Sacramento Bee Endorses Jennifer Montgomery for Placer County Board of Supervisors

Montgomery for Placer Supervisor
Published: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 | Page 12A


Voters in Placer County's Fifth Supervisorial District have a clear choice in this election:
Do they want to re-elect Bruce Kranz, who, while highly engaged, has defied his constituents at times and has shown questionable judgment on numerous development and planning projects?
If not, if they want more productive representation in their county government, they should elect Jennifer Montgomery to the seat.
Montgomery hasn't held elected office before, but throughout this campaign, she has demonstrated the kind of temperament, vision and listening skills that would make her an excellent supervisor. The Fifth District needs that kind of leader.
The stakes couldn't be higher. This district includes many of this region's natural wonders – Lake Tahoe and Donner Summit among them – as well as numerous small communities, such as Colfax, Weimar and Bowman. In coming years, these communities will need to plan economic development with a sensitivity toward this district's heritage and delicate environment, and they'll need a supervisor who hears what they say.
The owner of a housecleaning service in Serene Lakes, Montgomery understands the challenges small businesses face, but she also is concerned about resort projects and other development that could be inappropriate for the area. She has an interest in improving transit and high-speed Internet service – two ideas that would help Fifth District residents become less dependent on car commuting.
Kranz, by contrast, too often seems seems deaf to constituent concerns. The most recent example is at Tahoe, where Kings Beach residents spent years on a transportation plan that would make their town center more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Instead of supporting that plan or working to improve it, Kranz used his seat on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to push for a four-lane road with signal lights. Such a project would have served motorists passing through Kings Beach instead of the people living there.
Not only that, but Kranz defied his colleagues on the Placer Board of Supervisors after they voted 4-1 to support the pedestrian-friendly plan.
Kranz said he wouldn't take their support to the TRPA board. After he made that comment, the supervisors removed him from the Tahoe planning agency and appointed an alternate.
Kranz has shown a blind side on other issues. In a choice that seemed ripe for possible conflict, he appointed a Realtor, Michelle Ollar-Burris, to the county's planning commission. Only after The Bee revealed that she had split properties in possible violation of state law did Kranz remove her from the commission.
Kranz also refused to support the region's Blueprint planning principles with his vote on the Placer Ranch project. In addition, he has used his position to whip up unfounded fears that the Placer County Conservation Plan could result in "an increased risk of wildfire to the area."
Kranz hasn't earned a second term in office. That's why Bob Houston – whom we endorsed in the primary – is supporting Montgomery instead of Kranz. So are many other Fifth District leaders. Voters should join them on Nov. 4 to vote for Jennifer Montgomery.

Comment: 1
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alcamus39 wrote on 10/21/2008 09:00:46 AM:
Jennifer Montgomery will shift the balance of power of the BOS from backdoor, good ole boyism to an enlighted view of the modern world and how to live in it. She is the best person to run for office in Placer County in the last fifty years. She is the real, the sterling, the true.

Proposition 8 Supporter Pervert Jesus' Teachings

Voting to take away marriage rights from one segment of the population in the name of religious beliefs restricts the term “religion” to only those communities who wish to retain the power to preach to the world that the God they worship approves of their lives but not of the lives of others."
It is religious people who put their own narrow sguints above the public good and try to legislate from the pulpit that give fundamentalists such a bad name. They twist the teachings of Jesus to fit their own small-minded, tunnel vision.
Where in the Bible is one utterance by Jesus condemning homosexuality? Jesus embraced lepers and prostitutes; he certainly would embrace and love all his people. Only shallow, smug, self-serving people would ever dream of supporting an outrage such as Proposition 8. These people have the audacity and stupidity to call themselves Christians. Jesus would writhe in pain understanding what they are trying to do in his name. These people cheapen and bebase the teachings of Jesus Christ and constitute one of the sorriest offshots of Jesus' teachings and, more importantly, a perversion of his teachings.

