Yuba County Dist. 2 supervisor candidates answer questions
With a run-off election slated for one seat on the Yuba County Board of Supervisors, District 2 candidates met last week for a virtual forum to discuss a variety of issues.
Candidates are Don Blaser and Stephen Heter. They’re vying for the seat currently held by Mike Leahy, who failed to win enough votes in the primary to advance to the general election.
Heter said it comes down to relationships and if you want to bring a certain segment of society into the process, it’s important to create relationships, which lead to more opportunities. He said it’s not about putting one person over another, though there are opportunities to equal the playing field to create more opportunities for all.
Blaser said it comes down to the qualifications of the individual. That being said, perhaps there needs to be more of an effort to give people of color the chance to qualify for positions of power, he said. He said sometimes in low-income situations, individuals don’t have the same opportunities as others, whether it be because of education or IT support, but all in all, he believes there is an untapped source of employment in those areas.
Q: Yuba County has a source of revenue in the generation of hydropower. Sometimes it seems like the Yuba Water Agency board cannot give money away fast enough, though there are restrictions on what that money can be used for. Can you explain those
restrictions and what that leaves the county able to do with all the revenue?
Blaser said because the funding comes through the Yuba Water Agency, one must assume the money has to be spent on water-related issues, such as recreation and irrigation. From what he’s seen, the water agency has been great at finding gray areas to fund projects. He said the agency seems very responsible and interested in supporting the county in every way possible.
Heter said there are particular areas the agency can use the funding for and have found creative ways to work different community projects into the framework, like the greenspace project around Ellis
Lake, different studies and in fronting money as loans. He said the agency also has plans to build an additional spillway at New Bullards Bar to increase flood protection, a project that will cost more than $100 million to complete. He said the projects the agency has helped fund are helping stimulate the local economy while ensuring those funds are being awarded in a way that complies with the agency’s boundaries.
Q: Measure K (sales tax increase for the
unincorporated parts of the county) – Was it done properly? What is happening right now with that issue?
Heter said he doesn’t feel the effort was done properly at all, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s lawsuit is indicative of many people’s beliefs on how it wasn’t done properly. The county is still collecting the funds from the sales tax increase because the matter hasn’t been settled in court yet. He said if it is overturned, he doesn’t know how the county will go about returning those funds to residents. He said the way the county went about collecting the money improperly is the antithesis of how good government should operate.
Blaser said the measure was promoted as a public safety/essential services protection measure, and there was no mention of the money going directly into the general fund. He doesn’t support a tax going into the county’s general fund without specific expectations for how or where the money will be spent. He said those that created the measure should’ve had the experience to write it in a way that wouldn’t have resulted in a lawsuit
for the county. With the money still being collected, he isn’t sure how that money will be dispersed back to the community if the measure is overturned in court.
Q: Homelessness in the county – can you explain what’s being done to address it and what more could be done?
Blaser said his biggest problem with the situation is how those experiencing homeless are all thrown under the same big umbrella. He said about 10 percent of those experiencing homelessness are people who got themselves into a bad situation and are making an effort to get out of it. He said his biggest hope for addressing the issue is through the Sutter-yuba Homeless Consortium and the work being done at the Life Building Center in Marysville, where people can go to get immediate help and for emergency shelter overnight. He said the center is a location that can connect homeless individuals directly with resources they need.
Heter said he’s passionate about addressing the homelessness issue. He said a recent survey
showed that 70 percent of those living in the river bottoms area want to live that lifestyle, so it comes down to helping the other 30 percent who want to get out of the situation and change their life. He said there is a program in San Diego that provides
a one-stop shop of resources for homeless individuals, and that he’d really like to spearhead a similar effort locally.
Q: What are some pet issues you’d like to take care of over the next four years in the county? Name
one or two that you’d champion and tell us a little about it.
Heter said one of the areas he’d like to champion is in addressing homelessness. He said he’d also like to help the city of Marysville fix its
roads. He said the city has a federal grant to address the issue but needs help with road maintenance in order to obtain that funding, so the county could help with some no cost or lowcost loans to help them finish the work and receive the federal funding.
Blaser said one of the projects he’d like to champion is the push for a bypass around Marysville. He said a bypass is needed and that officials need to start with the planning. Secondly, he would like to see the old railroad bridge that runs adjacent to the Fifth Street Bridge converted into a pedestrian/cycling bridge. He said it would tie Marysville and Yuba City together and could make the area a destination for biking and hiking.
Q: Will there ever be a time when Yuba County would consider changing its mind about commercial marijuana sales? Why/why not? How about cultivation?
Blaser said the county currently doesn’t allow for outdoor cultivation
and restrictions on indoor growing are pretty strong, which he feels is the best track for the county at this time. He said allowing for cultivation won’t solve some of the issues the sheriff ’s office is experiencing with illegal grows in the foothills area. He said he doesn’t have a problem with the medical side of cannabis, though he’s still struggling to accept the legality of recreational cannabis. He said he hopes legalization leads to stricter controls on the industry in general, but he can’t go along with legalizing sales within the county.
Heter said cannabis is still considered a Schedule One drug by the federal government, and he doesn’t think the county should go against that. He said up until the federal government changes its mind, the county would be flouting the law and all it would take is a change in administration to treat it differently and crack down on the industry. Furthermore, he said, it brings a criminal element along with it, with organizations having learned how to game the system.