State Senator Holds Town Hall Meeting in Cupertino

California State Senator Joe Simitian held his sixth town hall meeting this month Wednesday night at Cupertino Community Hall. 

Scores of residents, parents and students filled the hall to see the senator speak and answer questions at the meeting, which was broadcast live on the Cupertino community television channel.

Simitian answered every question in the room. Many of the questions focused on California's budget crisis, cuts to education, immigration and energy.

At one point a man in the audience asked Simitian what he thought about term limits for elected officials.

Simitian answered the question by asking all of the high school seniors in the room to stand up. He asked them to sit down only if they believed they knew more about high school as seniors then they did as freshmen. Every student sat down.

The demonstration got a loud laugh from the crowd and illustrated Simitian's stance on the issue. "I think term limits is a mixed bag," he said. "I think there are some pluses and there are some minuses,"

Simitian said that elected official should have the opportunity to serve five two-year terms, an additional two years than the current eight year term limit.  

Simitian serves California's District 11, which includes 13 cities including Cupertino and parts of San Jose. He will reach the end of his eight year term next year. 

Watch an interview with Senator Simitian and Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong at last night's town hall meeting.