Los Gatos resident and Capitola business owner Chuck Hammers was invited by Rep. Jimmy Panetta to the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7 to attend the State of the Union Address by President Joe Biden.
Hammers is the owner of Pizza My Heart in Capitola Village, which was damaged extensively due to the recent storms and tidal surge. During the recent tour of the small businesses in Capitola by Biden and Panetta, Hammers showed the leaders the full extent of the damage to his restaurant and discussed what it will take to recover and return to normal.
“I am extremely honored to be Rep. Panetta’s guest to the State of the Union address,” Hammers said. “Being born and raised in Salinas, I have found Jimmy Panetta to be amazingly responsive to his constituents.
“He personally reached out to me during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure our business and employees had the federal support we needed, and he was the first legislator to visit my restaurant in the storm damaged area in Capitola.
“I’m proud to be able to represent our communities and the victims of the recent floods, as we work to rebuild.”
“The damage sustained by Chuck’s businesses is an all-too-common story for small business owners in our communities following the recent storms, from Santa Cruz County to Monterey County and on down to northern San Luis Obispo County,” Panetta said. “When President Biden came to survey the damage, he promised us that the federal government would stay on the ground for as long as it takes to get our communities back on our feet and back to normal.
“Chuck’s presence at the State of the Union is a symbol not of the damage and difficult times experienced by so many during the recent deluge, but rather it signifies the commitment of the federal government to work together to serve the public and our community’s will to get our local small businesses back open so that they can continue serving their customers.”
