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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Woodland Daily Democrat Endorses Kennedy or Provenza for Yolo County Supervisor

The Woodland Daily Democrat came out with their endorsements for County Supervisor yesterday. Not surprisingly they endorsed incumbent Supervisor Duane Chamberlain for a second term. Duane Chamberlain is someone we rarely talk about, but there is no stronger defender of farmers and agricultural land on the board than Mr. Chamberlain. He is a man of integrity whether you agree with him on a current issue or you disagree with him. Chamberlain is running against the largely unknown Mel Smith. This does not figure to be much of a race.

The more surprising endorsement was in the 4th Supervisorial race where the seat is open and the race is wide open. There are three candidates vying for that seat--Jim Provenza, Cathy Kennedy, and John Ferrera.

Jim Provenza has locked down the endorsement of the Sacramento Bee. John Ferrera has the endorsement of the Davis Enterprise. And Cathy Kennedy who is largely unknown has secured some impressive endorsements including Duane Chamberlain. She also has the Davis Police Officer's Association, District Attorney Jeff Reisig, and the Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy Association.

In this race the Woodland Daily Democrat surprisingly chose both Jim Provenza and Cathy Kennedy.
"In this Davis district, the choices are difficult. Both Provenza and Kennedy are the more appealing candidates in our opinion. Provenza has experience on the Davis School Board, a difficult job in and of itself.

Kennedy, however, is a single mother who grew up in poverty, worked her way through school, and has become successful in the business world. In many ways it would be good to have such a representative from Davis.

We think either Provenza or Kennedy would be a good fit on the Board of Supervisors. Both are experienced in their own right."
I am not certain I like their rationale for endorsing Ms. Kennedy especially the part where they said, "In many ways it would be good to have such a representative from Davis" referring either to her business background or the fact that she is a former single mother. I will say however, that she is much more impressive than I expected her to be. And while at this point she still rates as a long shot, I hope that she decides to stay involved in government and the community because she does offer a very different perspective from others in this race.

The Daily Democrat endorsement is probably not going to have a huge impact on this race. The most interesting aspect of it was the fact that they endorsed either Provenza or Kennedy in the race. That leaves John Ferrera. I am not sure if I am more surprised that John Ferrera is the odd person out or that they endorsed Jim Provenza.

This is one where it might be interesting to hear. After all, the conservative Woodland paper not choosing the chief of staff to the chairman of the state Senate budget committee might not be all that shocking except for the fact that Provenza's job is not all that different in the eyes of the Democrat--a lobbyist for the Los Angeles district attorney. Then again, Provenza has experience on the Davis School Board and a strong record there which may overshadow his profession in their eyes.

This is one where it might be curious to know what the thinking was.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting