3 diverse candidates fight
for Sutter supervisors seat
Sac Bee Exloo
YUBA CITY 10/4/02 (YSN) - A lawyer, a gym teacher and an immigrant real estate agent are running for the Sutter County's fourth district supervisor's seat.
Attorney Jesse Santana, Yuba City High School basketball coach Jim Whiteaker and Punjabi-born civil engineer and realtor Romy Saini are seeking the post left by Supervisor Joan Bechtel, when she was appointed county clerk earlier this year.
All three see growth as the defining issue of the times, with attracting industry and new jobs coming in close seconds they said in interviews and at a recent candidates night.
To cope with growth, Whiteaker called for "good growth plans" and Saini asked for " balanced growth."
Santana worried how growth might alter the county's rural character. "We need to create our own identity. I hate the label people place on us as a bedroom community," he said.
Preservation and expansion of agriculturally related businesses was strongly supported by all three candidates.
The Board of Supervisors recently broached the subject of backing out of the Williamson Act, a tax break given to farmers who promise to keep their lands in agriculture for long periods of time.
Santana, Whiteaker and Saini all favored keeping the Williamson Act in effect.
Similar in age and appearance, but different in background and personality, each of the candidates represents a distinct element of Sutter County history.
Jim Whiteaker, 37, is the son of Roy Whiteaker -- a former sheriff and a heavyweight in local politics.
Though he spurned law enforcement to go to California State University Chico to become a teacher, the young Whiteaker still shared some interests with his father.
"It's time for the next generation to enter county politics," Jim Whiteaker said in a phone interview.
Also born in the Yuba-Sutter area, Santana, 39, was one of five children of the foreman of ranch near Gridley.
After a childhood of picking peaches, driving fork lifts and moving irrigation pipe around, Santana also went on to Chico State. He went on to the University of San Francisco Law School and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. where he received a masters degree in law.
Santana became a deputy district attorney in Fresno County, then spent five years with the Crosby, Heafey, Roach and May law firm in Oakland before returning home to become a partner in his own Yuba City law firm.
"All the work ethic I have I comes from my father and mother," he told members of the Sutter Taxpayers Association at a candidates night Thursday.
Saini, 39, was born in Punjab, India where his father was an electrical engineer. He earned a civil engineering degree and then a masters degree in business administration before immigrating to Sutter County in 1990 to sell real estate.
"This is a land of opportunity. It has been for me. I wanted to give something back to the community by public service," he said, when asked why he wanted to be a Sutter County supervisor.
All three pledged to protect the ag jobs that were here and work hard to create more jobs, but they did not always agree on how best to accomplish that.
Saini said ways should be found to increase tourism through exploitation of the county's history - "home of the Thompson seedless grape" -- and scenic qualities - "the Sutter Buttes are the world's smallest mountain range"
Attracting pollution-free software businesses - "those jobs pay better" - would be another way to beef up the local economy, Saini noted.
"I want to diversify the economy, bring in more medical and biotech industries," Santana said.
Santana and Whiteaker both looked to the south Sutter county area adjacent as a place to locate new industries, but that section has already come under fire.
Whiteaker said the county could better attract industry there by putting in the necessary industrial and transportation infrastructure in beforehand and lowering the impact fees businesses would have to pay.
Earlier this year the Board of Supervisors approved a specific plan for a $279 million project to develop 3,500 acres near Riego Road and Highway 99 in a complex that could eventually create an estimated 55,000 new.
Numerous environmental groups objected to the plan, claiming the county failed to adequately protect habitat and wildlife in the area.
The Sierra Club and the North Valley Citizens League for Responsible Growth subsequently filed lawsuits in Sacramento federal court over the proposed plan - lawsuits Santana says could cost the county millions of dollars in legal fees.
"I think the board was premature in approving the specific plan. We'll be spending millions of dollars defending the plan. We should sit down at the table and resolve this," Santana said.
Whiteaker and Saini agreed that settling the lawsuits rather than fighting them would be in the county's best interests.
"If you're going to come out with a plan, you better have the lawyers to back it up," Whiteaker said.
For the most part, the candidates have kept to the high road and avoided taking potshots at each other - but not always.
"I've attended the board of supervisors meetings, but I haven't seen any of my opponents there. I think if you're going to run for the office you should make the meetings," Whiteaker said.
Whiteaker's critics on the hand have suggested his campaign strategists recruited Saini into the race in a time-tested political tactic to split the Santana vote - not a wholly illogical assumption in this particular race.
Election records show Santana and Whiteaker both filed to run on the same day early in the electoral process, with both returning signed voter petitions in lieu of registration fees. Saini filed at the last minute and paid his candidacy fees.
More to the point, Saini and Whiteaker's father work in the same realty office.
"Just because we work in the same office and know each other doesn't mean there is a conflict," Saini said.
Though they may have taken different career paths, his father has strongly supported his candidacy, Jim Whiteaker said.
"My father has been in the background of the campaign and he has given me good political advice," Whiteaker said.
In their closing statements at a candidates night Thursday, the three candidates summarised their qualifications and desires,
Saini emphasized his wish to return something to the community, while Whiteaker stressed his lifelong connection to the community and his teaching experience.
