1. What issues do you believe are most central to this year's District 1 supervisorial election? {sidebar id=80}

Among other things, I believe two current challenges facing Lake County have to do with community infrastructure and employment education.

Community infrastructure

We must begin to improve the general quality of life in our communities if businesses to locate and remain in the area, and in order to remain a viable, thriving community. This includes ensuring that our citizens have clean, safe water; adequate sewer services; adequate drainage; and good roads. This also includes having governmental representatives that are accessible, making resources available such as modern libraries and public media centers, creating bus stops that are protected from the weather and constructing parks that can become community gathering places.

We must also take action to dramatically and rapidly improve service delivery to our residents and our businesses. Whether it is when calling 911 or obtaining a building permit.

As county supervisor, I will set forth a list of goals with input from the community with specific deadlines for completion. Interacting with governmental service personnel in all areas will become less of a burden to our residents and the people who do businesses in South Lake County.

Employment education

We must make south Lake County a place where our young adults can prosper and become leaders of the future and where education supports community stability and vitality. We can do this by creating innovative approaches to further educate our youth.

Beyond the basic education that is provide by the state, we must work with our community college, businesses, labor unions and nonprofit organizations to make skills training, apprenticeship and work force preparation programs available to all our citizens.

As county supervisor I will solicit community support and strive to create programs such as Junior Achievement, Firefighter Explorer programs, and occupational internship programs that will help our young adults learn the skills they need to be competitive in the workforce.

Furthermore, the ability of the county Board of Supervisors to govern is positively influenced by their governmental experience and the formal training of their members.

Our county supervisors must have basic knowledge of the laws and rules governing the actions of their staff in order to avoid misconduct. The lack of ongoing training necessary to keep up with the rapid changes in policy and legislation causes a situation of “they don’t know what they don’t know,” and errors in judgment and errors of omission become more likely.

As a county supervisor I would request that an introductory county governance training program be offered to candidates prior to elections for county supervisor positions. Additionally I would demand that a county governance training program be offered to newly elected and sitting county supervisors covering specific responsibilities in oversight, and encourage as many county supervisors as possible to attend a “Master in Governance” training course on an ongoing basis.

2. What traits make you the best person to represent District 1 on the Board of Supervisors?

I have served in local government in various roles for more than a quarter of a century and I understand how local government works. I work in the “belly of the beast” and have seen the good, and the bad (mostly good). I continually work with many governmental agencies and staff. As I am often faced with varied challenges, I always try and find the rational solution. For example, recently I was able to assist Sonoma County find a solution to a construction problem that I discovered, saving the County an unofficial estimated $1.5 million of taxpayers money.

Currently I have four jobs that include: firefighter for the City of Santa Rosa, fire prevention officer for the County of Sonoma and College Instructor for the Santa Rosa Junior College. I currently hold the office of board member for the South Lake County Fire Protection District, serving my second term. I also currently serve on two standing committees and one ad hoc committee. I chair a standing committee.

3. Are you for or against background checks and drug testing for In-Home Supportive Services workers who care for Lake County's elderly? Why or why not?

The level of precautions necessary to protect the public is relative to the degree of risk to the public. As a firefighter and fire inspector, I have submitted to an extensive background check, have had a psychological test and am subject to random drug tests. This is due to the nature of the job – the degree of honesty and integrity required, and the amount of intimate public contact involved.

I believe that if caretaker is being compensated for providing intimate care to a “client,” then the caretaker should have at least a cursory background check. If the background check reveals a history of drug use, then I think a drug test would be warranted. As a condition of employment, the cost of the background check and drug test should be borne by the employer. If the employer is paying for the background checks and drug tests, and the caretaker or employee is “clean,” this shouldn’t be an issue.

I do not believe however, that a pay incentive should be offered to only those who do submit to such privacy infringements, without first meeting with the proper labor group representatives and working through the “meet-and-confer” process when it is not already a condition of employment.

Furthermore, because of the level of integrity required, I believe that elected officials should be subjected to the same employee screening as firefighters and peace officers. In the absence of basic minimum qualifications isn’t this the least we should ask for?

4. What benefit or negative impact do you believe Indian gaming has had on the county's economy and county government's budget?

I have had direct experience with Indian gaming issues in Sonoma County, as well as here locally as a fire district board member. I believe that the positive and negative impacts are about equal. Although the gaming doesn’t significantly contribute to the county’s revenue stream (with some exceptions such as “royalties” and grants), the by-products of gaming facility patrons visiting areas neighboring gaming facilities provides economic vitality to the county. Conversely, the local gaming industry has not created a significant burden upon county recourses.

In other works, I believe it’s fairly well balanced – economically.

5. How serious a threat is the quagga mussel? Did the county move fast enough to stop its spread to Clear Lake and other county bodies of water?

The quagga mussels are showing up in many lakes in California. This is potentially a very serious problem that can clog water intake structures, such as pipes and screens, therefore reducing pumping capabilities for power and water treatment plants, costing industries, companies, and communities. Additional, the creatures can cause increases in water transparency. Water clarity increases light penetration causing a proliferation of aquatic plants that can change species dominance and alter the entire ecosystems.