Elect Jennifer Montgomery to District 5 Placer County Board of Supervisors

Placer County is very close to being a true Paradise. Its major flaw is its extreme politics. Four simple actions could make Placer County that Paradise. If Jennifer Montgomery is elected to the Placer County Board of Supervisors, Elaine Rowen and John Vodonick are put on the Sierra College Board, and Charlie Brown is elected to Congress, then all minuses become pluses. They will bring to Placer County honesty, intelligence, balance and moderation, all virtues admired by the Ancient Greeks and the thinking people of Placer County.

What Will Drexel University Cost Placer County? Much.

While we politicize Sierra College and allow it to deteriorate to a laughable state, the last thing we need is to allow another college, Drexel University, to be used as a ploy by Angelo Tsakopolous to allow him to develop hundreds of agricultural acres in Placer County to enrich himself. He is slowly advertising Drexel's Graduate School in Sacramento, he is smoozing our gullible Placer Board of Supervisors to change zoning so he can donate 600 acres to the university as the price of doing business in Placer County and developing the other thousands of acres he owns. People must wake up.
People must wake up and protect our beautiful county. Call the Placer County BOS and tell them not to allow AngeloTsakopolous to build this university on agricultural lands. This is a mega giveaway to a mega land speculator with the blessings of the BOS who have had an unpleasant history of dealing with Angelo Tsakopolous, who donates thousands of dollars to back Doolittle Stooge Jerry Simmons in a failed attempt to unseat Supervisor Robert Weygandt so he (Angelo) could more easily take control of Sierra College AND build his Drexel University, thereby controlling two colleges in Placer County.
First, the people must stop this land grab, and, secondly, get rid of Aaron Klein and Scott Leslie, Doolittle stooges on the Sierra College Board of Trustees, and elect John Vodonick and Elaine Rowen and then read Terry Davis's column in the AJ about all these nefarious machinations.

Bush’s Moral Decay Has Forced Us to Rely on Common Law to Protect Us From His Immorality

When moral consensus fades, as it has in our time under the Bush Administration, we turn to law; when law falters, as it must when morality is no longer widely shared, society and culture teeter on the brink of chaos.

Bush’s attack on our moral system is most pointedly an attack on our common law. When morality dissolves as it has under Bush, people turn to the law and that is where they come into direct conflict with Bush. When law is altered for personal benefit as Bush has done, culture and society waver on the brink of chaos. Bush has cut down constitional law that protects us from our leaders and baser instincts.

Sir Thomas More, in conflict with another tyrant, Henry VIII, said, “God made the angels to show Him splendor – as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But man He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of his mind.”

Our minds then tell us that authority (Bush) is wrong, that we must rely on our sense of right and wrong to protect us from Bush’s immorality, in order to live morally with virtue and truth because Bush has comprised the law.

Our nation must regain its morality and re-establish the rule of law if the US is to survive as a nation and if we are to survive as a people.

"Tom McClintock is so far to the right that his own party has problems with him."

His Record Doesn't Lie: Tom McClintock
Posted by: ThosPayne


The way in which a politician is viewed by the people he now represents indicates how he will perform in the future. Comments from Tom McClintock's District 19 constituents
reveals why his home turf in Ventura County - - known as Reagan country - - went from Red to Blue:
- "This district was unrepresented for 8 years under McClintock. McClintock is so far to the right that his own party has problems with him."
- "Conejo Valley residents are an educated bunch. A good number of us are employed by Amgen or Baxter, biotech firms... [we] are savvy about climate change and will discriminate between the good arguments offered by scientists and bad arguments offered by a few feckless politicians. McClintock has “consistently opposed sensible measures to protect our air, water and wild places.” He “opposed important measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles (AB 1493, 2002), to recycle toxic electronic wastes (SB 20, 2003), and to increase California’s supply or clean, renewable energy (SB 1078, 2002).”
- McClintock Attacks Gore, Conservationists; Disputes Global Warming Science (October 29, 2007) - In an October 12 speech to the Western Conservative Political Action Conference, California State Senator Tom McClintock mounted a persuasive, and yet poorly informed attack against Al Gore, conservation, and the most widely accepted scientific theory of global warming. This is fortunate: McClintock’s comments have assured his well-deserved fate of political irrelevance and ignominy. McClintock repeated well-worn Republican jokes about personal jets and Gore’s electricity bill. He mentioned several laughably out-of-date theories about the causes of recent climate change. He even proudly admits that his knowledge about climate change has its most profound roots in his grade school musings... This position is damaging to the Republican party and will cause it to lose votes in California and nationally."
Tom McClintock has long enjoyed a reputation for being a straight-shooting, principled conservative. You may not believe what he believes, but you usually get a sense that he knows what he's talking about. That's why people [here]were stunned when McClintock, in a speech to the Western Conservative Politcal Action Conference, called global warming a "farce." In a rant against environmentalists he blasted the state's new greenhouse emissions law, saying it would hurt industry and (get this) even cause starvation in the world.
Republican supporters said McClintock "seems to be in a time warp. The most recent PPIC poll shows that even 60 percent of Republicans see an immediate need to tackle global warming (82 percent of independents did too). McClintock didn't do himself any favors on this one. He's just handed Democrats and even his likely 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary opponent, Steve Poizner, an issue to campaign on, making it even easier to paint McClintock as an extremist out of touch with California values."
If voters in Los Angeles and Ventura feel McClintock is an anti-environment extremist, consider what he may do to our Auburn-Sierra-Tahoe area?

