Local Endorsements

SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE

With one empty seat on the bench, a second soon to be vacated due to a retirement and a busy court that could benefit from an additional judge anyhow, voters have two capable candidates. Todd Hornik and Mark Hood are seasoned prosecuting attorneys (Hornik in Monterey County, Hood in Santa Clara County) and we suspect both would bring a firm hand of justice to the bench.

Both are weaker when it comes to civil law, and frankly, Monterey County could use another judge who can handle the busy civil calendar, particularly in the area of family law. Both will need to transition quickly from the prosecutor’s office to the bench. Hornik has a reputation for being an excellent and well-prepared attorney– he has earned his stripes from within our local courts and can improve its operation. We think he will become a good judge and that his humor (even the occasional sarcastic comment) will make him worthy of the position. Hood, who lives in P.G., is also intelligent and passionate; we believe he could also be an asset to the court. But for this race, we go with the guy with more local knowledge.

MARINA MAYOR

Bruce Delgado, who lost narrowly in a 2004 run against Ila Mettee-McCutchon, is the clear choice for the job. He is an advocate for smart growth, has a vision for downtown’s revitalization and is a strong critic of the city’s recent handout to The Dunes developers. His opponent, Gary Wilmot, while knowledgeable about local government, seems naïve about his relationship to developers– and his own conflicts of interest. Wilmot runs a newspaper in Marina with partner Bart Bruno, one of the early promoters of The Dunes whose company could make big money from the project. The city has been spending more than it’s bringing in, and Delgado seems ready to tackle that problem. Wilmot, on the other hand, is in denial.

MARINA CITY COUNCIL

We are encouraged to see an outstanding group of council candidates. Clearly, Marina is on the right track, certainly in comparison to past elections. Frank O’Connell, a local attorney, and David Burnett, a computer software designer for Santa Cruz County, will elevate the civic discussion and help Marina move away from the recent administration’s vision-less lust for big box development. Our chief concern: They need to review their assessment of the PERS retirement program, and its impact to the city coffers as they try to right the budget for the growing community.

MONTEREY MAYOR

Chuck Della Sala is running for reclamation. During his first term, he supported the city’s plastic bag ban and adopted the first-in-the-county green building ordinance. Della Sala represents the city’s interests with intelligence and vision and works well with other local mayors. Give him a second term.

MONTEREY CITY COUNCIL

Libby Downey, who led the successful charge to ban plastic bags in Monterey, deserves to be re-elected. After much discussion, we think Jeff Haferman does, too. Haferman is an independent voice who fights hard for open government. He has pushed for green building, challenged the city administration’s overly expensive plan to build a new city hall, and was one of the first local leaders to speak out against the state’s light brown apple moth aerial spray plans. He was also one of the first elected officials to support Measure A, the smart-growth county voters initiative defeated last year.

But there’s a big caveat to this endorsement: Haferman displayed an inappropriate public tantrum after getting a traffic ticket. He wasted city hall’s time and the public’s money protesting the incident. (He should have just paid the fine.)

His vocal insistence that former cop Steve McMahon be reinstated (he should not) is also troubling. Not only is Haferman unapologetic about these missteps, he continues to argue that he was right. It’s time for Haferman to grow up and show better judgment. He can do so by immediately dropping his plea to get McMahon reinstated and sitting down with city manager Fred Meurer and the mayor to smoke the peace pipe. If he’s unwilling to own his mistakes, then residents ought to reconsider his re-election.

PACIFIC GROVE MAYOR

Dan Cort is running unopposed. The city ought to get out of the CalPERS retirement program and save the city from financial ruin. Also, Cort’s energy sustainability agenda is notable. Residents should get behind him to push this platform further.

PACIFIC GROVE CITY COUNCIL

Pacific Grove has made major strides in the past two years, but much work still lies ahead. The current City Council approved the re-organization of the city staff, passed a balanced budget and helped advocate for a sales tax increase, and yet no incumbents up for election chose to run again. The implementation of these well-laid plans will fall to a new city manager– and a council with three new faces. We believe that Dan Miller, David Dilworth and Susan Goldbeck can each best serve the town they love as citizen advocates, not council members. Ken Cuneo would make a good committee member, while Richard Ahart is a protest candidate. Bill Kampe and Carmelita Garcia, by contrast, seem to have the temperament and the preparedness to hit the ground running in an election where potential is the primary currency. We also believe that Deborah Lindsay– who faces a steep learning curve and would benefit from being less defensive– could serve the City Council with innovative business and environmental policies.

SEASIDE MAYOR

Ralph Rubio, who is running unopposed, has generally done a commendable job and the city of Seaside is on the right track. In his third term, we hope the mayor shows greater passion for mixed-use development and pushes for sustainable growth, similar to his neighboring cities– which are all ahead of Seaside on this issue. The city needs to pay close attention to its finances, too, with declining sales tax revenues and fewer state funds.

