PD article on Supervisor forum in Roseland May 12
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Sonoma County 5th District candidates stake out positions at forum
ANGELA HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | May 12, 2016, 9:55PM
Noreen Evans and Lynda Hopkins, who have emerged as front-runners in the race to replace Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, offered competing ideas at a candidates forum Thursday in Roseland for how they would expand early childhood education and preserve local businesses in southwest Santa Rosa. Hopkins pushed for a countywide tax on soda, while Evans voiced strong support for a ban on fast-food chains.
Hopkins, a political newcomer and organic farmer, said if elected she would propose a soda tax of 1 cent per ounce to pay for a universal preschool initiative, which early estimates show could cost the county about $20 million a year.
“It would be a win-win and reduce, hopefully … diabetes, and also provide a funding mechanism for universal preschool,” Hopkins said. “A soda tax of 1 cent per ounce would generate $20 million per year for the county, which could then be invested in our youth.”
Evans, a former Santa Rosa councilwoman who went on to serve 10 years in the state Legislature, said she would address concerns among local business owners in Roseland and southwest Santa Rosa about being displaced by fast-food chains and large retailers as Roseland is annexed into Santa Rosa by banning such stores.
“The reality is that when infrastructure starts to get improved and money starts to get reinvested in the community, big-box retail and chain restaurants are going to want to locate here because it will be profitable for them,” said Evans, taking a slight jab at Hopkins for not offering a clear answer.
“We need to be very careful that Roseland maintains its very unique character. That means that we design the community for people, not for cars. It means we keep the taco trucks. It means we build sidewalks that are safe for people to walk on,” she said.
The 5th District candidates’ remarks were part of a forum Thursday night at the Roseland Village Community Center hosted by Sonoma Media Investments’ La Prensa Sonoma. The company also owns The Press Democrat.
Five candidates discussed how to build and preserve affordable housing, fund universal preschool and advance the annexation of Roseland while preserving Roseland’s identity.
In addition to Evans and Hopkins, the three other candidates are Tim Sergent, a special education teacher at Maria Carrillo High School; Marion Chase, a county social services worker; and Tom Lynch, a general contractor and county planning commissioner.
Chase said she, too, supports a ban on chain stores and would require it in writing during the annexation of Roseland. Hopkins, Sergent and Lynch did not call for an outright ban on large retailers or fast-food restaurants.
Hopkins’ idea to tax sugary drinks comes amid another tax proposal currently under consideration on the Board of Supervisors. Similar soda tax proposals have been debated in other parts of the Bay Area. Berkeley voters passed a tax of 12 cents per 12-ounce can in 2014 despite an expensive campaign by the soda industry to defeat it, while San Francisco voted down a similar measure the same year.
Evans and others touted their support for universal preschool. Evans said she endorsed a similar statewide proposal when she was in the Assembly. She said locally, she would fund access to preschool for thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds through a combination of new taxes and state and federal dollars.
She backed the county’s proposal to fund early childhood education for about 10,000 preschool-age kids through a quarter- cent sales tax increase that could be placed on the ballot this November. Carrillo, the incumbent who has held the seat since 2009 and who has endorsed Hopkins, has been championing the initiative for years, calling it the “most important investment the county can make.”
Evans said one of her plans, which she’s dubbed “pot for potholes,” could also help fund the preschool initiative, as well as supply much-needed dollars for annexing Roseland and help the county repair its crumbling road network. Her idea is to have the county regulate and tax medical and — if passed in November — recreational marijuana that is grown commercially.
Sergent, a longtime teacher, said instead of new taxes to pay for preschool, he’d instead advocate for the county to rein in spending in other areas while advocating for more state and federal funding.
Hopkins, who has faced criticism in recent weeks over receiving several large campaign donations from real estate and business interests, said for the first time publicly Thursday that she supports imposing rent control and just-cause eviction policies in unincorporated areas. Such measures have sparked controversy across the county as rents have skyrocketed in recent years. The Santa Rosa City Council voted in favor of rent control and tighter limits on evictions earlier this month.
“We need to create a consistent policy that is consistent with the city of Santa Rosa,” Hopkins said.
Evans also supports the policies and came out strongly in favor of such tenant protections in the beginning of her candidacy.
“I believe it’s critically important to maintain our stock of affordable housing,” Evans said.
Chase also endorsed replicating the idea in unincorporated areas of the county, while Sergent and Lynch said they oppose rent control.
“The solution is not rent control, it’s more housing,” Sergent said.
Re: PD article on Supervisor forum in Roseland May 12
Just read the article. The candidate quotes don't lie.
"A 'soda tax for hopefully reducing diabetes and forming universal preschools."
Some candidates are out of touch with the working people of Sonoma County.
Tim Sergent's common sense ideas better represent my actual life:
"Sergent, a longtime teacher, said instead of new taxes to pay for preschool, he’d instead advocate for the county to rein in spending in other areas while advocating for more state and federal funding.
“The solution is not rent control, it’s more housing,” Sergent said."
Please vote for Mr. .Sergent. Thank you.
Re: PD article on Supervisor forum in Roseland May 12
This was one of the most telling pieces printed by the PD so far. It was before they officially endorsed their candidate, but part of their manipulation of readers to in effort to narrow the field from five to two candidates. The bulk of the article is, of course, about the Evans-Hopkins celebrity death match, but after I read it, it was pretty clear that the adult in the room in Roseland was Tim Sergent.
Even while the PD uses their power to influence to try to eliminate the people's candidates, Sergent demonstrated why he is our best choice. He's smart, practical, he's lived and worked (yes, he works--at a job!) here for 20 years, and hasn't taken any big corporate donor, special interest money. (Unlike this PD proclaimed "frontrunner" https://tinyurl.com/zdoprpv)
Despite the PD's best effort, our longtime local District 5 candidate rose to the top in Roseland: Tim Sergent.
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