Supervisor candidate Adam Hill answers the moderator’s question as county Supervisor Jerry Lenthall listens during a forum Wednesday at the offices of The Tribune.
Correction 5/02/08An information box on Page A8 Thursday incorrectly reported the start time of Monday’s debate between 1st District county supervisor candidates Harry Ovitt, the incumbent, and Frank Mecham, mayor of Paso Robles. The event begins at 11:30 a. m., not noon, and continues to 1:30 p. m. at the Paso Robles Inn. The event is free and open to the public, but lunch is $15.
County supervisor candidate Adam Hill said at a debate Wednesday that incumbent Jerry Lenthall and his fellow supervisors have created anxiety among county employees by disregarding their professional advice on policy issues.
“There has been a routine of ignoring staff advice,” Hill said, even though they “typically know more” than the supervisors. It has happened “too often,” he said, and at the expense of taxpayers. The board also ignores its advisory commissions, he said.
The incumbent denied Hill’s accusation and called those advisers “critical; they’re like my right arm.” He said county staffers have come to him asking to make policy decisions.
Lenthall said Hill should “be very careful” before alleging that the county staff is being ignored or made anxious.
Lenthall and Hill debated for 90 minutes in front of a standing-room-only crowd of about 80 people at The Tribune’s offices on South Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo.
The Tribune co-sponsored the event with the League of Women Voters, which moderated the debate and filtered questions from the audience.
Hill, a Cal Poly lecturer, is former president of the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County. Lenthall, a former police officer, is seeking his second term on the board’s 3rd District seat in the June 3 primary.
The district includes Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Avila Beach and parts of San Luis Obispo.
As to Hill’s charge that there are “too many appeals” of Planning Commission decisions to supervisors, Lenthall said, “To say there have been too many appeals is a slap in the face of democracy.”
With a two-minute time limit per question, Hill did not provide examples.
But he later rattled off a series of headlines that he said were critical of the board. Some, but not all, were about the county’s policy to protect views of coastal hillsides.
Lenthall retorted that he could not wave negative stories about Hill because “I can’t find anything in The Tribune my opponent has done.”
Despite those jibes and occasional testiness, the two clashed politely on a series of policy questions. Each said he thought the other man was well intentioned and honest, but wrong on his positions.
Lenthall said his priorities are health care and the local economy. “We’re losing good doctors, and young ones don’t want to come here,” he said.
He said the board should continue to work with the county’s congressional representatives to increase doctors’ Medicare reimbursements.
Hill said his priorities are showing the political will to “make smart growth happen” and bring “work-force housing” to the county. He said the board lacks the “political will” to bring both things about, and that “we need to provide housing for our people who live here.”
Lenthall criticized Hill’s call for an “economic summit” that would draw on the expertise at Cal Poly — which Hill called an “underutilized asset” — to create head-of-household jobs.
Lenthall said, “We don’t need an economic summit.” He noted that those programs are already in place, citing a recent expo sponsored by the Economic Vitality Corp.
Asked what tough decision he has made, Lenthall alluded to a vote against a pension fund increase sought by correctional officers. That cost him the endorsement of the powerful Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, but Lenthall said his job is to save taxpayers’ money.
Hill said his toughest challenge was overcoming resistance to change among some on the Food Bank board.
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