THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUPERVISORIAL ELECTION DATES. MISTAKENLY TRANSPOSED NUMBERS IN THE AMOUNT OF MEETINGS MR. STARK HAS ATTENDED HAVE BEEN CORRECTED.
COBB – Robert Stark says he's ready to take on Rob Brown this year in the race for the District 5 supervisorial seat.
Stark, a Lake County resident since 1974, said he has been thinking about running for supervisor for a long time. “I've always thought about it.”
Until recently he said he always had something else to do, such as raising his family. He and wife, Brenda, have three children and four grandchildren.
However, at age 61, Stark said now is the time to do it.
Late last year, Stark began to prepare for the race, taking out the notice of intention paperwork – called a Form 501 – that allows a candidate to begin raising funds for a campaign, according to Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.
The Form 501 is one of the first steps in running for supervisor, said Fridley. Stark was the first to begin filing paperwork for the District 5 race.
Then, early in January, Brown announced his plans to seek a third term as supervisor, and the campaign field began to form.
Stark grew up in New Jersey and served in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1968, but did not see combat in Vietnam.
He holds an associate's degree in horticulture; he also majored in power mechanics, and has advanced water treatment plant operation accreditations.
Stark has variously worked as an insurance underwriter, a farmer, operated an auto repair and welding shop, and worked in all phases of the construction trade before he joined the Cobb Mutual Water Co. in 1983. A year later, he took the water district's manager job.
Among his issues, “Water is my No. 1, of course,” he said.
Maintaining an agricultural base in Kelseyville is his No. 2 issue, but wise commercial and residential development also are important, Stark said.
Stark said he's also concerned about seniors and disabled, who he feels are “diminished in Lake County,” and don't receive the attention they need.
Among his other issues, “I believe that there's disconnect between the county and the public and the private sector,” he said.
When people go to the county to ask questions, he said they often get different answers from different people and departments.
Stark hosted a forum for area water districts and managers on Nov. 30 in an effort to create better communication among them.
Likewise, he said he would like to help build better communications between the community and county leaders and staff.
“If we were able to establish a better level of communications between public and private sectors and the County of Lake then I think we would be better off,” he said. “We would have far less frustration and angst and excuse-making and blaming and all the other things that go along with the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.”
He suggested that better communications within the county government itself would benefit everyone. “If government is ever going to work reasonably well, then there has to be a way for it to internally communicate with itself.”
Stark said he's been to about 85 percent of the Board of Supervisors meetings since 2005, and he sees these issues often cited.
For his own district he's written an operations manual; he suggested similar guidelines would benefit the county, along with interdepartmental meetings.
Likewise, he emphasized the importance of the county's leadership being receptive to peoples' opinions and concerns, whether they're expressed directly to staff or at public meetings.
County residents should have a reasonable expectation of being treated politely and with respect, Stark said. “I've seen people dismissed and patronized and I don't like it.”
He added, “Government is responsible to the people.”
Regarding water, Stark said, “The biggest water issue is for us to ascertain just how much water there is.”
He suggests highly technical groundwater studies are needed to assist the county in charting its course.
In addition, the water managers who met on Nov. 30 are putting together five years of nitrate test results, he said. Nitrates are contaminants caused by many different things – from organic materials filtering into a well to failing septic tanks.
That information would be important to the county, especially planners, when considering development plans, Stark suggested.
The work of setting up a supervisorial campaign is just getting under way, said Stark. “We're still setting up. We're getting signatures for our in-lieu of petition.”
The period to gather signatures in lieu of paying the fee to run for supervisor – about $600 – began Dec. 28 and ends Feb. 21, according to Fridley. The nomination period, during which candidates must officially file to run, begins Feb. 11 and ends March 7.
The primary election for the supervisorial race will take place in June. If one of the candidates wins by 51 percent or more, the election will be settled then; otherwise, the race moves to a final vote in November.
Stark said fundraising is one of the hardest things to do.
However, he's looking forward to the campaign, especially pounding the pavement and shaking hands. He plans to step up his work later this month.
“After the presidential primary, people will be freed up a bit,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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