Here's the latest in the West County Gazzette Candidates Forum for Feb....thank you Vesta Copestakes:
The first debate for the 5th District Supervisorial seat was held at the Sebastopol Veterans Auditorium. Thank you for the fantastic job to Stephen Fuller-Rowell, Larry Hanson, Jane Stuppin, David Benefiel, and Maggie Briare with SOS Save Our Sonoma and Atascadero Green Valley Creek Assn.!! What strengthens me in our campaign for 5th district Supervisor is finally after 50 years on this planet and almost 30 years raising a ruckus in West County; I am seeing more clearly the task ahead. Disparate ideas, thoughts and issues are starting to connect and make sense. I said at the debate we are in the midst of what may be the largest transference of wealth from one generation to another in the history of mankind. It is too easy for one generation to burden another. The measure of all our challenges with respect to the environment, the economy and government services is sustainability. Since college when I majored in political science I have studied unfunded obligations and generational equity. When I ran for Congress in 1990 one of my positions was “entitlement programs should be based on need”. We have to reallocate our resources to address our most pressing needs and leverage our time, talent and treasure to greatest advantage. I see clearly that part of a local solution is we need to freeze County salaries, benefits, and non-essential hires. Money saved should be used to restore funds to our struggling non-profits, volunteer and faith based organizations, and improvements to roads and infrastructure. After months of efforts with Public Records Act requests, hundreds of hours of research and questions to staff, then to parse data from highest to lowest paid worker; finally last week we placed on our website all the “budgeted” salary and benefit totals for each of our 4037 public servants for 07-08 (names removed of course). An unprecedented occurrence that should be in the public record every year as part of an open and transparent government (www.TomLynch4Supervisor.com) . I love the internet; one 350kb file, the size of a small photo; with data that illustrates the reason we are so close to a fiscal disaster with our County government. I see in one of my fellow candidates monthly missives that he quotes data from our website; and proposes “an immediate 10-15% cutback” in salaries among some workers. Of course the problem with this is due to the fact that there are about 20 different “bargaining groups” of union and unrepresented employees, all with contracts, some which will not expire for several years. Unfortunately nothing is immediate when it comes to government. I will provide well thought out, intelligent and detailed positions; as your Supervisor I would work hard to reform the system with creative and innovative solutions like a spending freeze. I recently received from County administration 10,000 pages of detailed salary and benefit information from the 06-07 “actual payout”. I suspect with overtime, etc. instead of 112 staff with over 200K/year and 384 staff with over 150K/year the actual 06-07 payout will top 800 public servants earning over 150K/year in compensation!
Since the year 2000 the median household income in Sonoma County has declined by 2% while County salaries and benefits have increased by 70%. As arcane and boring these numbers are in the telling; there are real social consequences to these figures. I am writing more in depth on my website…check out my issues page, we also have a new Google video from the debate. Finally I just wanted to say in the ever expanding field of 5th District Supervisorial candidates I feel we are fortunate to have such a qualified group of dedicated individuals with a broad array of personal and professional skills and the courage to serve. I am honored to be in the political arena with such distinguished company. I sincerely respect each of my fellow candidates for their good deeds, and I look forward to us all working together toward a sustainable future in Sonoma County. Peace out...and again thank you Vesta for this wonderful “Forum for the Future.”
Friday, February 22, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
An Army Travels On It's Stomach...Napoleon Bonaparte
The catchy title above may lead one to believe I am going to refer to Weight Watchers and/or my diet mantra "eat less; move more"; and how I think this is a prescription for solving problems we have with our government services as well (www.sonic.net/tlynch/salary.htm). Nice how I fit that all into one sentence as I get ready to "put the bite on ya". I am setting you up for a plea for funds so be careful!!
The second-half (July 1st to December 31st) donations for the 5th District Supervisor race have been filed at the Sonoma County Registrar of voters. My fellow candidates have all met the filing deadline (Jan,31) and I have reviewed their list of contributors. Of course most of the money raised is from outside of the district or from wealthy candidates large loans to their own campaigns. If one were to count only money raised in the 5th district I think we would come in as the #2 recipient of campaign contributions.
