fresno elections 2008

Kings county is an excellent, and affordable, place to live and we have many opportunities for growth. We are a rural county and have lots of open space for people. We do have to travel to get to some of the larger areas, but it is nice to come back home to peace and quite. Our centralized locale makes travel to the Bay Area and Southern California ; Mountains and the Coast easy.

I am proud to be a resident of Kings County. I think the values evident in the county and the spirit of our residents and their willingness to work hard to achieve worthwhile goals should be a source of pride. I believe that we are a community more concerned about substance than image and are willing to do the hard work necessary to continue improving upon past success. The question of how to improve the county’s image somewhat implies that the image is somehow more important or perhaps independent from substance, when in reality it is not. The way to improve our county’s image is as simple as working to improve conditions in the county. When you improve reality, the image will take care of itself. Significant real improvements take time and work and require responsible leadership.

Kings County should display and be aggressive about telling the story about our agricultural engine. I am and would continue to be an advocate of Kings County on my travels. Statistics tell us that we are set to triple in population in the next 15 years. We need to show that we are ready for this growth and that we have dedicated elected officials that have the time and the energy to focus on current and upcoming important issues.

Kings County is blessed with great people but is need of better educational opportunities,. As the District 5 Supervisor I will advocate for sustainable development based upon smart growth strategies that preserve our farmland and open space; better paying jobs fueled by small business startups and educational/corporate partnerships; more public participation in decisions affecting our citizens; providing Kings County citizens the highest quality fire protection, law enforcement, roads, public health and other essential services. With a new vision and better leadership we can make Kings County a shining star in the San Joaquin Valley.

The image of Kings County within the state is exceptional. We are known to be innovative, cooperative, easy to work with, open, honest, and sharing. We freely share with other counties our successful programs and advice. I have never heard one word of criticism of our county or its employees at the state level in 10 years, only praise. Locally, the County's image is determined by the service delivered by a county employee. When a person does not feel that they have received good service, they call their Supervisor. Our job is to check out the situation and determine if the complaint has merit . If it does, we apologize and make sure it does not happen again. If it is a case where the person just did not get the answer they wanted, it is our job to explain to them our inability to satisfy their need and direct them to a possible solution if one exists.