County Candidates Face Off Before Realtors
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
April 7th, 2010
All but one of the candidates running for Shasta County office attended a debate sponsored by the Shasta Association of Realtors. The only candidate not in attendance was Russell Hunt. Sheriff Tom Bosenko attended and addressed the group briefly, in light of running unopposed in the upcoming June election.
The debate lasted just over an hour. Candidates running in a contested race were asked 3 questions. First, they were given an opportunity to briefly review their qualifications for the office they seek to be elected or re-elected. Then they were asked to state their single most important goalif elected or re-elected. Finally, one office-specific question was asked of each participant. Only two minutes were allowed for participants to respond to each of the three questions. Marie Whitacre, Government Affairs Director for the Shasta Association of Realtors, served as timekeeper.
Several candidates spoke passionately about their reasons for wanting to unseat the incumbent. This was particularly true of the Assessor-Recorder, DA and Auditor candidates. Even while being verbally attacked by their opponents, all candidates responded with civility. Some rebutted statements made by opponents while others focused on what they would do differently if elected or re-elected.
The budget crisisfacing Shasta County was cited by the supervisor and DA candidates as being the largest challenge
for their departments. Les Baugh pointed to recent union concessions regarding retirement benefits as one step toward reducing future budgetary obligations to taxpayers. Jerry Benito’s office has coped with the closure of one floor of the jail with programs to monitor those released using funds paid for by offenders. Leslie Morgan indicated Prop. 8 property reassessments are well ahead of Butte County,which shares similar type and number of properties on their tax role.
Randal Faulkner harped on several negative Grand Juryreport findings regarding the Auditors office which cited low morale and high employee turnover. Connie Regnell fired back that those reports were done before she officially took the reins of office in 2007. Randal would implement more audits if elected. Connie claims recent upgrades to computer software programs have increased efficiency and automation of vendor payments.
Supervisor candidate Les Baugh said his focus will be keeping Shasta County’s budget in the black.Chris Young believes job creation should be Shasta County’s top priority. Corkey Harmon stated the county must do a better job eliminating departmental red tape that slows development and the jobs they create. He cited personal experiences as a local businessman jumping through all the permit process hoops to get a local project approved.
I believe those in attendance, myself included, have a much better understanding of candidate’s positions and public demeanor upon conclusion of the debate. I hope they found the forum useful, though all probably wished for more time to detail their platform. This format forced the candidates to stay on topic and be as clear and concise as possible, a rarity in the political arena.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL LIVING REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
CORNER OF COURT AND PLACER IN REDDING
MORE THAN 25 YEARS LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
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