Friday, May. 09, 2008

Supervisor debate: Candidates set course

By CORINNE REILLY
creilly@mercedsun-star.com

In a wide-ranging debate that touched on issues from the foreclosure crisis to health care, candidates vying to fill two open seats on the Merced County Board of Supervisors squared off Thursday night.

It was the first debate between the two candidates running for the board's District 4 seat. It was the second among the five running for District 2. Four of them attended; one sent a representative. The election is June 3.

Candidates gave short opening and closing statements and answered audience-submitted questions. What follows are highlights from the two-hour event at the Merced Civic Center.

Editor's note: An audio recording of Thursday's debate will be available with this article and on MercedSunStar.com by late Friday morning.

DISTRICT 2

John Alexander, executive director of the Merced County Health Care Consortium

Alexander said he hopes to build Merced County into a community similar to Davis. He thinks the county must preserve its current footprint and grow up, not out.

To address the county's gang problem, Alexander suggested using former gang members for intervention.

To improve health care for rural residents, Alexander supports building more community health centers and staffing them with local workers.

To deal with the looming budget crisis, he won't support across-the-board cuts; we should bolster programs that are working.

We must think regionally, not just locally, to solve the county's pollution problem, he said.

John Price, building contractor and business owner

Price sent a representative, Adam Saxton, who gave opening and closing statements on Price's behalf. He did not take questions.

Saxton said Price's decades of experience as both a dairy farmer and building contractor have prepared him to serve on the Board of Supervisors.

His top priorities include public safety, economic development and a viable county budget. Saxton said Price will call for more jobs for people of all educational backgrounds and for the active recruitment of better jobs and businesses.

Jim Sanders, Merced city councilman

Sanders called for more hospitals and clinics to serve the county. We have decreased access to health care in recent years, which must be reversed.

To increase the public's trust in county government, he said, "We need to look at nepotism, because that's a source of the distrust."

To protect farmland, Sanders said in-fill development needs to be a priority.

To boost the county's economy, we first must solve the local gang and drug problems. The redevelopment of the Castle Air Force Base must be a priority.

Casey Steed, electrical contractor

Steed wants more transparent government and vowed to allow total access to public county records and reports.

He supports protecting prime farmland, the Williamson Act and in-fill development; leap-frog development should be stopped.

To address the county's gang problem, he would advocate for stricter punishment and no more early release from jails and prisons.

Steed supports new and improved means of public transportation to address pollution problems. We must also foster cleaner industry, he said.

Hub Walsh, director of Madera County's Social Services Department

Walsh said his goals include opening local government and improving public safety, roads and educational opportunities.

To increase the public's trust in government, he said he would work to eliminate hard-to-understand jargon in both county meetings and in documents. He said public meeting agendas should be available at locations throughout the county, not just downtown.

To protect farmland, the county must work with its six cities to create a countywide plan to preserve agriculture.

To address pollution, Walsh would consider more community cleanups and broader recycling programs.

DISTRICT 4

Deidre Kelsey, incumbent

Kelsey said she will continue to advocate for more affordable housing.

To fund rural road improvements, Kelsey said she would propose a quarter-cent sales tax increase to pay for improvements only to county roads, not city and state roads.

To help prevent more foreclosures, she said she supports a requirement that new homes be sold to owner-occupiers, not investors looking to rent.

To protect farmland, she supports a countywide mitigation policy for development, not one that varies by project.

In working to balance the county's budget, she will protect public safety, libraries and county employees.

Claudine Sherron, substitute teacher and business owner

The county must only allow growth when it has the public safety resources and jobs to support it, Sherron said.

To fund rural road improvements, she said she would raise developer fees.

Sherron said the county's "broken planning process" is to blame for the foreclosure crisis; we must restrain growth to fix it.

She supports creating more municipal advisory councils in District 4.

The county's high schools need more vocation training programs to help keep kids out of gangs.

In the face of a budget crisis, she said she won't make cuts to public safety.

Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com.