ASK Candidates for Supervisor at Candidate Forums

Attached are the questions that we plan on asking at the Bennett Valley Community Association Candidates Forum on Thursday, April 19, at the Bennett Valley Grange, 4145 Grange Road, Santa Rosa.  We have provided these to the candidates.   Please consider attending.  

We will begin at 7 PM and may last as late as 9 PM to hopefully allow us to get to all of these questions.  

Questions

1. We hear there is no money to improve roads, parks or libraries.  Sonoma County employees may have the highest salary and benefit packages in California at a cost of almost $500 million per year.  Would you push harder in negotiations with unions for reductions so more funds could be spent on basic programs?  Would you support full transparency and public involvement in labor negotiations?

2.  For years the county has been faced with a deficit and unfunded mandates from the state.  What specific actions would you take to insure stable funding of basic services, short term and long term?

3.  What is the county's role and responsibility for the delivery of health care services?

4.  If elected, 500 miles of county roads might fail during your first term.  How would you address this problem?

5.  The sheriff is facing budget cuts.  With response time up to 2 hours in some cases, what assurances can you give the citizens that their emergency call will be answered promptly?

6.  The county's pension report shows that annual pension costs increased from $21 million in 2000 to $97 million in 2010.  Controlling pensions might provide another $50 million per year for roads, parks, libraries, etc.  How would you address the pension issue?

7.  Do you support establishing a Code of Ethics for supervisors?

8.  To govern is to choose.  If you were supervisor and the county administrator announced that general fund receipts had increased by $20 million, precisely how would you choose to spend those funds?

9.  Mangers and supervisors are given $9,000 annually for deferred compensation from the county's general fund, which is in addition to their salaries. This costs about $2.4 million per year.  Do you favor continuing this practice?

10.  Pending proposals would spend $2 million in general fund money to create a green power authority that may increase utility bills by $120 per year.  Can the county operate a power authority better than its pension system and roads?