A fast chat with Bill Monning, and a message to Forbes.

Two weeks ago, Jimmy Panetta demonstrated his ambitions and announced what was the worst-kept secret in the world. He wants to take over U.S. Rep. Sam Farr’s congressional seat and, with the announcement of Farr’s retirement, he is going to make the long and expensive run to office in D.C.

On Dec. 1, Bill Monning demonstrated his ambitions and announced a wowser. Monning, our Democratic state senator from Carmel, had long wanted to take over Farr’s congressional seat – also no secret. And he is the most qualified and experienced state politician to do so. Instead, he decided to direct that ambition elsewhere and take another run for the state senate seat he currently holds.

Maybe because it would be impossible to take on an opponent with a million-dollar name, and the millions-of-dollars in fundraising ability Leon Panetta will bring to bear. Monning, for as soft-spoken and gentlemanly as he often appears, has a good amount of street fighter in him. Was he actually backing down from this fight?

Instead, he had a realization while on an extended trip to Argentina. He was there when Sam “I’m going to run again” Farr announced he definitely was not going to run again. Monning believes he could go to Washington as the newest congressman of the minority party and get nothing done. Or he could stay in Sacramento and continue to push through effective, life-altering legislation.

In seven years in Sacramento, he’s pushed through 85 bills signed into law by Republican and Democratic governors alike. He’s majority leader in a state that is a world leader on climate change. And his most recent piece of legislation, the End-of-Life Option Act, will have a fundamental impact on the terminally ill and their families who are seeking physician-assisted deaths.

The day after he talked to me, in fact, Monning was scheduled to be on a conference call with legislators from around the country interested in bringing some version of an End-of-Life Option Act to their own states.

“On balance, I had to figure out what’s better for the district. Some say this is selfless but I say it’s selfish because I like to make legislation,” Monning says. “In Sacramento, there’s no stopping us. We can move heaven and earth here if we just use our imagination.”

Speaking of using their imaginations, here’s a message to Forbes: We get it, OK? We get that you think Salinas sucks. We get that the city has, for the past few years, ended up at the top of your endless listcicles of the worst places to live, the worst places to do business, the worst of the worst. We know we are the reason Monterey County has the highest youth homicide rate in the state. We remember that time we almost closed our libraries. We know we have a homeless problem that rivals that of any major American city. We know our school boards are rife with lunatic behavior. We know all of this, because we live here.

But thank you for reminding us, which you did again this week with your latest list, 2015’s “Best and Worst Places to Do Business in the U.S.” You ranked us No. 193. You noted Salinas has the highest living costs of any city ranked in the bottom 25 of your list, along with a high percentage (25 percent) of residents lacking a high school degree.

Yet strangely, you came here, Forbes, just this past July, to throw your name behind an ag-tech confab as part of your “Reinventing America” summit, described as a “deep dive into American innovation and ingenuity of the past, present and future.” And the city fathers (and mothers), in their infinite lack of wisdom, threw the weight of their power (and a whole lot of taxpayer money) behind you. There was a big tent set up in the middle of Main Street, and a fancy rental toilet so attendees could tinkle in comfort. And in the end, what did we get for our efforts? A bill for $132,897 (including $4,000 for the toilet) and not much else. I am not aware of any businesses that have opened in Salinas as a result of the conference.

So, Forbes, we are on to you. The next time you want to have a conference, go somewhere else. The only one benefitting from your conferences is you.

MARY DUAN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at mary@mcweekly.com or follow her at twitter.com/maryrduan.