Candidates discuss fire districts, PERS

Jan. 26--Editor's note: This is the third of a three-part series covering the recent Sutter County Candidate Forum at Boyd Hall on Jan. 22. Video of the entire forum can be found on the Appeal-Democrat's Facebook page

Candidates running for three supervisorial seats in Sutter County discussed the state of Sutter County Fire districts, how best to address the CalPERS situation and commercial cannabis during a recent forum put on by the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce and Appeal-Democrat.

The forum included candidates from districts covering the Live Oak area (District 1), southwest Yuba City (District 4) and south Sutter County (District 5). In District 1, candidates included incumbent Ron Sullenger and Nick Micheli. In District 4, the candidates were Karm Bains, Stacy Brookman and Tej Maan. For District 5, candidates included incumbent Mat Conant and challengers John Buckland and Sarb Thiara.

The following is a summary of each candidate's response.

Q: What's the status of the Sutter County Fire District? What can be done to help?

Maan said the fire district is in sad shape currently, sometimes only having one person per truck when responding to a call. When that happens, state law prevents the firefighter from going into a burning building until help arrives, which results in more time lost. He said local government is there to provide public safety to residents and that the county isn't living up to that obligation.

Bains said the fire districts are in dire straits. They are underfunded, understaffed and lack proper equipment and tools to provide public safety, resulting in a recipe for disaster. He said once elected, he will work to provide the fire districts with whatever they need to ensure residents are safe.

Conant said he was a volunteer fireman for 20 years. He said departments like East Nicolaus and Pleasant Grove have a surplus in their budget after raising the amount of funds coming in for their special districts. Other departments like Oswald-Tudor, Live Oak and Sutter haven't done that, he said, and the funds have remained consistent to what they were in the mid-1990s, while at the same time costs of operations have gone up significantly.

Thiara said the sheriff's department and fire districts need more money and that county supervisors need to find it and provide it to them to ensure public safety. He said the county would benefit from hiring more firefighters and possibly working with the city to share resources.

Buckland cited Service Area F (Sutter/Live Oak/Oswald-Tudor) as an example of how drastic budget cuts have impacted operations. He said the county needs to find viable opportunities to fund the districts. He said there needs to be an assessment to match the needs of the departments. He said improving the districts will not only provide public safety, they will positively impact insurance rates for residents.

Micheli said the county needs to make some budget cuts where it can to help, and the districts need to do new tax assessments to get their available finances back on track. He said it's unfortunate that the county's departments are having to deal with outdated equipment.

Sullenger said the problem is that rural fire districts haven't kept up with assessments in their respective communities, so they haven't been able to keep up with the escalating costs of operations. He said he is all for helping the districts to find ways for more funding, but the responsibility to pursue an assessment is up to them.

Brookman brought up the idea of consolidating the different service areas into one county fire department and hiring a fire chief. He said the county needs to perform an audit and to cut the fat where possible to help fund the department and give firefighters a much-needed raise.

Q: What must the county do to address its PERS retirement funding situation?

Bains said the county has a plan to chip away at the unfunded liability portion of CalPERS. He said supervisors need to come up with a more creative way to compensate county employees that won't make an impact on the overall budget.

Conant said the county has been setting aside $1 million a year for the last several years to help fund the pension debt. He said with interest, the special fund is growing faster than CalPERS, though setting aside that much funding annually is being felt in the budget. He said CalPERS needs to hold its end of the bargain and start making money again.

Thiara said he understands the CalPERS unfunded liability issue is a huge problem and that the county needs to look at ways to increase the amount of revenue coming in to help, particularly through new infrastructure.

Buckland said CalPERS only gained 6.9 percent on their investments last year. He said citizens need to advocate to legislators to allow for CalPERS to invest more prudently to gain a better return, which will help reduce the gap toward their goal of around 7.5 percent return on investment.

Micheli said the CalPERS problem was made worse in 2004 when they voted to make pensions retroactive, increasing the debt 33 percent overnight. He said the county should tackle the issue in two ways, first making budget cuts to reduce debt, and working with other counties to put pressure on the legislature to push for better investment returns.

Sullenger said CalPERS is ran by private citizens and that state legislators need to do a better job holding them accountable. He said the county is improving its own situation and on track to have a zero balance in the future.

Brookman said the only way to solve the issue is with more money. He said the county needs to take a different approach and attract more businesses to get more tax dollars. He said county officials at one time turned down a casino out on Riego Road, which could've been a big money maker for the county similar to the relationship between Yuba County and the new Hard Rock hotel and casino.

Maan said no doubt mistakes were made regarding CalPERS. However, he believes the situation is improving at the state level. As for the county, he said they've taken the right steps in setting aside millions of dollars to help with the issue.

Q: If commercial cannabis was allowed in the county, what steps would you take to ensure the safety of businesses and residents?

Conant said the county has already allowed commercial hemp cultivation and that industry has posed problems for public safety. He said he can't support commercial cannabis. He said if the county was to allow it, it would open up a can of worms that would be hard to recover from.

Thiara said he would leave it up to those that enforce the law to make a recommendation on whether or not to allow commercial cannabis. He said it could generate additional revenue for the county but that he'd leave it up to public safety officials to decide.

Buckland said he strongly opposes commercial cannabis operations in the county. He said it would provide additional revenue to the county, but that it's revenue the county doesn't need given all the other factors that come into play. He said a moratorium is the most prudent route to take.

Micheli said he is opposed to commercial marijuana grows. He said if it were to be approved and grown, the county must make sure it is taxing the industry appropriately because the county will ultimately need more funding to help the sheriff's department deal with the uptick in crime.

Sullenger said he has a record of voting against commercial cannabis grows during his tenure on the board. He said county residents who need medicinal marijuana have the ability to have it delivered to their homes, so growing it commercially isn't a good thing.

Brookman said he is 100 percent opposed to having commercial cannabis grows in the county. He said his personal security firm has contracted with hemp farmers and have encountered three separate shootings. He said allowing commercial activities would ultimately be cost prohibitive.

Maan said he's against the idea because the county doesn't have money to protect itself against commercial cannabis grows. He said there are plenty of other crops that farmers in the county have the ability to cultivate.

Bains said he is strongly opposed to commercial cannabis grows in the county. He said public safety is already understaffed and would have a hard time keeping the community safe if it were to be allowed. He said the county has bigger concerns that need to be addressed and wouldn't benefit from having the industry in the community.

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