Penngrove rancher, activist joins supervisor race

<p>A Penngrove rancher and water activist has become the second south county resident to seek a seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>John King announced his campaign in a widely circulated e-mail to “friends and family,” declaring he will seek the seat now held by Supervisor Mike Kerns.</p><p>Kerns is retiring in 2010 after 12 years on the board, and his exit is expected to generate a potentially large field of candidates in the primary election next June.</p><p>Former Petaluma City Councilmember Mike O’Brien has already declared he would run if Kerns retires.</p><p>King has fought the county and the city of Rohnert Park over groundwater issues for more than a decade and was part of a group that won a lawsuit against that city several years ago.</p><p>In his e-mail, King criticized politicians for “turning their backs on us” and said that his candidacy “is about serving the people of the second district and beyond.”</p><p>— Argus-Courier</p>