Races are heating up for June 8 election in Nevada County

Christine and George Foster of Nevada City pose for a picture with Doug LaMalfa, who is running to replace Sam Aanestad as the state senator for the Fourth District. Friar Tuck’s owner Greg Cook said an estimated 100 people attended the event that was hel

Of this group, four are running for the first time in the June 8 election when voters also will consider candidates for the U.S. Senate, state senate and assembly, and a host of statewide races that includes the governor’s office, which will be vacated by Arnold Schwarzenegger after six years as California’s chief executive.

By Pat Butler

Nevada City Advocate

Even though Election Day is not until June, several interesting races and story lines are unfolding in Nevada County.

An incumbent, a former chamber president and a man who fought City Hall and won are running for two seats on the Nevada City Council.

A former Nevada County supervisor and a Nevada City realtor are running for County Assessor. One candidate, who had the backing of two county supervisors, has already dropped out of that race.

The most combustible race to date has been for the county elections office. The incumbent has been sued for fraud by a former county vendor that his challenger has represented as an attorney.

In the Fourth Congressional District primary, a first-term incumbent and career politician is being challenged by a businessman and political rookie.

Of this group, four are running for the first time in the June 8 election when voters also will consider candidates for the U.S. Senate, state senate and assembly, and a host of statewide races that includes the governor’s office, which will be vacated by Arnold Schwarzenegger after six years as California’s chief executive.

The deadline to declare a candidacy at the county Elections Office or at City Hall is March 13 unless an incumbent chooses not to run for re-election. In that case, the deadline is extended to March 17.

What follows is a rundown of some of the key races in the area.

Nevada City Council

Sally Harris is running for City Council for the third time. She was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 to finish Sheila Stein’s term.

Harris, who has a MBA from U.C. Berkeley, points with pride to changes made in City Hall that she says has made it more efficient, reliable and prepared to take advantage of opportunities.

“The city is poised to do some great things. I want to be part of the next thing that comes along,” said Harris, who calls herself a “productive-growth” advocate.

“Size and scale are something that adds to our quality of life, which adds to our productive growth,” she said, citing the Tech Center, the Tintle buildings on Union Street and the co-housing project as examples.

Harris supports efforts to put a solar farm on the old airport property, to develop a citywide trails system, and to have the city pursue more grants for local projects and organizations.

“I see more and more partnering in the future,” she said.

Many were surprised when Duane Strawser decided to run for City Council. He is the outgoing chamber president, director of the Nevada City Bicycle Classic and the local organizer of Stage 1 of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, an eight-day bicycle race that will start for the first time in Nevada City.

The 47-year-old owns the Tour of Nevada City Bicycle Shop and says he sits on estimated 10 committees. Yet, he feels it’s the right time to make his first bid for City Council.

“This just seemed to fall into place,” Strawser said. “This is the right time to do it.”

Strawser sees the City Council addressing several critical issues in the next four years that includes the likelihood of hiring a city manager and police chief, addressing the possible consolidation of the fire department, and whether the city wants to consider outsourcing police and fire protection.

He also wants to see the city get a downtown parking structure, promote eco-tourism and eliminate “negative loitering” from the downtown.

“I think people need to start thinking outside of the box,” he said.

Lee Griep was introduced to city government in the late 1990s when the Planning Commission and the City Council rejected his plans to rebuild a two-story Victorian on Nevada Street.

After a dozen hearings, Griep said he hired an attorney who filed a claim that led the city to reverse its decision. The home would later win a chamber of commerce award for architecture.

“Going through that experience, we learned a lot,” said Griep, a 51-year Realtor and former engineering contractor.

Griep said he favors growth with an “environmental sensitivity.”

“We have areas here that can be developed, but I don’t want it to be like in Grass Valley,” said Griep, who graduated from Nevada Union High School. “We also need to be more supportive of businesses. I’d hate to see our city die.”

The first-time candidate said another reason he’s running is to insure there’s a competitive race. Now, three candidates are running for two seats. City Councilor Barbara Coffman has indicated she will not run again.

“I didn’t want to wait two more years to run,” said Griep, referring to the next City Council election. “There are many critical issues and there needs to be a discussion. I have the time to put into it and I think I have the experience to help.”

Nevada County’s many races

There are a slew of county offices on the ballot, including sheriff, district attorney, auditor-controller, treasurer/tax collector and two Board of Supervisor positions.

Two races, however, stand out at this point.

Gregory Diaz is seeking to continue as the county clerk-recorder/registrar of voters, the department that oversees elections. He was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 2007 to finish the term of Kathleen Smith, who left after a brief and turbulent time in office.

Barry Pruett, his opponent, is running for office for the first time. The attorney declared his candidacy just weeks before one of his former clients, the software provider AtPac, filed a lawsuit charging Diaz with unlawfully disclosing proprietary information, breach of contract and copyright infringement.

Pruett is a member of the Tea Party Patriots. His wife, Kimberly, is running for a seat on the Nevada County Republican Central Committee. She’s also a field representative for Rep. Tom McClintock.

Diaz supporters say ties to the Tea Party and Republican Party could turn what is supposed to be a non-partisan race into a partisan affair.

Diaz touts his experience, meanwhile. He served as the clerk-recorder for the city and county of San Francisco for eight years. Before that he worked in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office for six years drafting legislation and litigation documents.

 “I am running on the premise that experience makes the difference,” Diaz said.

Sue Horne, a former county board of supervisor, and Rolf Kleinhans, a real estate broker and appraiser from Nevada City, are vying to replace Dale Flippin, who has retired from the Assessor’s office.

Horne represented the south county from 2001 to 2008 as a supervisor. She ran in 2008 in the Republican primary to represent District 3 in the Assembly but was defeated by Dan Logue of Marysville.

Kleinhans serves as chairman of the Nevada County Sewage Disposal Technical Advisory Group, is director of finance for the Association of Realtors and sits on the executive committee of the Economics Resource Council. In his campaign announcement, he emphasizes his “real world private sector” experience.

A third candidate, Jim Blachford, dropped out of the race even though he received endorsements from Supervisors Nate Beason and Ted Owens.

Congressional race

For the second  time, Rep. Tom McClintock is facing opposition in the Republican primary to represent the Fourth Congressional District.

Michael Babich, an Auburn businessman and instructor at the Sierra College Grass Valley campus, describes himself as an “open-minded conservative” who is fed up with partisan politics in Washington.

“We’re all about left and right,” he said. “We’re not making informed decisions in Congress.”

Babich, who retired as a colonel from the Army Reserves, opposes the Auburn Dam and supports alternative energy and public transportation. He calls McClintock a “career politician who has not focused sufficiently on the district.”

McClintock brings a lengthy political resume to the race as he seeks a second term in Congress. He was 26 when he was first elected to the Assembly in 1982. He ran for state controller twice and for governor in 2003, when he finished third in the special election won by Schwarzenegger.

McClintock had termed out after serving two terms as state senator representing Southern California when he decided in 2008 to run for the Fourth District seat. He defeated Doug Ose in a hard-fought primary and edged Democrat Charlie Brown in the general election.

Ben Emery of Nevada City is a Green Party candidate for the U.S. House seat. The 40-year-old Nevada City man works as ranch manager in Penn Valley and believes that government has lost touch with the working class.

“Our federal government is broken,” he said. “We need to get average, every-day people running for these offices.”