Alas we are #3 out of 7 in contributions; but the bottom line is we are #4 with money in the bank. Unfortunately money is the mothers milk of politics and we need funds from our fairy godmothers out there to get the message out. I encourage you to donate through our website under the donate button with paypal or send checks made out to "Friends of Tom Lynch" , 601 Johnson Street, Sebastopol, Ca. 95472.
To our advantage I am perhaps a little better known than most of the candidates through my 28 years involvement in West County activism, theatre and politics (http://www.tomlynch4supervisor.com-a.googlepages.com/pastisprologue). We also have a strong message calling for a freeze on Sonoma County salaries, benefits and non-essential hires with money saved being reallocated to our struggling non-profits, volunteer and faith based groups, and outsourcing to private business where competitive. But we need to get out our message...
There is a Chinese proverb,"...a closed book is nothing more than a block of paper." If you look at the front page of our website there is a Google video of my final comments at the recent Sebastopol debate in which I said to a wonderful audience of 200, "...one supervisor is not going to solve our problems...we need to ALL work together to do this or we're in a lot of trouble." If YOU support reforms and reallocations toward a progressive agenda for change; we need YOU to join us with your time, talent and treasure. Thank you for your support.
peace and love,
Tom Lynch
http://www.tomlynch4supervisor.com/
The second-half (July 1st to December 31st) donations for the 5th District Supervisor race have been filed at the Sonoma County Registrar of voters. My fellow candidates have all met the filing deadline (Jan,31) and I have reviewed their list of contributors. Of course most of the money raised is from outside of the district or from wealthy candidates large loans to their own campaigns. If one were to count only money raised in the 5th district I think we would come in as the #2 recipient of campaign contributions.
Alas we are #3 out of 7 in contributions; but the bottom line is we are #4 with money in the bank. Unfortunately money is the mothers milk of politics and we need funds from our fairy godmothers out there to get the message out. I encourage you to donate through our website under the donate button with paypal or send checks made out to "Friends of Tom Lynch" , 601 Johnson Street, Sebastopol, Ca. 95472.
To our advantage I am perhaps a little better known than most of the candidates through my 28 years involvement in West County activism, theatre and politics (http://www.tomlynch4supervisor.com-a.googlepages.com/pastisprologue). We also have a strong message calling for a freeze on Sonoma County salaries, benefits and non-essential hires with money saved being reallocated to our struggling non-profits, volunteer and faith based groups, and outsourcing to private business where competitive. But we need to get out our message...
There is a Chinese proverb,"...a closed book is nothing more than a block of paper." If you look at the front page of our website there is a Google video of my final comments at the recent Sebastopol debate in which I said to a wonderful audience of 200, "...one supervisor is not going to solve our problems...we need to ALL work together to do this or we're in a lot of trouble." If YOU support reforms and reallocations toward a progressive agenda for change; we need YOU to join us with your time, talent and treasure. Thank you for your support.
peace and love,
Tom Lynch
http://www.tomlynch4supervisor.com/
Friday, February 1, 2008
Been a great week!
We had our first debate Saturday, Jan,26 a the Sebastopol Veterans Auditorium. Big thank you's to SOS Save Our Sonoma, the SCWC Sonoma County Water Coalition, and the Atascadero Green Valley Creek Association. I was a little nervous this being the first debate for Supervisor in the Fifth District in 12 years. You think about it the last Supervisor "elected" not "appointed" to office in Sonoma County was when Mike Reilly ran in 1996...now we have two open seats up for election including Tim Smith's seat from 1988. Interesting...
