Candidate for District 5 Supervisor Daniel Boone Bridges recently announced his campaign as his candidate intention statement was filed on October 10.
Bridges is a third generation Kelseyville/Cobb resident, having moved here with his family at only 10 months old. He has resided on his family’s 500-acre property on Bottle Rock Road for 36 years and has no intention of leaving. Bridges has been in construction his entire life, following in his father’s footsteps and working in the family businesses Bridges Construction and West Coast Fire and Water. Bridges has built many houses in the county and completed even more remodels, with some of his custom work visible at the O’Meara Brothers Brewery in Lakeport. He also owns and maintains several rental houses.
Bridges said that his “management of business and people and broad scope of work in construction” will help him tackle county problems. He continued adding that “The challenge of figuring out a problem and making solutions happen is where I do my best work.”
When it comes to being a leader for Lake County Bridges noted, “Every ship needs a good captain. If a ship is rudderless people are unhappy… We don’t have a strong captain.” To remedy this, Bridges said he would create a flow of interdepartmental communication by making monthly visits and engaging with not only department heads but employees of all levels to ensure they are receiving clear direction as well as the resources and pay that they need.
Which leads into his solution for the County’s main problem – resident and staffing retention. Bridges said, “I want to make sure our county is growing enough to make sure my kids never leave and raise my grandchildren here, it might be selfish but I want them to want to be here.”
Over the years Bridges has seen many good families leave this area for what they say are more entertaining places and he wants to attract new developers and businesses that would make Lake County a bit more fun. Bridges said, “I don’t want to be a city, I love the small town we have, but I am willing to sacrifice a bit of that to have new businesses here for the next generation.” He further explained how much bureaucracy and red tape is involved with many of these necessary projects. “I’ll deal with all of that,” he said.
This is also reflected in staffing efforts around the county as departments, hospitals and schools are all understaffed. Bridges has an idea to solve this which involves paying employees more. Currently several county departments offer large hiring incentives, and Bridges would like to look at these expenditures and compare them to the cost of increasing salaries, as long lasting employees are not only more experienced and valuable in their positions, but also could be cost effective in the long run. He also would like to see more home-grown programs in which the county sources our workforce from our own residents, starting in local schools by providing students the resources to get the jobs and salaries they desire locally.
For District 5 specifically Bridges would like to focus on addressing fire risks, especially in the Soda Bay area. Bridges said “Potential for the worst disaster is sitting right there on the Soda Bay Corridor.” As an example Bridges used the Black Forest asking, “When will it be cleaned?” He explained that there are grants in place to do such vital work, yet they are designed for the contracts to be complicated and costly, which could be streamlined for efficiency.
According to Bridges’ campaign site booneforlakecounty.com, Bridges is “running for Supervisor to put Lake County residents first.” This is Bridges’ second time considering a public office as he served on the Clearlake Riviera Board of Directors over 15 years ago. Bridges said, “I try not to tell anyone I was ever there” considering the turmoil the group was experiencing at that time.
More information on his current campaign for District 5 Supervisor can be found on the website booneforlakecounty.com
