As We See It: Pirie, Stone deserve re-election. - Santa Cruz Se...

Sentinel Ed Board (and readers)
...thank you for not covering this campaign or interviewing me (or any other nonincumbents?) regarding the issues in this "noncampaign" Can't afford it?....it will probably be your last election, as it looks like your irrelevancy will soon be ended by your finally closed doors and extinguished lights...RIP.
For us survivors, The "Ground Water Emergency" will be before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday...
http://pogonip.org/WaterDocs/WaterEmergencyMa...
http://207.111.238.178/water_w oes.htm
$4.5 billion of our water gone since 1998!...but you wouldn't know it reading this rag.
http://207.111.238.178/Aptos_T imes96.htm
Will Ellen do anything to protect our water from her endorsees...agribusiness...una nimously...
http://www.register-pajaronian.com/fe_view_ar...
90 desal plants worth lost and counting...
60 more worth lost before the first %$50 million plant comes online in 2016?($3 billion more lost)

http://www.dougforsupervisor.com/

http://207.111.238.178/water_w oes.htm
http://207.111.238.178/Aptos_T imes96.htm

...or will you water ratepayers continue to pay ever increasing escalating bills for the poor (or no?) judgement and management of our precious local and irreplaceable groundwaters...
and these incompetent "water managers'" salaries and pensions.
....ps Supervisors
in case you haven't figured it out yet?
Longterm SqCWD ED Laura Brown (since 1995?-paid around $3 million since then?)(how is she educationally or experientially qualified to run a water agency?)...
IS the spouse of long term Farm Bureau GM Jess Brown?....
Wonder where our water's going...how it's ending up leaving in strawberries?
Hope our Supervisors finally figure it out.
Oh yea, Ms. Brown was more than happy to supply a "cush" job (not as cush as her, though) to Sentinel Publisher Dave Regan's son Chris..
that's how it works here in "Chinatown"
....and you pay the bill.

Cut down more landmark trees. Build on every empty lot, especially the "eyesore" near Nisene Marks. Vote for Ellen Pirie.

They are both worthless. Eliminate both positions, save some money, and none of us will be any worse off.

Live, from Felton: Pirie and Stone try to bring 55 housing units to a 4 acre swampy footprint on 14 acres of land, with no sewer. Yes, these folks are pure geniuses.

Even smarter: they are using RDA tax money from the good people of Live Oak and Soquel. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Please, when you vote, ANYBODY but Stone. Send a message: no more secret deals. The public has no patience for secret deals.

The Sentinel is correct to endorse Pirie- especially if our county wants to continue with a flock of sheep for leaders. There truly is a lack of vision and creativity at the county level and the citizens of our county are suffering because of it.

The saying,'If you do the same thing, the same way, you get the same results' fits out current board perfectly. Its also the definition of insanity.

The Supervisors are 'greenwashing' themselves to jump on the 'green' bandwagon, using terms such 'global warming' and other enviro buzzwords in their statements. The facts of global warming and the need to look at a creating a sustainable model for our natural resources as we develop our bioregion have been known for at least 40 years. But these politicians haven't had the fortitude to make the decisions necessary to bring our county towards a self-sufficient and self-reliant future.

Doug Deitch, another candidate for Pirie's seat, has been a champion of keeping our extreme water issue in the public's eye for well over 10 years and our current Supervisors are just now starting to partially deal with our water emergency. Where was the leadership 20 years ago? Even 5 years ago?

Our current supervisors just spent $10K to fund an economic 'buy local' campaign then, in the same breath, voted to pay $30K to a San Francisco outfit to run a poll on how to tax our county residents more. Who's crazy now?

My friends and family are tired of slick career politicians and want change.
Our civic leaders were once called 'city fathers' or 'founding fathers'. They were supposed to look after the county much as a parent would look after their children. From what I see, our current career politicians have bought into the big business of politics and have put covering one another's backs as their first priority.

Eight years is enough of 'working on projects; our citizens want results.

We want a county where our children can grow up in a clean, safe environment without fear of rampant gangs and crime or of politicians taxing them to death.

It truly is time for change.

Jess Brown's cute, but isn't that a conflict of interest?

I remember when Pirie was first elected, she voted for herself to get a raise barely two months into the job. She's just a blah, nothing innovative from her. At least Doug has a passion for something (water).

Havent really seen any interviewing/investigating like the old days of the Sentinel. I guess they do interview liqour story employees in BL for opinion to add to stories. Still waiting for a real story on BLFD rather than parrot the Fire chief and only his views. Then say its unopposed...

Feels like the Sentinel is understaffed and therefore unreliable for information.

Just how frackin worthless is the Scotts Valley Sentinel?

In terms of just general worthlessness when it comes to local politics, it is bad if not disgraceful.