Proof that God Exists is Congressman John T. Doolittle is Not Seeking Reelection

God Exists Because Doolittle Is Not Running for Re-election
Two great occurrences have happened in Placer County: 1) The Auburn Dam has been stopped permanently; and 2) Congressman John Taylor "Abramoff's Punk" Doolittle has announced he will not seek re-election.

On the national scene the serial felon George W. Bush will ride into his our private purgatory in January, 2009, with the deaths of over a million people on his soul and the guilt of the draining of the US Treasury into the pockets of his handlers. This born again Christian must know that the Bible says to take from the poor and give to the rich is a mortal sin, and Bush ultimately will pay a price he cannot now fathom. Watching Bush get his comeuppance over the years will be a great joy to the world.

Do Not Forget What Damage Aaron Klein Did to Sierra College and Incredibly He is Running for Reelection

Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Klein defends stance against education.

Now Klein takes on the elementary crowd.
Remember, Klein has absolutely NO experience in education. He's never even attended primary, secondary school or college. Fiscal responsibility? Does Klein know that California ranks 42nd in the nation in per student educational spending??

Politics at work in parcel tax?
Meadow Vista resident questions Republican opposition to Measure D

By: Ryan Sabalow, Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, March 27, 2005 11:52 PM PST



The recent political upheaval at Sierra College has moved from the hallways of the Rocklin campus to the rolling hills of Meadow Vista.

Meadow Vista resident Judy Creek, the wife of Sierra College Trustee Dave Creek, said Friday the Placer County Republican Party's choice to oppose a Placer Hills Union School District parcel tax is a direct result of meddling from Sierra College trustees Jerry Simmons and Aaron Klein.

Klein and Simmons sit on the Placer County Republican Central Committee and were part of the five-member endorsement committee that recently voted unanimously to oppose Measure D, a $48 annual parcel tax.

Proponents of Measure D say it would help the district ease a budget shortfall that could result in cuts to student programs and the layoff of at least 15 staff members.

"It's politics as a sport," Judy Creek said. "They just rampaged through Sierra College. Now they found the next school to go after."

The idea there's a correlation between the recent turmoil at Sierra College and opposition to the Meadow Vista tax is "silly," said Ken Campbell, chairman of the Placer County Republican Party.


"Come on," Campbell said. "Ask her if she sees black helicopters and G-men behind the trees."

Both Simmons and Klein deny any sort of political maneuvering, saying their party's disdain for taxes and the poor fiscal responsibility within Placer Hills motivated them to oppose the tax.

Klein, a resident of Colfax, whose family lives in Meadow Vista, said anyone who knows him is very much aware he's against raising taxes unnecessarily.

Klein said he was approached by Meadow Vista resident Ben Mavy, who was upset Placer Hills was trying to increase taxes after what he claimed were years of financial mismanagement.

He came to realize Mavy's concerns about Placer Hills had merit, Klein said.

"I'm a Republican," Klein said. "I've been opposed to tax increases a lot longer than I've ever been a trustee at Sierra College."