Lot's of great questions and answers with a standing room only crowd. We will be trying to put some videos up soon. Meanwhile check out the good job that Sonoma West did...including a front page photo at:
http://www.sonomawest.com/articles/2008/02/01/sonomawest/news/news1.txt
5th District forum draws overflow crowd
More candidates expected to enter race
by Frank Robertson - Sonoma West Staff Writer
ALL ALIGNED — Candidate Tom Lynch (standing) was joined by five other announced candidates for the 5th District Board of Supervisors seat now held by Mike Reilly who is retiring. Other candidates pictured from left is Rue Furch, Maddy Hirshfield, Dan Kahane, Jim Maresca and Guy Smith. The forum held last Saturday at Sebastopol’s Vets Memorial hall was organized by the Sonoma County Watershed Coalition and was moderated by Stephen Fuller-Rowell. The Primary Election is June 3 and run-off would be held in the November General Election if no candidate wins 51 percent of the June vote. - Photo by Rollie Atkinson
SEBASTOPOL - Nobody really won or lost the first debate in the 5th District Supervisors race last week.“I'd call it a draw,” said Jeannette Dillman, a Guerneville resident among the standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 who packed the Sebastopol Veterans Auditorium last Saturday.Rue Furch's formerly delinquent taxes, prominent in last week's news, came up briefly but didn't seem foremost on the minds of voters polled after the debate.
= 1147323600) && (nAdsysTime
Dillman said she's still a Furch supporter despite the flak Furch caught from critics who say her property tax issue set a bad example for a sitting Sonoma County Planning Commissioner and candidate for Supervisor.Despite that “I think she has a good working knowledge of the County,” said Dillman. “I think she'd do a good job.”“I deserve criticism,” said Furch, in her opening statement at Saturday's debate. “I've handled them,” she said of her back taxes. “I've fixed it.”
As expected at Saturday's forum all six attending candidates - Furch, Tom Lynch, Maddy Hirshfield, Dan Kahane, Jim Maresca and Guy Smith - spoke of their desire to preserve the West County's rural character and strengthen its tourism and agricultural base.“All of us have excellent environmental credentials,” said Jim Maresca, so the voters' challenge is to put the best person on “the team that runs the county for the next four years.”Graton resident Guy Smith said he cares passionately about the West County's natural environment and healthy ag industry and can bridge “the dichotomy” between the two camps.Dan Kahane, an environmentalist by profession and self-declared “un-politician,” said the environment is his top concern and that “all other issues fall under that umbrella.”Guerneville resident Tom Lynch reminded the audience of his early activist years fighting Santa Rosa wastewater discharges when he earned the nickname Manure Man for spreading fertilizer in front of Santa Rosa City Hall.Nowadays “My wife won't let me get arrested so I'm doing things more responsibly,” said Lynch, who's calling for a freeze on county spending.
Maddy Hirshfield emphasized her background in healthcare and the “established relationships” she has within government and the community as an aide to state Assemblywoman Patty Berg.Most of the questions last week dealt with watershed issues important to the forum's co-sponsors, Save Our Sonoma County and the Atascadero and Green Valley Creek Watershed Council.Environmentally “We are all pretty much all on the same page,” said Hirshfield after the forum. With the candidates views sounding remarkably similar, Hirshfield agreed that voters will be assessing traits such as character, personality and style.“People forget most of what they hear” when political candidates talk, said Hirshfield. “People will remember how you make them feel.”People will also be seeing some more candidates. With the first day (Feb. 11) still two weeks off to officially enter the race, the 5th District field has now grown to 10. Candidate Eddie Alvarez of the Roseland area did not attend Saturday's event owing to a death in the family. Two other marginal candidates, Narayan deVera, a world health activist, and Phil Graf a conservative gun advocate, have taken out petitions to circulate in lieu of paying filing fees.And now supporters say there's a viable tenth entrant, Efren Carrillo, who will announce his candidacy within the next few days.
Carrillo, who's active in the Roseland area and serves on the board of directors of the Southwest Community Health Center, was formerly a business and field representative for state Assemblyman Joe Nation.Carrillo works as education and government relations manager for Redwood Credit Union and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley. He graduated from Roseland School and Santa Rosa High School.An 11th potential candidate, Karrie Singler of Forestville, also took out a petition in lieu of filing fee this week.
