Tiffany Revelle
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN ? Dist. 1 Supervisor Ed Robey announced he will not be running for the seat again in the June Primary Election after what will be 12 consecutive years in office.
Five candidates have stepped up, both officially and unofficially, to run for the county seat. With the official nomination period beginning Feb. 11 and running through March 7 for the June primary, one candidate has filed a candidate intention form with the county Registrar of Voters Office.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley explained that a candidate intention form must be filed before a candidate can either accept contributions or spend money for their candidacy. So far, she said, no financial activity was reported for either Dist. 1 or Dist. 5, where one candidate filed an intention form in April.
Susanne La Faver is a six-year Middletown resident, and filed a candidate intention form Aug. 9. La Faver said in a recent statement, “Following retirement, my husband and I wanted to live in a community where we could contribute.”
Her resume details a 25-year history in public relations, where her duties included strategic communications research and planning, media relations, crisis and issues management and public affairs counsel.
La Faver holds a Masters in public administration, and told the Record-Bee recently that she is spending a lot of time doing her homework on the issues she”ll be addressing in the upcoming election. In a recent e-mail, La Faver said her goals for the county are “to continue managing growth in a positive way; protect our natural resources, especially water; and maintain a fiscally sound local government.”
She teaches public relations for graduate business students online for Golden Gate University, where she earned her degree 18 years ago.
She has been involved in Middletown”s senior center and library, South Lake Fire Safe Council, Hidden Valley Lake Safety and Security Committee, taught management at Yuba College, worked for South Lake Fire Protection District”s Measure B and worked with businesses throughout Lake, Glenn, Colusa and Mendocino counties through Community Development Services.
Scott Fergusson owns a cutlery shop near the intersection of highways 175 and 29, and has lived in Hidden Valley Lake”s gated community for the past eight years. He told the Record-Bee that hears from a lot of the community”s members who come into his shop, and believes the consensus is that Robey is not representing his district well.
“A county supervisor should be more personal and one-on-one,” said Fergusson, explaining that if elected, he would hold quarterly meetings to keep constituents informed.
Fergusson said he”s been involved with the Middletown Area Business Association, sits as a director on the Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) advisory board and was in the U.S. Marines for 10 years. “I”m a team player, and I”m not afraid of work or getting my hands dirty,” said Fergusson.
Robert MacIntyre has been a fire fighter for 26 years, 11 of those in Lake County. He sits on the board of directors for the South Lake County Fire Protection District, where his second four-year term is almost up.
His concerns in the county include public safety, environmental concerns, infrastructure, public transportation and education.
“What I would do if elected right off the bat is look at how much crime there is in the south lake area compared to how much law enforcement we have available,” said MacIntyre. He added that while he has not done any hard research on that topic, he has heard concern in the community that “it takes forever to get law enforcement response.”
MacIntyre told the Record-Bee that what he would like to see in the county is more recycling points and public awareness of how to be environmentally sensitive, more cash infusion for the county”s roads, particularly in the South County, improved public transportation and more vocational classes available to high school students.
He added, “If I were to hear from my constituents that something else was needed, my concerns would be those.”
Don Dornbush ran for Dist. 1 Supervisor four years ago, and said after talking to his supporters he has decided to run again.
Dornbush sits on Habitat for Humanity”s board of dirictors, the Cobb Little League board and the Hidden Valley Lake Homeowners Association”s board of directors, and has lived in the county for 20 years.
Last time he ran for supervisor, Dornbush said he predicted that development would outstrip the real estate market. “Why put out more development than possibly can be sold,” he asked, adding that how those decision effect land value needs to be considered.
“In the south side of the county, we”re the fastest-growing area because we”re closest to the job market in Sonoma County,” said Dornbush. He said decisions in the north county need to take into consideration their effects on his community. “We need a stronger voice for the south county,” he said.
His concerns include unsafe conditions at the Middletown Senior Center and the area”s large elderly population, improving roads and furthering cooperation between the county”s charitable agencies.
Dornbush said he would not serve for more than two terms as a county supervisor because he believes that fresh perspective is important to all aspects of government.
County Code Enforcement Manager Voris Brumfield confirmed that she is also running for the county seat, but chose to reserve comment on issues important to her until later in her candidacy.
“Those will be generated from the people that elect me,” said Brumfield. “Rather than putting myself in a box, I”m more interested in establishing what kind of decision-maker I am and what kind of experience I bring to the job.”
Brumfield was elected as Dist. 1 Supervisor in 1984 and reelected in 1988, when she noted the district”s boundaries were dramatically different.
Brumfield has held her current position as the county”s code enforcement manager for a year and almost two months. Prior to that she worked with a for-profit company that provided welfare-to-work services for the county”s Department of Social Services.
Brumfield served on the Middletown Unified School District board for five years and on the Anderson Springs Community Service District board for 10 years. She has also worked in leadership roles for two out-of-county non-profits.
Brumfield did outline her vision to maintain Lake County”s best qualities, which she said are “clean air, water, beautiful countryside, the calmness of the way in which we live. We”re different than our more urban neighbors, and that”s why people are here so we don”t have traffic jams and people right on top of each other. That”s the lifestyle we want to maintain while assuring that we develop in a positive way.”
Robey said he is happy to see so many interested in filling his seat. “It”s a wide open race with good candidates, and I think it will be good for the community,” he said. Robey added that he is “happy to help candidates get help candidates get an idea what it takes to do this job.”
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com. To comment on this story or any others, look at the end of this story for “Comments,” fill in the web form, and the click “Publish”