Judy Creek, herself a registered Republican and former Central Committee member, suggests ulterior motives are at work.

She said it was ironic that the adopted grandson of former Sierra College president Kevin Ramirez attended a Placer Hills school. Ramirez could not be reached for comment Friday to confirm Creek's claim.

"That's about as silly as her pal Rex Bloomfield's conspiracy theories in his editorial the other day," Klein said, referring to Wednesday's guest editorial in the Journal by Bloomfield.

Bloomfield alleged Klein, Simmons and Sierra Trustee Scott Leslie are part of ultra-conservative Republican conspiracy ultimately led by U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, to take over Placer County.

This isn't the first time a rivalry between the Creeks and Klein has made its way into the public eye.

Judy Creek was Bloomfield's campaign manager in his November campaign for the Placer County District 5 supervisor seat. Klein was campaign manager for Bloomfield's opponent, Bruce Kranz, who won the supervisor race.

Dave Creek was also the first to call for Klein's recall after the newly-elected Sierra College trustee allegedly pressured Ramirez to resign.

After sending e-mails and speaking critically of Ramirez to faculty and staff, Klein filed a complaint with the Placer County Elections Department, stating Ramirez had used unethical means to fund facilities improvement bond measures at the college.

Ramirez denies any wrongdoing, and the complaint has been forwarded to the California Fair Political Practices Commission. The commission has yet to issue a ruling.

Close to a week after Klein filed, Ramirez announced he wished to retire. After nearly a month of closed-door meetings, Ramirez received a $405,000 retirement settlement from the board, along with potentially millions in State of California retirement benefits.

Ramirez is to remain at Sierra College receiving a full salary as president emeritus until this summer, as his replacement, Morgan Lynn, serves as interim president.

Dave Creek was the only Sierra trustee to vote against Ramirez's settlement, saying in earlier interviews it was ironic that Klein, who campaigned for trustee in November on the platform of fiscal responsibility, wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay Ramirez not to work.

Dave Creek declined to comment on the Placer Hills issue, saying he may bring it up at the next Sierra College board meeting.

But Judy Creek said Klein and Simmons are only using area schools to further their political ambitions. They don't care about the communities they serve, she said.

"We just had these guys make a decision that cost taxpayers a half a million bucks - now they're opposing a small, $48-a-year tax," she said. "These guys treat politics like it's a video game.

Aaron Klein and Scott Leslie are seeking reelection to the Sierra College Board of Trustees on November 4, 2008. Thankfully, Jerry Simmons is not seeking reelection. Klein and Leslie are absolutely unqualified for the Board and are on the Board simply because the Placer County Republican Central Committee, the group that even moderate Republicans disown, ponied up $40,000 to buy their seats which were unopposed. There chance of reelection is zero if the voters inform themselves of the backgrounds of these two.

Why I Am a Democrat II

Excerpts paraphrased from Ted Sorensen’s book of the same name.

These are concise statements that can be used in conversations defining your beliefs as a Democrat.

I am a Democrat because I believe

…government should serve the public interest and not simply get out of the way of private interests;

…the federal government can help solve major national problems that are created by the unregulated market and protect states from their darker, less noble impulses;

… the federal government must address the stagnation and decline of wages and benefits, the failure of workers to receive their share of productivity gains, the growing gap between the rich and the rest of America, and the increasingly desperate conditions of the poor;

…an equitable balance among the federal, state and local governments can be achieved without splintering uniform national standards;

…mortgaging the future in order to fund tax cuts and corporate welfare while savaging social insurance and public education is not fair to the young, the poor, the elderly, the unskilled, or the infirm, because a civilized society is measured by how well is cares for its less fortunate members;

…true law and order requires attacking not only crime but its causes and enhancing gun control and providing equal access to the courts and respecting the constitution;

… in strengthening families by increasing their economic opportunities;

…America must honor its international obligations, participate in multilateral organizations and reject unilateralism and isolationism;

…government must give priority to the needy and not to those already sufficiently powerful and affluent to afford lobbyists

George W. Bush, Robin Hood in Reverse

By every index available but one, George W. Bush has been an abject failure as a human being and as a President. For corporate America he is a shining star of success. Since he took office, the compensation for CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies has risen 54 per cent and the price of gasoline has quadrupled with Dick Chaney’s Halliburton and other friendly oil corporations enjoying obscene, manipulated profits.

