PD Editorial: For Carrillo

The seven-candidate race to succeed Mike Reilly on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is as wide open as the Fifth District itself. There is no clear front-runner in this contest to represent an area stretching from southwest Santa Rosa and Sebastopol to Jenner and Guerneville. But there is no clear "also-ran" either.

Each candidate represents a specific constituency or offers experience that gives them a legitimate shot at being in the inevitable two-person run-off that awaits in the fall.

Among the seven contenders, we believe the strongest are Maddy Hirshfield of Forestville, Tom Lynch of Guerneville, Efren Carrillo of Santa Rosa and Jim Maresca of Guerneville.

Hirshfield, an occupational therapist and legislative aide to Assemblywoman Patty Berg, comes with an insider's knowledge of Sacramento and a passion for such issues as universal health care and greenhouse gas reduction. She is supported by a number of health care worker unions.

Tom Lynch, a builder and community activist, earned his nickname "the Manure Man" when he dumped cow manure at Santa Rosa City Hall 22 years ago in protest over Russian River discharges. Now he is dumping on the county for allowing employee compensation to increase 70 percent over the past eight years while average household income has declined 2 percent. He makes a good argument.

Maresca, meanwhile, is a wild card, having put up plenty of his own money to pay for TV and radio ads that take digs at his competitors. We believe Maresca is at his best when he focuses more on his own campaign -- particularly his experience helping the Russian River Chamber of Commerce straighten out its finances. He also offers creative ideas on confronting the county's pending $8 million budget deficit.

We believe any of these three would serve the 5th District well. But ultimately our endorsement goes to Efren Carrillo.

Carrillo, a Santa Rosa native who works as a consumer financial counselor for Redwood Credit Union, is smart, articulate and personable. As president of the Southwest Community Health Center board and as a financial counselor, he has a working knowledge of two of the biggest challenges facing 5th District residents, rising foreclosures and shrinking health care services.

Carrillo also represents two important demographics for Sonoma County -- he is young, and he is Latino. Latinos now represent 22 percent of Sonoma County's population. Within 10 years, that's expected to increase to nearly 40 percent. And yet there are no Latinos in any prominent elected positions in the county. Carrillo represents the best opportunity to make a change.

Carrillo, 27, also would bring a much-needed youthful perspective to the board, providing insight on such things as the challenges young people face in making a home in Sonoma County.

Of the other candidates, it's important to note that Eddie Alvarez of Santa Rosa has dropped out of the race, although his name still appears on the ballot.

We also would like to comment on the candidacy of Planning Commissioner Rue Furch, who has been endorsed by Reilly and was once considered a leading contender for this seat. While Furch speaks well about planning concerns, she is unimpressive in addressing such issues as the county's budgetary problems and the need for regional economic development. More significant, we continue to find her explanations for why she failed to pay property taxes for five years -- but still had money for an estimated $87,000 remodeling project -- to be inadequate and incomplete. We also find them inconsistent with service on a Board of Supervisors that oversees an operation dependent on nearly $200 million in property tax revenue each year.

In this crowded 5th Supervisorial District race, The Press Democrat recommends Efren Carrillo.