Santana said he was most qualified because he had direct experience handling "multi-million budgets" as a member of the boards of directors for a bank, a medical clinic and a Catholic church.
for Sutter supervisors seat
Sac Bee Exloo
YUBA CITY 10/4/02 (YSN) - A lawyer, a gym teacher and an immigrant real estate agent are running for the Sutter County's fourth district supervisor's seat.
Attorney Jesse Santana, Yuba City High School basketball coach Jim Whiteaker and Punjabi-born civil engineer and realtor Romy Saini are seeking the post left by Supervisor Joan Bechtel, when she was appointed county clerk earlier this year.
All three see growth as the defining issue of the times, with attracting industry and new jobs coming in close seconds they said in interviews and at a recent candidates night.
To cope with growth, Whiteaker called for "good growth plans" and Saini asked for " balanced growth."
Santana worried how growth might alter the county's rural character. "We need to create our own identity. I hate the label people place on us as a bedroom community," he said.
Preservation and expansion of agriculturally related businesses was strongly supported by all three candidates.
The Board of Supervisors recently broached the subject of backing out of the Williamson Act, a tax break given to farmers who promise to keep their lands in agriculture for long periods of time.
Santana, Whiteaker and Saini all favored keeping the Williamson Act in effect.
Similar in age and appearance, but different in background and personality, each of the candidates represents a distinct element of Sutter County history.
Jim Whiteaker, 37, is the son of Roy Whiteaker -- a former sheriff and a heavyweight in local politics.
Though he spurned law enforcement to go to California State University Chico to become a teacher, the young Whiteaker still shared some interests with his father.
"It's time for the next generation to enter county politics," Jim Whiteaker said in a phone interview.
Also born in the Yuba-Sutter area, Santana, 39, was one of five children of the foreman of ranch near Gridley.
After a childhood of picking peaches, driving fork lifts and moving irrigation pipe around, Santana also went on to Chico State. He went on to the University of San Francisco Law School and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. where he received a masters degree in law.
Santana became a deputy district attorney in Fresno County, then spent five years with the Crosby, Heafey, Roach and May law firm in Oakland before returning home to become a partner in his own Yuba City law firm.
"All the work ethic I have I comes from my father and mother," he told members of the Sutter Taxpayers Association at a candidates night Thursday.
Saini, 39, was born in Punjab, India where his father was an electrical engineer. He earned a civil engineering degree and then a masters degree in business administration before immigrating to Sutter County in 1990 to sell real estate.
"This is a land of opportunity. It has been for me. I wanted to give something back to the community by public service," he said, when asked why he wanted to be a Sutter County supervisor.
All three pledged to protect the ag jobs that were here and work hard to create more jobs, but they did not always agree on how best to accomplish that.
Saini said ways should be found to increase tourism through exploitation of the county's history - "home of the Thompson seedless grape" -- and scenic qualities - "the Sutter Buttes are the world's smallest mountain range"
Attracting pollution-free software businesses - "those jobs pay better" - would be another way to beef up the local economy, Saini noted.
"I want to diversify the economy, bring in more medical and biotech industries," Santana said.
Santana and Whiteaker both looked to the south Sutter county area adjacent as a place to locate new industries, but that section has already come under fire.
Whiteaker said the county could better attract industry there by putting in the necessary industrial and transportation infrastructure in beforehand and lowering the impact fees businesses would have to pay.
Earlier this year the Board of Supervisors approved a specific plan for a $279 million project to develop 3,500 acres near Riego Road and Highway 99 in a complex that could eventually create an estimated 55,000 new.
Numerous environmental groups objected to the plan, claiming the county failed to adequately protect habitat and wildlife in the area.
The Sierra Club and the North Valley Citizens League for Responsible Growth subsequently filed lawsuits in Sacramento federal court over the proposed plan - lawsuits Santana says could cost the county millions of dollars in legal fees.
"I think the board was premature in approving the specific plan. We'll be spending millions of dollars defending the plan. We should sit down at the table and resolve this," Santana said.
Whiteaker and Saini agreed that settling the lawsuits rather than fighting them would be in the county's best interests.
"If you're going to come out with a plan, you better have the lawyers to back it up," Whiteaker said.
For the most part, the candidates have kept to the high road and avoided taking potshots at each other - but not always.
"I've attended the board of supervisors meetings, but I haven't seen any of my opponents there. I think if you're going to run for the office you should make the meetings," Whiteaker said.
Whiteaker's critics on the hand have suggested his campaign strategists recruited Saini into the race in a time-tested political tactic to split the Santana vote - not a wholly illogical assumption in this particular race.
Election records show Santana and Whiteaker both filed to run on the same day early in the electoral process, with both returning signed voter petitions in lieu of registration fees. Saini filed at the last minute and paid his candidacy fees.
More to the point, Saini and Whiteaker's father work in the same realty office.
"Just because we work in the same office and know each other doesn't mean there is a conflict," Saini said.
Though they may have taken different career paths, his father has strongly supported his candidacy, Jim Whiteaker said.
"My father has been in the background of the campaign and he has given me good political advice," Whiteaker said.
In their closing statements at a candidates night Thursday, the three candidates summarised their qualifications and desires,
Saini emphasized his wish to return something to the community, while Whiteaker stressed his lifelong connection to the community and his teaching experience.
Santana said he was most qualified because he had direct experience handling "multi-million budgets" as a member of the boards of directors for a bank, a medical clinic and a Catholic church.
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