SEASIDE CITY COUNCIL

While we’ve endorsed incumbent Steve Bloomer in the past, we’re opting for newcomers Ian Oglesby and Felix Bachofner. These two candidates have a vision for the city, are committed to seeing some key developments go through, support sustainability and will bring a refreshingly independent spirit to the City Council. We’re delighted to see such strong candidates for council.

SALINAS, DISTRICT 6 CITY COUNCIL

During her tenure on the City Council, Jyl Lutes has consistently supported city-centered growth and affordable housing. In her most recent term, the outspoken schoolteacher boldly voted against a moratorium on pot clubs in Salinas (she was on the losing end of the stick) and has taken an interest in prisoner justice (she visits San Quentin regularly where prisoners have raised money for Salinas libraries). She’s a smart, progressive voice on the council who should be re-elected.

MARINA COAST WATER DISTRICT

As a Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency retiree, appointed incumbent Dan Burns has the water-policy knowhow to help bring the REPOG (Regional Plenary Oversight Group) plan to fruition (REPOG includes recycled water, Salinas Basin ground water, water from the Salinas River diversion program, a regional desalination facility and ongoing water conservation, among other things). Burns managed the recycled water plant for the county, and we like his willingness to examine alternative paths to water conservation and creation. Newcomer Quinn Gardner is committed to seeking out more cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable water-production methods (e.g., using recycled graywater and stormwater). The former community organizer and co-founder of the Marina Democratic Club is enthusiastic and well versed in the REPOG effort, which he also supports.

MONTEREY PENINSULA AIRPORT DISTRICT

With the departure of Express Jet, rising fuel costs and a declining economy, it’s vital that our commercial airport has a vision for flourishing commerce– and full accountability. The agency has a sizable budget, but is one of the least understood public governments around. Dan Presser is an outspoken critic who believes the Airport District is spending money inappropriately and wants to closely examine its legal fees and staffing. We believe incumbent Dick Searle, and recently appointed board member Mary Ann Leffel, along with Presser, will help accomplish this and make the agency more open.

SALINAS VALLEY MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE DISTRICT

Nathan Olivas and Robert Morris are incumbents who deserve to be re-elected. Challenger Nizar Yaqub has raised some valid issues about spending and accountability, but we believe his contentiousness and history of conflict with the others would grind decision-making to a crawl.

MEASURE E | Seaside utility tax repeal

The anti-tax, anti-government freaks are at it again. This measure would hurt the city’s essential services by cutting police, fire, parks maintenance and street repairs. It would put the safety of citizens at risk and send the city into disarray. The only ones who find that outcome acceptable are the anti-tax “crusaders” who put this ludicrous measure on the ballot.

MEASURE X | PARCEL TAX for Pacific Grove Unified School District (requires 2/3 approval)

A $35 per parcel tax (for five years) to invest and ultimately preserve P.G. schools is a reasonable and necessary solution in the face of statewide budget cuts. With $400 million a day going to the Iraq war, isn’t it time we redirected a smidgen of that federal money back to our local communities for schools? Since that’s not on the ballot, we strongly support this measure.

MEASURE Y | City Employee Retirement Plan for City of Pacific Grove (Requires majority approval)

The CalPERS program guarantees a retirement of 90 percent salary after 30 years of employment. Let’s face it: This is an unaffordable long-term program, and a recipe for municipal financial disaster. The idea of replacing it with a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), is an innovative plan that ought to be adopted by the city of Pacific Grove, if not all local governments. Elected officials are in a bind to oppose the PERS program, facing strong union opposition. This measure is advisory only, and we strongly favor it.

MEASURE Z | Investment Plan for Monterey County Transportation (Requires 2/3 Approval)

If we don’t get a handle on climate change– and automobiles remain a leading source of greenhouse emissions– the world will be radically worse. Gov. Schwarzenegger, understanding this challenge, supported and signed into law AB 32, which requires a 25 percent reduction of emissions in energy, housing, forestry, agriculture and transportation by 2020.

Meanwhile, our local transportation system needs help. The downside of Measure Z is that it ensures we remain deeply invested in single-use passenger vehicles to get around town. But the measure puts needed money toward solving our clogged streets and highways, and increases safety in some key corridors. Since our community and economy depend on the automobile– and with bumper-to-bumper traffic on Highways 156, 68 and 1 every day, and a number of dangerous zones on Highway 101– we need to approve this measure. We wish more money was set aside for mass transit and alternative transportation (it’s only 3 percent). That needs to be addressed by TAMC and government leaders in a second proposal. Soon. Let’s create a bike community, and increase mass transit. It will take vision, and make the community more attractive to both locals and visitors for generations to come.