Lot's of great questions and answers with a standing room only crowd. We will be trying to put some videos up soon. Meanwhile check out the good job that Sonoma West did...including a front page photo at:
http://www.sonomawest.com/articles/2008/02/01/sonomawest/news/news1.txt
5th District forum draws overflow crowd
More candidates expected to enter race
by Frank Robertson - Sonoma West Staff Writer
ALL ALIGNED — Candidate Tom Lynch (standing) was joined by five other announced candidates for the 5th District Board of Supervisors seat now held by Mike Reilly who is retiring. Other candidates pictured from left is Rue Furch, Maddy Hirshfield, Dan Kahane, Jim Maresca and Guy Smith. The forum held last Saturday at Sebastopol’s Vets Memorial hall was organized by the Sonoma County Watershed Coalition and was moderated by Stephen Fuller-Rowell. The Primary Election is June 3 and run-off would be held in the November General Election if no candidate wins 51 percent of the June vote. - Photo by Rollie Atkinson
SEBASTOPOL - Nobody really won or lost the first debate in the 5th District Supervisors race last week.“I'd call it a draw,” said Jeannette Dillman, a Guerneville resident among the standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 who packed the Sebastopol Veterans Auditorium last Saturday.Rue Furch's formerly delinquent taxes, prominent in last week's news, came up briefly but didn't seem foremost on the minds of voters polled after the debate.
= 1147323600) && (nAdsysTime
Dillman said she's still a Furch supporter despite the flak Furch caught from critics who say her property tax issue set a bad example for a sitting Sonoma County Planning Commissioner and candidate for Supervisor.Despite that “I think she has a good working knowledge of the County,” said Dillman. “I think she'd do a good job.”“I deserve criticism,” said Furch, in her opening statement at Saturday's debate. “I've handled them,” she said of her back taxes. “I've fixed it.”
As expected at Saturday's forum all six attending candidates - Furch, Tom Lynch, Maddy Hirshfield, Dan Kahane, Jim Maresca and Guy Smith - spoke of their desire to preserve the West County's rural character and strengthen its tourism and agricultural base.“All of us have excellent environmental credentials,” said Jim Maresca, so the voters' challenge is to put the best person on “the team that runs the county for the next four years.”Graton resident Guy Smith said he cares passionately about the West County's natural environment and healthy ag industry and can bridge “the dichotomy” between the two camps.Dan Kahane, an environmentalist by profession and self-declared “un-politician,” said the environment is his top concern and that “all other issues fall under that umbrella.”Guerneville resident Tom Lynch reminded the audience of his early activist years fighting Santa Rosa wastewater discharges when he earned the nickname Manure Man for spreading fertilizer in front of Santa Rosa City Hall.Nowadays “My wife won't let me get arrested so I'm doing things more responsibly,” said Lynch, who's calling for a freeze on county spending.
Maddy Hirshfield emphasized her background in healthcare and the “established relationships” she has within government and the community as an aide to state Assemblywoman Patty Berg.Most of the questions last week dealt with watershed issues important to the forum's co-sponsors, Save Our Sonoma County and the Atascadero and Green Valley Creek Watershed Council.Environmentally “We are all pretty much all on the same page,” said Hirshfield after the forum. With the candidates views sounding remarkably similar, Hirshfield agreed that voters will be assessing traits such as character, personality and style.“People forget most of what they hear” when political candidates talk, said Hirshfield. “People will remember how you make them feel.”People will also be seeing some more candidates. With the first day (Feb. 11) still two weeks off to officially enter the race, the 5th District field has now grown to 10. Candidate Eddie Alvarez of the Roseland area did not attend Saturday's event owing to a death in the family. Two other marginal candidates, Narayan deVera, a world health activist, and Phil Graf a conservative gun advocate, have taken out petitions to circulate in lieu of paying filing fees.And now supporters say there's a viable tenth entrant, Efren Carrillo, who will announce his candidacy within the next few days.
Carrillo, who's active in the Roseland area and serves on the board of directors of the Southwest Community Health Center, was formerly a business and field representative for state Assemblyman Joe Nation.Carrillo works as education and government relations manager for Redwood Credit Union and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley. He graduated from Roseland School and Santa Rosa High School.An 11th potential candidate, Karrie Singler of Forestville, also took out a petition in lieu of filing fee this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