Just the other day there was a story in the Sentinel about how nobody knew there was an election.

Wow, what a shocker! The worthless Sentinel hasn't been reporting much on the California and local elections.

Has it done any in-depth profiles on the candidates running for local office? No

Do we know where they stand on the issues? No.

But hey, we surely get a daily barrage of news about moths, pot festivals, bike Nazis, and tree sitters. You know, things that really matter to most people.

And next time the editors and reporters cry about losing their jobs because of the evil corporate world, maybe they should should look in the mirror. Maybe they are the ones responsible for the Sentinel's failures.

Since Doug Deitch is the only candidate that has made it to the public sphere through the Sentinel by way of his posting here, I am voting for him.

Doug, keep up the effort, the only way we will know about you is through the message boards.

I take comfort in knowing that you are not part of the corrupt political-media nexis we have in Santa Cruz.

Mark Stone is not an environmentalist. He just knows that he needs the Sierra Club to win. Look at his support for the Felton housing project. Environmentalism is the furthest thing from his little mind.

Anybody but Stone, the Fred Keeley clone.

Say "No" to Mark Stone, no friend of the valley. Never has been, never will be.

I have worked with Ellen Pirie for a few years now off and on. Or should I say tried to work with Ellen Pirie. She is the ultimate waffler. I am sure there are many on the Aptos Region who will second me on this one.

Anybody but Pirie. Without getting into detail We Can Not Trust this Woman at All.

Even when the South Public County Schools are going down the toilet maybe she should step in and address this critical issue. Where is she? No where to be found.

She sure got her raise passed through as teachers are being fired and school libraries are being closed. The county keeps on spending and the schools keep on suffering.

What is her position on anything? Waffler! She will not stick her neck out for anybody. Right or Wrong! What is her position on the Illegal Immigration that plagues our schools and county?
Crime? Taxes? Oh she is for more taxes!

VOTE NO on R

VOTE anyone but Pirie!

These endorsements are spot on.

I've always been impressed with the responses I get from Sup. Pirie to my letters and emails. She is a talented leader from my observations.

I have property in District 5 and the few occasions I've had to express concerns to Sup. Stone, he was very responsive and seems to have had a quiet hand in smoothing over county bureaucracy for my situation.

If I lived in either district I would gladly reelect those candidates. I live in District 1 so I'll be voting for John Leopold, the best leader among the candidates.

jarbee wrote:

These endorsements are spot on.
I've always been impressed with the responses I get from Sup. Pirie to my letters and emails. She is a talented leader from my observations.
I have property in District 5 and the few occasions I've had to express concerns to Sup. Stone, he was very responsive and seems to have had a quiet hand in smoothing over county bureaucracy for my situation.
If I lived in either district I would gladly reelect those candidates. I live in District 1 so I'll be voting for John Leopold, the best leader among the candidates.

Wafflers! What has Pirie done? Like Obama, Nothing...

That's great jarbee! You're one of the people Stone smooths things over for. Wow! Now if your going to be a collectivist....shouldn't you start worrying about all the other residents of District 5? Those who don't get special perks from Stone? Come on, where's your value system?

Reading comments by Doug Deitch have opened my eyes to the severity of our local water issues, but it's his comments that make me think he doesn't have enough "waffle" ability to be a good Supervisor. Politics is the art of compromise. This mid-county district needs an effective waffler. Mr. Deitch is a great advocate- a lot like Al Gore and global warming. Keep the information coming and I'll keep turning up the heat on our representatives.

Hooray for America in Decline who nails the Sentinel where it hurts-with honesty. If this paper gets any thinner (with its 'reporting' or total pages), it'll be on my TP roller.

"Has it done any in-depth profiles on the candidates running for local office? No

Do we know where they stand on the issues? No.

But hey, we surely get a daily barrage of news about moths, pot festivals, bike Nazis, and tree sitters. You know, things that really matter to most people."

I'd like to hear about the BLFD issue. We surely need a new firehouse for our fabulous firefighters, but I surely don't need more freaking taxes. I'm still paying for a swimming pool and a bunch of Cabrillo bills on my tax stubs. Stone? Figured he'd be moving up and out of bumpkin politics by now...green isn't his color. Or is it? Fix our potholes and get some freaking deputies hired to help out the families and kids up here.

Its also called a violation of seperation of powers. It is illegal for Supervisors (the legislative) to manipulate the planning department(the executive) for their friends. I have some problems with Planning Department brownshirts, so how can I get someone to smooth things over for me? Jeff Almquist put Hallcrest Vineyards in Felton under "protection" when they got red tagged for a use permit violation. The owner was a libertarian, but Jeff convinced him to campaign for the SLV swimming pool tax and hold some democratic fundraisers at the winery. He was caught by the Grand Jury and written up in their 2003 report.