I'm Barbara Smiley, and
I'm running for District 2 Supervisor. This district is very diverse including the Business Park in El Dorado Hills, wine country in south county, and Sierra communities of Pollock Pines, Grizzly Flats and Kyburz.. 

El Dorado County needs someone who will listen to you and speak up for your concerns. I have been active in the community and with community groups for the past seven years working with others to make a difference in El Dorado County.

Listen to Barbara's ideas...

Endorsements '08: In El Dorado, it's Knight, Smiley

EXPERIENCE, PERSPECTIVE MAKE THEM CHOICES IN SUPERVISOR RACES

Published Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 Sacramento Bee

Like much of the region, El Dorado County is reeling from a meltdown in the mortgage and building industries. The county budget is balanced at the moment, but officials are projecting a $5 million to $8 million deficit for the coming year.
The county is also braced for the opening of the massive Red Hawk Indian Casino. It will bring 1,700 new jobs, which is welcome. However, it also will increase traffic on already-overburdened Highway 50 and put more pressure on the county's criminal justice and social welfare systems.
Voters will elect two new supervisors in November to tackle the county's challenges. In District 1, which includes parts of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park, voters will choose between John Knight and Harry Morris.
Both are experienced and capable. Knight is a member of the county Planning Commission and the El Dorado Fire District Board. Norris is a former school board member who currently sits on the El Dorado Irrigation District Board.
Both would make good supervisors. Both support Measure Y, the county ballot proposal that will loosen restrictions on new developments that increase traffic congestion.

And both want to reduce the ability of supervisors to meddle in day-to-day management of the county.
To accomplish that, they support a charter amendment to create a county executive with more direct authority over county department heads.
The lack of sufficient retail is another big issue in El Dorado County. Residents complain that they have to drive down Highway 50 to Folsom or Sacramento for shopping. This deprives El Dorado of badly needed sales tax revenue.
Knight, a former banker, spent 16 years in commercial real estate helping companies locate to El Dorado County. That practical experience gives Knight the edge in this competitive race.

In District 2, which stretches from El Dorado Hills to Kirkwood, the contrast for voters is more stark.

Ray Nutting has already served eight years on the Board of Supervisors between 1993 and 2001. He comes from a fourth-generation El Dorado County ranching family and manages agricultural properties and forest lands. He is an expert on fire safety issues, useful in a county where drought and forest fires are an ever-present danger.

Barbara Smiley moved to El Dorado eight years ago. She is a community volunteer manager for the Marshall Medical Center and a renter, a rarity for local elected officials in El Dorado. Her job requires that she coordinate private and government sector resources to help people in need.

Nutting is the more conservative of the two. He says he will be aggressive about bringing more commercial development to El Dorado County. He also says he may recommend furloughs to address the county budget deficit.

Rather than furloughs, Smiley wants to make the county bureaucracy more efficient. She clearly has a better feel for the social service delivery system and practical experience about how to meet the needs of the poor and elderly. She also is determined to make county government more accessible.
Nutting is better-known. He almost won the race outright in June. He has experience and is perhaps the safer choice, but he has had his opportunity to serve, and the county would benefit from leaders with a fresh perspective.
In this race between very different candidates, Smiley is the better choice. As a renter and relative newcomer, she will bring a fresh and much-needed perspective to El Dorado County government. She also has a track record of addressing the needs of the poor and disadvantaged that will be useful in the hard times this region and the nation face.

Taken together, Smiley and Knight will bring a balance of experience and new ideas to the Board of Supervisors. And balance is useful in the changing world of El Dorado County government.

Smiley wants community involved in government
By Noel Stack
City editor
As manager of volunteers for Marshall Medical Center and founder of the Make a Difference Coalition Barbara Smiley has embraced volunteerism.

Now Smiley, 59, of Shingle Springs wants to embrace county service by becoming the next El Dorado County District 2 supervisor.

“I want to make a difference,” Smiley said.

The communities of District 2, from El Dorado Hills to Mt. Aukum to Pollock Pines, need to have a say in county government, Smiley explained. She said as a supervisor she would attend as many community meetings as possible and create community councils to get more residents involved.

 “I have a lot of experience working with all different types of people,” Smiley explained. “I see a lot of good ideas on the present Board of Supervisors. I see a lot of good ideas from the community.”

As chair of the Affordable Housing Coalition, Smiley said community groups and officials also need to work together to find a solution that addresses the affordable housing shortage in the county but also preserves the rural nature that so many residents enjoy.

Moving to El Dorado County in 2000, Smiley said she came up here for the quality of life but she also recognizes the need for more housing for young families and senior citizens. “We need to grow our community,” Smiley said. “We need to have jobs and places for people to live who are here now.” Possible solutions include seeking grants and alternative funding for affordable housing projects, as well as cluster home construction near the Highway 50 corridor where most services are available, Smiley added. 

Prior to moving to El Dorado County, Smiley worked for Contra Costa County for 10 years. Smiley said that experience will help her, especially during this difficult budget time. The county must “meet its costs with declining revenue,” she said. The supervisors also have the added challenges of implementing the Oak Woodlands Management and finalizing the Winery Ordinance, “and that’s just the beginning,” Smiley added.

By working with the other supervisors and the community, Smiley said she thinks the board can find solutions to problems in county government that will “satisfy the majority.” To get there, she added, the supervisors need to take their messages on the road, holding meetings in each district and town hall forums.

“I think we need to have Board of Supervisors meetings in the evenings when people aren’t at work,” she added.

 By listening to more ideas and creating clear guidelines and policies the board can make county government “very efficient and accessible to people,” Smiley said.

Smiley is running against five other candidates for the District 2 seat currently held by Helen Baumann, whose term expires at the end of this year.

The Make a Difference Coalition, is the volunteer coordinating council for El Dorado County. 

For more information visit:
www.smileyforsupervisor.com

I will work with YOU in our community