Bush has finally achieved a level of success his family name provided him Where do the monies for these expenses come from? Does anyone not know?

Bush has succeeded in stealing from the poor and the American taxpayer and giving that pelf to the rich, a Robin Hood in reverse while the Republicans stand mindlessly on the sidelines and cheer his iniquities, watching silently while the children of middle and working class people die pointlessly in the Oil Field Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He is indeed a many colored Commander-in-Thief.

Why I Am a Democrat

Excerpts paraphrased from Ted Sorensen’s book of the same name.

These are concise statements that can be used in conversations defining your beliefs as a Democrat.

I am a Democrat because I believe that
…government should serve the public interest and not simply get out of the way of private interests;
…the federal government can help solve major national problems that are created by the unregulated market and protect states from their darker, less noble impulses;
… the federal government must address the stagnation and decline of wages and benefits, the failure of workers to receive their share of productivity gains, the growing gap between the rich and the rest of America, and the increasingly desperate conditions of the poor;
…an equitable balance among the federal, state and local governments can be achieved without splintering uniform national standards;
…mortgaging the future in order to fund tax cuts and corporate welfare while savaging social insurance and public education is not fair to the young, the poor, the elderly, the unskilled, or the infirm, because a civilized society is measured by how well is cares for its less fortunate members;
…true law and order requires attacking not only crime but its causes and enhancing gun control and providing equal access to the courts and respecting the constitution;
… in strengthening families by increasing their economic opportunities;
…America must honor its international obligations, participate in multilateral organizations and reject unilateralism and isolationism;
…government must give priority to the needy and not to those already sufficiently powerful and affluent to afford lobbyists.

Finally, Americans Are Awakening to the Cancerous Aberration that is George W. Bush

The great American journalist Walter Lippman wrote, ”The news and the truth are not the same thing.” Our news services are so controlled by big businessesm mainly Fox Noise, controlled by The Ultra-Right Winger Rupert Murdock, which are controlled by Republicans and multi-national corporations, it is very difficult to get a non-Republican slant, let alone the truth.

To get a different perspective on the Bush Abomination in Iraq and Afghanistan and his March of Lies, it is wise to use the internet and visit some global newspapers such as The New Zealand Herald, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Asia Time, The Manchester Guardian, and the London Times to name some. So much of Iraq coverage is misrepresented by our news services, it is shocking to learn the grim truth about the daily slaughter of Americans and Iraqis, the nightmare military life is, and the hatred that Bush’s self-serving, mean-spirited, sucking-up-to- the- rich, business- is- god administration has generated toward us Americans.

We Americans are slowly waking up to the Horror that is George W. Bush. We Americans are basically good honest people,formerly(pre-Bush)loved and admired by the world for our kindness and generosity and, when we wake up to the truth which is different from the news, we will do whatever is necessary to rid our beloved country of this Cancerous Aberration. We are continuing to awaken.

Bruce Kranz, the Ogre on the Placer County Board of Supervisors

Kranz serves Kranz. The general public is aware of Kranz accepting large donations from developers, appointing Michelle Ollar-Burris to the Planning Commission, favoring a gravel company over the people of Meadow Vista, blocking the Homewood Ski Resort sale to the Forest Service and redirecting it to private developers, and his clearing the trail to develop Royal Gorge Ski Resort.

Kranz intimidates Placer County employees. Talking to several Placer County employees who obviously wish to remain anonymous, I have learned county workers fear retaliation from Kranz if their decisions or findings do not favor the person Kranz is currently piloting through the process. Workers feel intimidated, feel pressure to “go along” as opposed to doing what is right and proper. Kranz uses favoritism to bully workers into giving him and his “clients” what they want.

Kranz always tips the tables in his favor. When Kranz is involved, there is never a level playing field because if workers do not do what he wishes, he will find a willing worker, but never forgets the one who would not do his bidding. Policies are manipulated to suit individuals, and decisions are rendered unevenly in Kranz’ favor.

