. “Serving for this president (Bush) has been an honor.”

Casey’s speech to the Rotary concerned the president’s economic stimulus package and its impact on small business. She predicted that, over the long run, President Bush’s plan would reduce the federal deficit, not worsen it, yield more money for states and spread the savings to more people. Bush’s plan “will generate new growth,” expand the tax base and increase tax revenue to the federal government. Regarding the dividend clause, Casey said that won’t pass the Democratic side.

“My job was with U.S. mayors, to tell them what the SBA does for them. It tries to create capital and more business for them,” Casey said. “I also worked with the peers of other agencies. Pulling together SBA resources is not easy to do because working with other agencies takes a team.”

Casey emphasized it takes time to put together a good SBA team, so we need a two-term president to get things done.

Casey said she worked closely with agencies from the local level to the county and state levels in the biotech field.

“I have one thought to leave you with: Less is better,” she said. “You want less government, and you want to start it at the local level.”

The question and answer session after her speech produced interesting action. Rotary member John Sines asked Casey whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was responsive for its broad action on Western energy markets. Not having an immediate answer, Casey went to another question from the audience.

Rotarian Brenda Niedert works for an insurance company that works with health care options. When her question was not answered properly, and Casey admitted her federal medical coverage would expire in three months, Niedert offered her a card that could provide health care.