By Mary O’KEEFE

District 44 Assemblymember Nick Schultz was sworn in at a ceremony at Brand Library on Saturday, Feb. 1. 

The ceremony started with an acknowledgement that the land that all were on for the swearing in was originally occupied by the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the tribe of Gabrielino Band of San Gabriel Mission Indians. 

“We honor and pay respect to their leaders and descendants – past, present and emerging – as they continue their stewardship of our lands and waters,” said Diane Rana, district director for Assemblymember Schultz. “We have a responsibility and commitment to elevate the stories, culture and community of the original inhabitants of the 44th District of the California State Assembly and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these ancestral lands.”

The colors were presented by Homenetmen Burbank Sipan Chapter Scouts 222 and the “Star Spangled Banner” was performed by Neala Smith from Burbank High School. 

Newly elected Congresswoman Laura Friedman, who served as assemblymember for District 44 prior to Schulz, shared her praise of Schultz before conducting the swearing in. 

Friedman shared her opinion that Schultz is a hard worker and is always willing to listen to everyone regardless of the side of the aisle on which they stand. Schultz volunteered to not only be on the Public Safety Commission in Sacramento, but to lead the committee. This, according to Friedman, is not an easy commission to be part of. 

Schultz told the audience that although he has to often talk in front of others he is not comfortable with public speaking. Everyone who spoke about him said he would rather highlight others than take the stage himself. In that vein he introduced Sid Reynolds, a 12-year-old from Burbank who started a non-profit called Sid and Buddies. 

“In our community, I like to acknowledge people [who] are really stepping up and trying to do more than the average citizen,” he said. “And it came as no surprise that a middle schooler from the city of Burbank would stand up and launch a non-profit to help children and families [who] have been entirely displaced by wildfires.”

He said he could not imagine anything better way as his first act in the community than to acknowledge “one of our own” and a young person who is standing up and leading. 

“The past few weeks have been, no doubt, pretty tough for LA and there’s been an amazing amount of support from people and organizations from pretty much all over the world,” Reynolds said. 

He said it was difficult watching the fires and their aftermath play out in the news and he started thinking about those kids who would not have a birthday party, or gifts, due to the fire. So he decided to do something and created his organization – Sid and Buddies – to help kids celebrate their birthday. 

Schultz thanked everyone for attending the swearing in, including the first responders. He highlighted the district’s priorities. 

“We have a lot of work cut out for us ahead,” he said. Schultz added that during his campaign he and his team walked every corner of the district and listened to people. 

“We heard about the pain and the uncertainty that so many folks were facing with rising costs of housing, rents through the roof, home sale prices over $1.5 million that are pricing the middle class out of Los Angeles, uncertainty about the future of the California film and television production industry and uncertainty about climate change and how that’s impacting our community,” he said of the concerns voiced by residents. 

He spoke of the bills he has already introduced including one to extend Friedman’s Scenic and Wild Rivers Act and a bill to focus on rate relief regarding utilities. 

“And we’ve heard you loud and clear: the cost of living it too high and we’re going to do something about that,” he added.

Prior to his swearing in, Schultz had a round table discussion with community members at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Sadler Hall. The event was sponsored by the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce to introduce the new assemblymember to the community. 

During that meeting there was a lively discussion about several issues including developers’ plans for additional housing in areas where homeowners are already nervous about fire risks, losing insurance coverage and new home buyers being able to purchase insurance coverage.