PD EDITORIAL: For Healy

<p>The sand is shifting beneath Sonoma County in a thousand different ways.</p><p>Despite signs of a recovery on Wall Street, unemployment here remains above 11 percent, and real estate experts say there's no end in sight to the local housing crisis. One in three homeowners is under water on their mortgage, and every day, on average, five more homes in Sonoma County fall into foreclosure.</p><p>Meanwhile, due to dramatic declines in property tax and sales tax revenue — and raids by state officials — local governments have been thrown into one financial crisis after another. County government now faces a projected budget deficit of $61.6 million — 14 percent of the general fund — which likely will mean eliminating another 200 or more jobs and cutting more services.</p><p>Amid all this, Sonoma County government is going through a wholesale change in leadership. The county welcomed a new chief administrator, Veronica Ferguson, in February, just a year after two new supervisors — Shirlee Zane and Efren Carrillo — took office. Now on June 8, voters will be asked to fill two more seats on the Board of Supervisors, positions being vacated by longtime respected supervisors Paul Kelley and Mike Kerns.</p><p>Given all this, voters need to make careful choices in the days ahead. We believe preference should go to those individuals who have shown the leadership, experience and skills needed to guide the county through the economic challenges ahead.</p><p>In the race for 2nd District seat, representing the southern part of the county, we believe that individual is Mike Healy.</p><p>Healy has been a member of the Petaluma City Council for 10 years and is well-versed on many county issues, having served on Sonoma County Transportation Authority and the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) boards and a variety of other panels.</p><p>A Stanford-educated engineer turned lawyer, Healy is a native Sonoma County resident who moved his practice to downtown Petaluma in 1995. He has a common-sense approach to solving problems and a well-earned reputation for building consensus.</p><p>Healy's track record shows he understands the need to set aside old turf battles over growth in Sonoma County and find the right balance between responsible development and long-term economic vitality.</p><p>He's also not afraid to stake out clear positions on controversial issues such as promoting the Rainier connector and interchange — leading the drive to put the idea to voters in 2004 — and pushing for a temporary building moratorium in the Petaluma River flood plain in 2006.</p><p>Most recently, he has led the legal fight against the Graton Rancheria casino in Rohnert Park and is pushing for an advisory vote on whether local voters support the plan.</p><p>Healy's opponents in this race are also familiar to south county voters for good reason. Pam Torliatt was first elected to the Petaluma City Council in 1994 and has served the last three years as mayor. David Rabbitt, a local architect, has been on the City Council for four years. Both have served with distinction and are intelligent, clear-thinking candidates who have much to offer.</p><p>The fourth candidate is John King of Penngrove whose primary political accomplishment is taking Rohnert Park to court over ground water issues and winning in 2002. King speaks with authority on water issues, but he lacks elected experience and presents conflicting statements over whether the county is too controlling of its natural resources — to the detriment of the business community — or not enough.</p><p>All of these candidates are attractive for one reason or another. But Healy stands out for his calm, even-handed approach to addressing problems and his demonstrated ability to work toward solutions that are in the best interest of the community rather than a given political perspective. In the race for the 2nd District seat on the Board of Supervisors, The Press Democrat recommends Mike Healy.</p>