LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The six men running to represent District 3 on the Lake County Board of Supervisors met to discuss their goals for the district in a forum held earlier this week.
The Monday event, held in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport, was the first this election season to feature all of the race's candidates – John Brosnan, James Brown, Marvin Butler, Mark Currier, Herb Gura and Jim Steele.
The six are seeking to succeed two-term Northshore Supervisor Denise Rushing, who announced she did not intend to seek reelection.
The primary takes place June 3. In the event that one candidate does not get 50 percent of the vote plus one, a runoff will take place in November between the top two vote getters.
The forum, which can be seen in its entirely above, was cosponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Lake County News, with McKenzie Paine of Velocity Video producing the video.
The candidates answered the following 12 questions; for reference, the time that the questions are asked during the video is listed in parentheses after the questions.
1. Please share your thoughts on the importance of the role of supervisor in the Lake County community. (12:26)
2. How often do you attend supervisors meetings, or watch the televised versions, to keep yourself informed of the issues at hand? (17:52)
3. The Board of Supervisors oversees many departments, often deals with employee matters and approves a final budget that for this fiscal year totals about $188 million. Please describe what experience you have managing people and budgets. (23:34)
4. What particular skill, area of knowledge or area of expertise do you possess that you believe uniquely qualifies you and makes you the best candidate to represent District 3 on the Board of Supervisors? (29:20)
5. What is your position on private ambulance companies moving into Lake County and taking over emergency medical transports from the Lake County Fire Districts that have provided that service for over 10 years? (35:15)
6. Do you do volunteer work in the community? If so, please give some examples of groups you have worked with – or continue to work with – and some projects with which you have been involved. (40:52)
7. What should be the No. 1 priority of the Board of Supervisors, and why do you believe it should be the top priority? (47:07)
8. Medical marijuana is a frequent issue before the Board of Supervisors, and one that is surrounded by a great deal of contention. How do you propose to balance the legal allowances for legitimate patients with the complaints, concerns and health issues being reported by community members who now find themselves living with marijuana grows in their neighborhoods? (52:57)
9. County supervisors take an active part in employee negotiations. Do you support binding arbitration? Why, or why not? (1:00:09)
10. Candidates were asked to talk about a key issue – besides other predominant issues discussed during the evening – that was especially important to them and how they would like to address it as a member of the Board of Supervisors. (1:04:54)
11. What options do you see regarding employment for Lake County youth? What kinds of training programs would you want to see in place? Which community agencies and businesses should be involved? Be specific. (1:12:29)
12. The Board of Supervisors recently chose to make some major changes to the way the county is marketed, including the eventual closure of the Visitor Information Center in Lucerne and a shift to smaller, mini visitor information centers hosted at local businesses, as well as electronic kiosks. Do you agree with these actions? What other ways, in your opinion, should we be promoting Lake County? (1:18:44)
In addition to viewing the video above, voters who want to know more about the candidates can visit their Web sites and social media pages, or contact them by email or phone.
Web, Facebook and email addresses, along with the phone numbers for each of the candidates are listed below, with the candidates listed in alphabetical order.
– John Brosnan: http://www.brosnan4district3.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/Brosnan4District3 ; email,
– James Brown: https://www.facebook.com/brownfordistrict3 ; email,
– Marvin Butler: www.marvbutler.com , https://www.facebook.com/MarvButlerforSupervisor ; email, http://www.marvbutler.com/contact.html ; phone, 707-274-8887.
– Mark Currier: http://www.markcurrierfordistrict3.com/ ; Facebook page pending; email,
– Herb Gura: http://HerbGuraforSupervisor.org ; https://www.facebook.com/herbforsupervisor ; email,
– Jim Steele: http://jimsteeleforsupervisor.com ; https://www.facebook.com/JimSteeleForCountySupervisor2014?ref=br_tf ; phone, 707-295-6198.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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