I believe that the county acted very fast to combat this environmental threat, including providing key staff with training, public outreach and developing a program that other counties are seeking to mirror.

6. Where do you stand on Propositions 98 and 99, and, most particularly, what is your position regarding the use of eminent domain to seize private property for the purpose of transferring ownership to a private developer to build shopping centers, industrial complexes and other non-public projects?

I believe that the government, under curtain circumstances, should be able to seize private property for necessary public use, as historically has been the case. Freeways, road widening, infrastructure easements, etc. are examples of such beneficial uses. However, I am absolutely opposed to the taking of private property for private development, even if some nexus can be made regarding how the use will benefit the community.

Instead of shirking their duties and giving management and oversight to loosely regulated, profit driven private interests – government officials need to move away from privatization and get back to properly managing the public resources they are responsible for.

With that stated, you can guess how I voted on these issues.

7. How would you describe your philosophy for growth in Lake County? How can the county's growth best be managed?

My philosophy is to encourage “smart growth” that is environmentally friendly, sustainable and well-managed. The county General Plan needs to be used as a guide and followed, not ignored.

Developments should be surrounded with greenbelt areas and they should be required to be landscaped with visual screens so they blend into the area rather than stand out. I think the new mini storage on Highway 29 is a poor example of an attempt at visual screening.

Developers must be required to include necessary infrastructure with the development. The entire county shouldn’t have to bear this cost.

I think we if we follow the county plan, as well as institute development standards similar to other counties that require, we could better manage our future growth.

8. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, how will you uphold your oath of office?

We must begin to improve the general quality of life in our communities if businesses to locate and remain in the area, and in order to remain a viable, thriving, community. This includes ensuring that our citizens have clean safe water, adequate sewer services, adequate drainage and good roads. This also includes having governmental representatives that are accessible, making resources available such as modern libraries and public media centers, creating bus stops that are protected from the whether and constructing parks that can become community-gathering places.

We must also take action to dramatically and rapidly improve service delivery to our residents and our businesses. Whether it is when calling 911, or obtaining a building permit,

As county supervisor, I will set forth a list of goals with input form the community with specific deadlines for completion. Interacting with governmental service personnel in all areas – will become less of a burden to our residents and the people who do businesses in South Lake County.

As county supervisor, I commit to doing all of these things. Our local communities need and deserve this commitment!

As someone who has worked in government for over 35 years, and as someone who has successfully created and launched government programs, I have the experience to meet these commitments.

9. Agriculture is an important part of Lake County's economy. What is the biggest concern facing agriculture and what would you do about it? Are you for or against rezoning agricultural lands to other uses?

I believe that we need to encourage sustainable agricultural development. I believe the biggest concern facing our agriculture industry in many areas is a limited water supply. As county supervisor I would work to secure more water resources, including: exploring ways to get water rights to Clear Lake water, and encouraging the use of treated wastewater for agricultural uses. Recycling water works well in other areas, why not here?

I believe that the county plan is based on a lot of careful research and input, and is a document we should follow as close as possible. I am not in favor of rezoning any lands without looking at all the immediate and long-term potential impacts. This already happens much too often.

10. Do you favor making Lake County a GE-free zone when it comes to agricultural crops? Why or why not?

I fully support keeping Lake County a GE-free zone, except for research purposes. GE proponents claim genetically modified crops use fewer pesticides than non-GE crops, when in reality GE plants can require even more chemicals. Adequate research has not yet been carried out to identify the effects of eating animals that have been fed genetically-engineered grain, nor have sufficient studies been conducted on the effects of directly consuming genetically-engineered crops.

I believe that until more research is conducted, we should stay away from mass-producing GE agricultural crops. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to a university or other interested party conducting GE research in Lake County.

11. What would be your approach to promoting local businesses and attracting new businesses to the county?

I agree with the Lake County Marketing Plan, which recommends that the county brand and market the county, promote product development, and send a positive message to businesses that are planning on expanding or relocating, to consider South Lake County as a business destination.

We must also create more jobs by encouraging local business development. Local employment enables residents to make an investment in our communities. If we create good paying jobs for our residents, we will build a solid foundation on which to build strong communities.

We must encourage businesses to migrate to our area, enhance the growth of existing local business, and we must train local residents to qualify for local jobs. As county supervisor I will work to fund the recommendations of the Lake County Marketing Plan, encourage local employment, and ensure that the county aggressively pursue all the economic development and community development grant funds that are available from the federal government.

In closing: With strong leadership from our elected officials, our economic vitality will be unleashed and our economic potential will be realized!

Over the years I have cultivated many relationships with subject matter experts in various fields and disciplines including community development, governmental management, law, emergency preparedness, employee relations and construction, to list a few. The ability to call someone and get specific advice is a huge asset I don’t believe the other candidates have.

The combination of education, experience and pier support I possess clearly makes me uniquely qualified as a county supervisor. While each of the other candidates has individual strong points, I have those attributes as well, and more.

For more information visit my website at www.macintyreforsupervisor.com.

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