Video: District 5 supervisorial candidates discuss issues in forum
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The four candidates in the District 5 supervisorial district took part in a forum on Wednesday in Lakeport.
Kevin Ahajanian of Cobb, Bill Kearney of Kelseyville, Jessica Pyska of Cobb and Lily Woll of Kelseyville took part in the forum, hosted by Lake County News and moderated by Editor and Publisher Elizabeth Larson.
The four are running in the March primary to succeed retiring incumbent, Supervisor Rob Brown.
The video of the forum is featured above.
The questions and the times when they appear in the video area published below.
QUESTIONS:
Opening statements: 2:29
1. To start off, I’d like to understand more about your thinking process and what motivates you. Please take us back to your “lightbulb” moment – when it was you made the firm decision that you were going to run for local office, and some of the background to that decision. Has this been something you had looked at doing for some time, or was there a particular event or an idea that encouraged you to take the step of putting your name on the ballot?
Answers begin: 6:32
2. Here is a multipart question from a Cobb resident: What do you know of our county's Community Wildfire Protection Plan laid out in 2009, with recommended updates for every five years – and the failure to implement it that led to the recent wildfire disasters each of the past four years? What are you going to do about our county's apparent inability to keep track of its critically important plans, convene the proper entities to make them effective, ensure timely updates with proper public input, and get the funding for the implementation of these plans?
Answers begin: 13:24
3. The county of Lake has had ongoing friction and disagreements with the city of Lakeport over the city’s plans to annex the remaining portion of South Main Street that has been part of its sphere of influence for decades. Key issues are water service and public safety, and a large amount of sales tax from what is reported to be the most lucrative commercial corridor in the unincorporated county. While Lakeport is not in your district, the issue of the annexation is an issue that the board has discussed as a whole, with the county having recently agreed to a good faith negotiations process requested by the Lake Local Area Formation Commission. Do you have an approach to this situation that you think is fair and equitable and could bring the county and city into partnership, rather than opposition?
Answers begin: 19:58
4. Do you support the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project? How would you help move this long term project forward?
Answers begin: 24:12
5. The city of Clearlake has raised issues with the county’s sales of tax-defaulted property, asking for a greater number of sales to be held annually and pointing to less-than-consistent scheduling of the sales in recent years, which in the past have been held on an annual basis. The Clearlake city manager has argued that the failure to hold these sales regularly contributes to blight, harms local agencies and governments, and hampers development. Do you agree with the city’s stance on this issue? If you do agree that it’s a problem, how would you address it as a member of the Board of Supervisors?
Answers begin: 29:42
6. How will you address the updating of the county's legal plans (general plan, area plans, community wildfire protection plan, watershed and stormwater management plans), outdated ordinances and missing links to available state and federal funding for which these are critical documents?
Answers begin: 34:08
7. Last year, the nonprofit humanitarian organization Direct Relief created a map of communities that are especially vulnerable to wildland fire and could be the hardest hit based on a number of factors that make up what they call “social vulnerability risk.” That risk assessment is based on things like income, age and mobility. There were a number of California communities shown on that map, and three of those communities are in Lake County: Clearlake, Lower Lake and the Clearlake Riviera in Kelseyville. What plans do you have as a District 5 supervisor to tackle this threat for the Kelseyville area?
Answers begin: 39:24
8. How will you address invasive species infestation threat from mussels that could destroy our surface water infrastructure systems and ruin the recreational water bodies in Lake County? Do you think the county is doing enough under its current prevention program?
Answers begin: 46:21
9. Four years ago this month, the supervisors hired Carol Huchingson as county administrative officer. Huchingson’s tenure has been marked by a number of controversies, including her interference with other department heads, most notably the registrar of voters, which destabilized that critical county department for more than a year. The board gave her control of the Human Resources Department and now she in her individual capacity and the county are facing a multimillion-dollar tort claim from the former HR director who has made 19 allegations – including retaliation, wrongful termination and race discrimination – and is demanding a jury trial. A year ago this month, Huchingon tried to convince the board to make her county chief executive officer in a meeting that was not recorded and had no minutes. Huchingson has also led the effort to push through a classification and compensation study that, if followed, is expected to hand out hefty raises to the county’s highest-paid employees – including her – and could lead to the county becoming financially insolvent. Unfortunately, indications are that the study isn’t going to be released publicly until after the primary election. So far, the board has not taken decisive action to reel her in. Do you have concerns about Huchingson and how will you approach resolving what is becoming a growing problem in county leadership?
Followup question: Has Huchingson reached out to any of you to offer you an orientation on county government as she has with past supervisorial candidates?
Answers begin: 51:26
10. Are you opposed to or of supportive of banning law-abiding citizens from owning the AR15 rifle in California? What features do you know of (if any) that make it more dangerous than any other rifle, pistol or revolver? Would you be supportive of approving indoor shooting ranges in Lake County?
Answers begin: 56:26
11. Recently in the area of Staheli Drive and Gold Dust Drive in Kelseyville, very close to many homes, a large amount of hemp was planted in various fields. Due to this, the residents are subjected to a foul odor for much of the growing season. At times the odor is so strong that they cannot keep doors and windows open. With the presence of this odor, there are concerns that it would make it very difficult to sell a property. What will you do to help the citizens of Lake County with this?
Answers begin: 1:00:41
12. What is the proper role of the Board of Supervisors to preserve, protect and defend Lake County agriculture? In conflicts over water use between agricultural and residential interests, what are your priorities?
Answers begin: 1:06:20
13. Many District 5 residents speak Spanish as their primary language. Will you be able to represent those residents?
Answers begin: 1:11:36
14. What role should the Board of Supervisors take in regards to addressing the fire insurance crisis in Lake County?
Answers begin: 1:14:00
15. How will you address the dismal funding for life-sustaining programs serving the very poor, elderly and caregivers federally funded (but just barely) by the Older Americans Act?
Answers begin: 1:19:42
16. The candidates come from three distinct neighborhoods – Cobb, Big Valley and Buckingham. All three have different demographics, issues and concerns. How will you be able to represent the vast majority of District 5 residents?
Answers begin: 1:24:14
17. In recent years the Board of Supervisors has been considering department consolidation or reconsolidation. Last summer, the board voted to reconsolidate Water Resources with Public Works and last year they requested state legislation, AB 632, which was passed to allow them to consolidate the auditor-controller with the treasurer-tax collector at some point in the future. So far, these consolidations have appeared to be more of a matter of the inability to retain employees, and the result is that more responsibilities are being placed on fewer people. While the county has said consolidation offers efficiencies and cost savings, they’ve offered no evidence that that is the case. Do you think consolidation is the right approach? If so, why? Or do you have alternative ideas you would pursue as supervisor?
Answers begin: 1:29:40
18. Last year we didn’t have huge fires causing us to have to evacuate, but we had a manmade issue, public safety power shutoffs, which impacted Lake County heavily in the fall. Share what your experience was, if any, in those protracted shutoffs, how would you sum up the shutoffs’ impacts on your community and, as a member of the Board of Supervisors, what would you want to try to do address the issue?
Answers begin: 1:33:31
Closing statements: 1:40: 39