Robert Rivas would bring the necessary, aggressive mindset
toward economic progress as a supervisor. He appears to have a
commitment toward improving openness in government. He brings an
unmatched energy and a new perspective about change that this
county needs.
Robert Rivas would bring the necessary, aggressive mindset toward economic progress as a supervisor. He appears to have a commitment toward improving openness in government. He brings an unmatched energy and a new perspective about change that this county needs.
Those are some of the reasons a majority of the Free Lance Editorial Board has endorsed Rivas for the District 3 supervisor seat in the June primary against incumbent Pat Loe.
Loe has remained committed to her district and ideals for eight years while on the board. She has an ingrained knowledge of the county’s workings and always shows a high level of preparedness at meetings.
That is why it was such a difficult and narrow choice in picking the best candidate after each recently interviewed with editorial board members.
Rivas, long active in the political scene locally and now working as a clerk to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, is running for his first elected office after spending the past several years advising others’ campaigns and taking part in such efforts as the undertaking to approve Measure T and the push in 2003 to oppose the Measure G growth-control initiative.
He has a rare combination of understanding the political scene and how things get done, but also a bold attitude about having to “reinvent ourselves as a local government” by getting the public more involved and eliminating waste, such as what he contends can be an over-inflated number of middle-management workers.
Also on budget reform, Rivas expressed a desire to seriously examine consolidation and partnerships with the City of Hollister. He appropriately mentioned law enforcement and public works departments as two areas that come to mind. And Rivas wants to start a local “partnership project” – he said he got the idea from a county in Michigan – in which city and county governments’ players would meet and discuss the variety of functions that potentially could involve collaboration to save money.
Rivas understands, meanwhile, that the health of local government will depend in large part on the economy. While the county board in recent years has taken some steps toward spurring economic growth, Rivas wants to take more aggressive approaches, such as his idea for a Job Creation Coalition made up of elected leaders, members of which would create a formalized business recruitment program to assist already-existing mechanisms for the efforts. He also wants to examine laws on the books that potentially are restrictive toward businesses and he vowed to take a hard look at every policy change with any prospect of hampering commerce.
He stressed the high level of care he would take with each consideration and that he always would do his homework. His approach on the Solargen Energy proposal for a major solar farm in southern San Benito County shows his maturity. Rivas noted how it is a “good concept,” but on the other hand that leaders must consider projections for job creation in San Benito County and all related impacts – such as those on the environment and infrastructure – before coming to a final decision.
Overall, Rivas leaves the impression he is committed to leading the county in a forward motion, that he would focus on fixing the local economy, that he would foster a new energy on the board. Therefore, he is the best candidate for District 3 supervisor.
