Shannon Grove is running for Jean Fuller's old job; competing with Ken Mettler for the 32nd state assembly district.  She is a long-time small business owner that appears to have it out for California's unwieldy worker's comp costs; among other things.

Grove is CEO of Continental Labor & Staffing Resources in Bakersfield and this is her first run for any government office.  She is ready to recite worker's comp regulations, rates and the problems with them faster than Obama can blame Bush with a teleprompter to help him.  She says over regulation and taxes are killing California businesses and is eager to try to cut it.  She also wants to require drug testing for welfare recipients.

Grove says her faith is her central guiding principle, she is staunchly pro-life and unabashedly supports proposition 8; saying with conviction that marriage, by definition, is between a man and woman.  She said the Tea Party is a great movement because government has just gotten too big; enacting sweeping legislation without thinking things through.

As an example she criticized environmental efforts that did more to hurt than help.  Grove described a fence constructed along a Mojave roadway intended to keep desert tortoises safely off the pavement.  In the end it kept the turtles from their water supply; killing many more than autos would have.  Grove was criticized the environmental move to cut water to the San Joaquin Valley to save the allegedly endangered delta smelt as nonsensical.

Grove touched on the proposed Tejon Mountain Village development which she supports.  She described a map of the land owned by Tejon drawing a Rhode Island sized circle on the table in front of her then said "then you see this tiny little bit set aside for development".  "If people want to protest development of this relatively small bit of Tejon land, they need to get over themselves."

After meeting in the Cantina, Grove left to meet with others in the mountain communities and ready herself for her meeting with our local Rotary Club.