When Kranz is involved, fear is palpable among workers. With layoffs imminent in Placer County, fear of retaliation makes Kranz even more threatening because workers who do not go along fear reprisal.

People would be shocked to learn what type of vehicle demanded Placer County supply him for 24/7 use with a County credit card.

Kranz is like George W. Bush because favoritism always trumps policy.

Kranz is not an administrator so much as a manipulator, an intimidator, a person who ought never to be a Placer County Supervisor.

A Blue Wave In Changing the Political Landscape in the US and Placer County

A blue wave is changing the nation’s political landscape, and Placer County is part of that wave. Congressman John T. “Demagogue” Doolittle has limped off into oblivion in order not to face “something” legal, leaving Bruce Kranz the most unpopular politician, who is on his way out the door also. Jerry Simmons has done the people an egalitarian service by not seeking re-election to the Sierra College Board of Trustee, which leaves just two disposables, Aaron Klein and Scott Leslie, two do-nothings who are running on a niggardly balanced budget claim while the College crumbles before our eyes and the College ranks 62nd out of 62 community colleges in the state or at the very bottom in the ratio of full-time faculty to part-time faculty. The ratio is unconscionable. Sierra College had three consecutive balanced budgets under President Ramirez, whom Klein and Leslie knifed. While these two are on the Board of Trustees, no bond will ever pass the voters, and Sierra will continue to stagnate. They must go.

But the biggest joke is Tom McClintock, scouring the State of California to try to find someplace that will give him a $169,500 sinecure to “cut taxes”; Doolittle’s old job looks like that place. McClintock is a professional hack, who moves around the state trying to pick off any available job, and he believes Ca-04 is ripe for the taking. In a county and state with infrastructure falling apart, the last thing the people need is an elected official whose only vision is to cut taxes, which are the means by which a civilized society remains civilized by providing for its people.

We need a complete elimination of these kinds of representatives in Placer County and in the US. Have the audacity to make the necessary changes in Placer County; defeat Bruce Kranz, Aaron Klein, Scott Leslie and Tom McClintock.

Voting Correctly Will Make Beautiful Auburn Beautiful Politically!

Placer County is one of the most beautiful places on Planet Earth. We should have the best schools, the best welfare system, the best environmental protection, the best recreational facilities, the most egalitarian concerns for our fellows, and the best elected officials, but tragically we do not. With a little tweaking we can help those humanitarians already in office ( Robert Weygandt, Jim Holmes, Mike Holmes) become even better servants of the people.

We have too many citizens who are willing to trade quality of life for financial rewards, who put self-interest ahead of community-interest. We must start somewhere to make our personal concerns for our beautiful area our top priority.

We should all vote for Charlie Brown, a decorated marine and local resident, who lives in Roseville, to fill the soiled office (Ca-04) held by John “Demagogue” Doolittle and Jennifer Montgomery to replace his concierge Bruce Kranz on the Placer County Board of Supervisors, District 5.

A marathon must begin with a first step. Let’s make our beautiful area the kind of place the world will look to as the model of an egalitarian community.

How Long Can the US Constitution Withstand GOP Attempts to Destroy It?

The greatest threat to the survival of the U.S. is not Iran, North Korea or even Al Quaida. It is the Republican Party. Bush’s policies have turned the last great super power into the world’s biggest joke … only no one is laughing. He has disregarded global warming, squandered the Treasury with lack of oversight and cronyism, destroyed habeas corpus and the integrity of voting, and the rule of law ... the list is endless. He has politicized all branches of government.

All Republican presidential candidates except Ron Paul are used fear to be a tougher Bush with no thought to the well-being of the US only the Republicans Party. Bush’s Orwellian doublespeak blinds Republicans to the destruction the GOP has caused, eliminating any desire to change it.

Bush has lost all credibility as a leader, and the U.S. is drifting aimlessly in a very dangerous world. For the U.S. to survive, it must elect a Democratic President (the worst Democratic candidate is many times better than the best Republican), and increase the Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. The U.S. cannot stand another Age of Republican Insanity. How long can the Constitution withstand the assualts of the GOP?