Free Classifieds
Letters
News
Editorials
Human Interest
Environment
Government
Education
Crime
Farm and Garden
Food & Dining
Wine
Events
Hospitality
Health
Art
Music
Real Estate
Business
Legal
Sports
Parks
Pets

About/Contact Us

----

Boonville
Elk
Fort Bragg
Gualala
Laytonville
Leggett
Mendocino
Navarro
Piercy
Point Arena
Ukiah
Willits

Mendocino District 5 Supervisors Agree, Evade

The Point Arena Public Library was host to a forum for the 5th District Supervisor candidates on Saturday, April 17, 2010. The League of Women Voters sponsored the forum. Candidates present were Wendy Roberts, Jim Mastin, Norman de Vall, and Dan Hamburg; officially Supervisor races are non-partisan. Wendy Roberts is a recent arrival in the county who has already served on the county Grand Jury. Jim Mastin is a former mayor of Ukiah. Norman DeVall was 5th District Supervisor in the 1980s. Dan Hamburg was formerly a Supervisor for a different district and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Wendy Roberts with moderator	Norman de Vall	Dan Hamburg and Jim Mastin

All the candidates presented themselves as environmentalists who want, nevertheless, to develop a healthier economy in Mendocino County. Wendy stood out as the most pro-development candidate. She wants to allow historic houses that are now hotels to be able to do non-historic upgrades to better accomodate tourists. She was adamant that absentee landowners be allowed to build or legalize already built rental units on their properties, despite the lack of available water for such a population expansion. She admitted to me, after the forum, that there are plenty of unoccupied residential and business buildings in the coastal area already.

Jim Mastin was the blandist candidate; nothing he said stuck out. Backed by a well-financed political machine in this non-partisan race, he left the distinct impression that he expected to inherit the office, not earn it. Like the other candidates he mostly evaded where he might make specific cuts to balance the budget, saying the Supervisors would have to look to cut programs that do not serve the public. You would think he would know exactly what those programs are, by now.

Norman de Vall was his old feisty codger self. He emphasized his past, considerable service to the district and his detailed knowledge of the coast community. He suggested balancing the county budget by having the sheriff's department make less arrests, with the county attorney prosecuting less and making more plea bargains. This would result in being able to dismiss judges and other court personnel as well as a lower number of prisoners in the county jail, and the savings from that.

Dan Hamburg agreed on protecting the environment and had his own vision of sustainable jobs and economic growth for the district and county. He emphasized encouraging business related to organic food production and processing. Regarding the county budget, he pointed out that there are over 50 county workers making more than $100,000 per year; he would cut their salaries, or eliminate their positions when possible, first.

Dan Hamburg got the biggest laugh response from the audience by quoting former Congressman Bosco: "Everyone on the coast loves trees, it's just that some people like them vertical, others like them horizontal." He added, "All of us have had to fight for what we believe, rather than just getting along. Whichever one of us is elected to this office is going to have some troubles ahead ... these are going to be difficult times."

The problem with forums of this type is that no one can probe candidates, find out who they are really working for, or criticize them for their past policy decisions. Each candidate gets to put their best face forward. In this forum no candidate criticized any other candidate. It was a bit too friendly for my taste.

Here are the Web sites of the candidates, if you want to study further (alphabetical by candidate):

Norman de Vall
Dan Hamburg
Jim Mastin
Wendy Roberts