It's a wide-open race for 5th District supervisor

Eight west Sonoma County candidates are on the June 3 ballot for 5th District supervisor, the first time in 12 years the seat is open.

Incumbent Mike Reilly is stepping down when his term ends in January. Coupled with the retirement of Tim Smith in the central county district, this election is the first time in the post-World War II era that two open seats are at stake.

About 45,000 registered voters live in the west county, the biggest supervisorial district spanning from Highway 101 to the coast and from Lone Pine Road to Jenner.

With Sebastopol the only city in the district, the 5th District supervisor acts as a one-stop government office for some of the county's toughest issues facing unincorporated communities such as Forestville, Guerne-ville, Bodega Bay and Sea Ranch.

In addition to handling county issues such as 2020 General Plan implementation, water supply and the effect of faltering county revenues on programs, the west county supervisor has some peculiar issues to contend with in the near future. They include gravel mining near the Russian River, rock quarry operations in Forestville, aging septic systems in river communities and road repair just about everywhere.

Over the past several months, the candidates have appeared at more than a dozen forums at which they've sometimes had less than 30 seconds to explain their positions on any number of topics.

At the most recent event in Sebastopol, candidate Maddy Hirshfield joked "we have done so many of these we can answer each other's questions."

With eight candidates, it seems likely there will be a run-off for the two top vote-getters in November because in order to win, one candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote.

The last major candidate forum will be 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Guerneville Elementary School, sponsored by Radio KGGV-FM.