Susan Talamantes Eggman: Meeting Every Challenge with Vision

If there’s one word you can use to describe Susan Talamantes Eggman, it would probably be some version of “helpful.” But even that would be an understatement, once you realize the breadth of work she’s done not only as a senator but as a State Assembly member, a Stockton City Council member, a professor and a social worker. And did we mention she also served in the U.S. Army?

“I think I knew from a very young age that I had an inclination to help people,” said Susan, who has represented Senate District 5 since 2020. “So, I knew for a long time that I wanted to be in some kind of service.”

The list of Susan’s accomplishments while in office is long and varied, but at the crux of them is a desire to improve people’s lives. A notable one that might have benefitted you is her securing of funds to reopen two public pools in Stockton, a move that was done to increase access to recreational activities but also to encourage safe swimming environments. And among the number of bills she’s introduced to the state Senate is the Right to Repair Act, which allows consumers to fix their own phones or take them to small fix-it companies to do it for them.

But before she was elected to serve her community, she was serving the country. Upon graduation from Turlock High School in 1979, she enlisted in the Army, serving four years and achieving the rank of Specialist 4. She completed basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, but ended up as a medic at the Fort Meade Army hospital in Maryland. But while it was an educational time for her, being in the military wasn’t her end goal.

“We’d moved from the Bay Area to Turlock when I was going into junior high, and that’s a hard time to move as a kid,” she recalled. “I don’t think I ever quite got my feet on the pedals during high school.” She grew up in a working-class family, and it was never a question that she’d go to college, although she was the first generation in her family to do so. But when she graduated, her grades weren’t at the point she needed them to be to pursue her goal of getting a PhD in psychology. “I have a strong tradition of military service in my family, so I thought the best way to get myself on a path to be able to be of help was to join the Army.”

But first, she had some learning to do. “I’m smart enough, but my mouth got me into quite a bit of trouble. I was doing a lot of low crawls and pushups. So, I realized that was not my path to success. I learned something called an internal locus of control; whatever happens to you externally, you don’t have to react. And if you do react, you’re not giving all your power. And waiting until a more appropriate time to make your point. The ability to keep your powder dry, as we say in the military.”

New life skills in hand, she left the military and attended California State University Stanislaus, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a masters in social work. She went on to obtain a PhD in social work from Portland University and stayed on in the academic world as a social work professor at California State University Sacramento. In 2006, she made her first foray into politics when she was elected to the Stockton City Council. It was during her term there that she focused her attention on a large, much-needed project: the construction of a Veterans Affairs clinic in Stockton. “It was maybe 2008 when it started as a dream,” she noted. The timeline from dream to reality was a long one and included a great deal of advocacy such as letter writing, calls, going to Washington, D.C. “It’s been a real community effort to get it done, and I’m just glad I could play a small part of it.”

Advocating for Stockton in particular to get a VA clinic was important to her. “My dad was a veteran of the Korean War era,” she shared. “And so, I knew that if you wanted to go to the VA, it was going to be a full day’s ride, maybe two days, if you had to stay overnight. And for a lot of people, that’s tough.” What makes the situation tougher, she added, is that veterans are largely a working-class population, people who may not have the time or resources to travel all the way to Palo Alto or Livermore to receive necessary care.

For a while, Stockton had a satellite VA clinic, but the need for something larger, not just for Stockton’s veterans, but for veterans from surrounding counties such as Stanislaus, Calaveras and Tuolumne, was clear. In April 2024, the Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic finally opened, with the capacity to offer basic services, mental health treatment, some procedures and skilled nursing. The French Camp-situated facility is located near both the San Joaquin General Hospital and the newly opened Victory Gardens, a permanent supportive housing development for unhoused veterans.

Resources Meeting Challenges
Among Susan’s other top priorities is ensuring access to education. She authored the legislation establishing the National Guard’s Discovery ChalleNGe Academy, an institution made in partnership with the San Joaquin County Office of Education. Located in Lathrop, it serves youth between the ages of 16 and 18 who have dropped out of high school, are at-risk of dropping out or are credit deficient. The free 22-week residential program emphasizes self-discipline, personal responsibility and positive motivation, offering classwork and workshops. It’s followed by a 52-week post-residential program that offers access to mentors who provide guidance and support. “It’s education based, but it also has a military component to it. But there’s no requirement to enlist,” she clarified. “The ChalleNGe Academy is one of the most evidence-based things to help turn kids’ lives around. And we’re an area that has its share of challenges. So, it’s only that fair that we have our share of resources.”

Beyond education, physical fitness and three meals a day, the Discovery ChalleNGe Academy also provides structure. “This is stuff that a lot of kids have never had in their life. And it all provides them the ability to have the opportunity to turn their life around and take the next step toward success. As a social worker, I understand that in order to have people be able to reach their full potential, you have to provide the environment,” she said. “Kids need to know that they’re cared for.”

The other big educational project she’s had a hand in helping along is securing funding for CSU Stanislaus’s Stockton campus and encouraging its growth. “You know, we get hit for having high rates of illiteracy in Stockton, but we don’t have our own public university here,” she noted. “So, I talked with everyone I could, asking how we could make this bigger.” After years of studies and plenty of advocacy, dedicated funding was secured for a new building for the campus, slated to open in fall 2025. Susan hopes that the school can adopt a health care focus to address a significant need for health care workers in the region. She also hopes that as the campus grows, it’ll see an uptick in enrollment, ultimately expanding enough to become its own standalone CSU.

As she prepares for the end of her time in the Senate, she reflects on how her role in the military has helped shape her career, particularly as someone in a position of power who is able to enact change on a large scale. “I’m really encouraged at the new interest in women veterans,” she said. “I know that at Karl Ross Post, there are activities like paint and sips, and I know there are hikes for women veterans.” But she says that the lack of housing for veterans still needs to be addressed, as well as helping provide veterans with access to mental health care. “I just think this area we live in is a great place to really be outside and get fresh air,” she said, noting that one of her favorite things to do in Stockton is a simple neighborhood walk. “Those are things we don’t think about but that really contribute to our mental health.”
She also notes how the act of connecting with fellow veterans is important. “When I first got into the legislature, there weren’t many of us veterans,” she recalled. “I really developed a bond with the ones who were there, and it’s been great handing things off to them on my way out.”

With her plans to shift back to social work, Susan’s chances to help others remain as abundant as ever. “I plan to go back to Sacramento State and probably do some consulting around mental health. And agriculture is a huge issue in our area; we need to make sure our farmers can do what they need to keep food flowing.” Her next words are exactly what you’d expect to hear from her: “I’d like to find a way to help with that.”