Janice Bell and Richard Selover could be headed toward a photo finish in a race for the Colusa County Board of Supervisors District 5 seat.
The winner in the Nov. 8 election will take over for Denise Carter, whose term expires on Dec. 31.
With just two candidates in the run-off election, Thursday’s candidate forum reflected the near 50-50 division in support among the audience, similar to the June primary voter turnout, when only one vote separated the two candidates.
That means the election could come down to whichever candidate is able woo the voters who supported a third candidate in the primary, Marilyn Acree.
Both candidates said they are the best person for the job.
Bell has worked for Colusa County for 30 years, mostly in the Office of Emergency Services, and will retire at the end of the year.
“I have extremely extensive experience with this county,” Bell said. “I know every road, I know every back alley, I know every risk that we could be susceptible to receiving damage from. I know all the problems with the drought, with flooding, with fires. I write the hazard mitigation plans for the county to combat these types of disasters that befall our county. I am very familiar with the people in this county and know how the county offices work.”
Selover, a Colusa businessman, has volunteered on a number of local boards and commissions for a similar amount of time.
“I am a second generation business owner here in Colusa,” Selover said. “I’ve fronted our business for 32 years and am in the process of retiring. I’m going to hand it down to my oldest son so that would free up my time to be able to look after county supervisorial duties 100 percent of the time.”
Conventional wisdom is that the two are going to be very close, possibly coming down to just a few votes separating them.
The Oct. 24 forum was hosted by the Colusa County Chamber of Commerce and Farm Bureau. KPAY talk radio host Scott Michaels was the moderator.
Both candidates answered a series of pre-selected questions on issues related to Colusa County, as well as a few questions posed by the audience.
Both acknowledged the county’s budget shortfall and the importance of the Sites Reservoir.
They both support Measure A, a special tax to fund ambulance services.
With just two candidates, the format deviated from the traditional League of Women Voters protocols, and allowed an opportunity for each candidate to give a short rebuttal to the other candidate’s answers.
Economic matters took center stage.
Selover said the current board did an exceptional job balancing the budget this year without cutting services, despite a $1.7 million reduction in general fund revenue from unitary taxes from the PG&E plant and the devastating impacts related to ongoing drought.
But Selover believes budget concerns will be ongoing, creating a need to diversify the economic base by bringing in compatible non-agriculture industries, and by supporting new businesses and young entrepreneurs to strengthen the economy.
“Our demographics have changed,” he said. “Our age group is getting a lot more younger people in the community than what we have had the last few years. I want to make sure all aspects of our community are respected and all aspects are supported.”
Bell rated Colusa County’s economy a D- and believes cuts may have to be made at the top level of government to keep law enforcement and public safety services, which are vital.
“I do know that the first place I’m going to look is going to be me,” she said. “You cut me first before you cut any employee or service. It’s just not conceivable to me that I can sit up here on a dais and say ‘we are cutting this department or cutting that department; we’re going to lay off these people.’ Having gone through a furlough once myself with no buyback, I see it’s just not very good for morale; it’s difficult to retain people. I don’t see a lot being done for retention of employees or to recruit new employees, and I want to look at that on a long term basis. I want to work with my partners on the board – the other board members- and see if we can come up with a long term solution.”
The candidates were slightly divided on a number of issues, particularly cannabis.
Selover said for the time being, he supports the county’s current position to ban cannabis cultivation in the unincorporated areas.
“I don’t believe it’s worked out the way the city (Colusa) thought it was going to work out and I definitely don’t see where the county needs to jump into this industry at this point in time,” he said.
Bell said she is in staunch opposition to retail sale of cannabis in town, not cannabis in general.
“Cannabis is a farming industry,” she said. “I’m not anti-cannabis. I’m just anti-dispensaries and I think that cannabis businesses should not be given so many breaks and the waiving of fees that we see going on in the City of Colusa… I hope if the county looks at their cannabis ordinance further that they take that into consideration.”
They were also divided on whether consolidation of public safety agencies should be considered if government budget concerns/deficits become ongoing.
Sellover said for a population of 22,000 men, women, and children, the administration of multiple agencies is top heavy and consolidation may have to be looked at in the future, strictly out of necessity.
“There may be a way to streamline it,” Selover said. “It may take participation from all municipalities. It’s going to take some kind of cost share agreement. It’s going to take some kind of revenue share agreement. I do think that can be achieved, but I’m not sure that’s ever been given a fair shake before.”
Bells said consolidating law enforcement agencies would not work out because the costs-benefit ratio would not be equitable or fair.
“If there were to be a merger with law enforcement, they would spend the rest of the time trying to figure out how to get out of that merger,” Bell said.
On the question of how each would change certain aspects of county government, Selover said he would like to see local officials work more regionally to focus on homelessness, mental health, and substance use.
Bell would like to see department heads and elected department heads have more autonomy from the Board of Supervisors to make their own decisions, particularly regarding the purchasing of needed equipment.
As for projects that each candidate would like to see started or come to fruition during their tenure that would have the most impact, both said Sites Reservoir.
A community center and new jail were others.
The forum lasted just over one hour as was broadcasted live on the Chamber’s social media. ■