After three opportunities to watch the two District 3 supervisor candidates in a public forum, once in the primary in Lakeport and twice more recently in Lucerne and Monday night in Lakeport, the choice is clear.

Jim Steele summed it up by saying, it’s not about what I think I can do, it’s what the people think I can do.

In the final analysis, isn’t that the point? It’s what voters think a candidate can do that determines who gets their vote. Ideas are easy, but making those ideas work is quite another thing.

Steele’s literature says something to the effect, “if you don’t know what someone can do, look at what he’s done.”

In my opinion, that is vital when electing our future leaders. As a voter I look at what a candidate is equipped to do, based on tried and tested experience to deliver results.

There’s just no question Steele has the upper hand with years of delivering results under the toughest of circumstances. That rang true on Monday as it has in other public forums. Don’t take my word for it, check him out for yourself. He’s an open book.

Aside from that, I am troubled by a candidate who changes his story – especially about money matters since setting a budget and making spending decisions is a big part of a supervisor’s job.

One example in particular has me concerned. In the first public forum, when the candidates were asked about their budget experience, Brosnan said he didn’t have any and said something to the effect that it was all he could do to pay his PG&E bills. At the forum in Lakeport he claimed budget experience of about $1 million. Which is it?

By the way, Jim’s answer didn’t change. He’s got plenty of budget experience.

The other thing that bothered me is Brosnan’s admission that he is sure the county staff are ready to teach him what he doesn’t know. That may be true but staff and department heads need to look to the leadership for direction, not the other way around.

Having a supervisor that is in catch up and training mode is not what our county needs. The problems we face are too grim – this is no time to put someone in office that, by his own admission, will be on a steep learning curve.

Another thing that really surprised and bothered me was Brosnan’s answer to the question about the biggest issues facing the county. Air pollution – yes, that’s what he said.

To be sure there are plenty of problems in our county but we are well known for our good air quality – we’re rated the top county in the state and ranked very high nationally. Then when asked about his latest campaign literature where he claims to be a warrior for the middle creek restoration project, he had a heck of a time explaining what he meant. Somebody’s in way over their head.

By now, many voters have already cast their ballots but a little less than half of the voters will go to the polls on Nov. 4 so there’s still time to check candidate backgrounds and platforms.

You won’t find any trouble checking on Steele’s background and platform and if you do you’ll see his background and platform remains unchanged since he announced his candidacy. Good luck figuring out Brosnan’s background and platform – it keeps changing.

Nola Montgomery lives in Lower Lake, Calif.