Rep. Jared Huffman fielded written questions on a slew of local, state and federal issues—including ranching, water, Social Security, the Coast Guard housing complex, bipartisanship and more at a “Coffee with your Congressman” event at Osteria Stellina last Friday. (The coffee was $2.) The first question was—no surprise—about the lawsuit against the park service. “I suspect in this room there are people who were on different sides of the oyster lease issue,” he answered, but went on to emphasize that former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar “made a promise” to ranchers to get them 20-year leases, a response that earned him a round of applause. Multiple people wanted to know how he deals with G.O.P. obstructionism. For the most part, he said, bipartisanship comes only on small issues; he said he can barely get a hearing on his bills “unless I hand it to a Republican and let them put their name on it first. Not even kidding.” What about speeding up the Coast Guard housing project? He didn’t say whether a fast track was possible, but instead noted, “Over the course of the next few months, we should see an agreement upon price, and we will close the deal and then all the creative financing that is always necessary for affordable housing projects will unfold. I suspect we’re a couple years away from ribbon cutting.” Rep. Huffman, it seemed, keeps busy and informed, speaking to specifics about elk herds and stressing the importance of scientific independence regarding biological opinions about the Bay Delta. “He really knows his stuff,” said Inverness resident Emmanuel Serriere. If you are wondering how he relaxes, though, it’s certainly not with weed. He said he believes that criminalization “has been a failure” and led to violence, water and pesticide issues in Northern California. But he added that he is “not an enthusiast for marijuana… I would not choose to use it myself as an adult.”