Letter: Hammer understands 5th District’s needs

EDITOR,
In 1972, Pat Liteky ran against 5th District Supervisor Hoot Cress. Forty years later, the issues are the same: roads, emergency services, clean water, the environment. Hoot, from Scotts Valley, and Liteky, from Brookdale, engaged in a vigorous campaign, which Liteky won, about who best understood our mountain community.
This year’s election is about whether the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley will be represented by a citizen of the 5th District, who understands our needs, or a candidate from Santa Cruz, a beneficiary of gerrymandered redistricting.
Bruce McPherson’s focus is Santa Cruz, in business and politics. Residing in the Santa Cruz enclave of Pasatiempo, his ties to the 5th District are minimal. Less than 3 percent of the $85,000 McPherson has raised is from our community. To discover the truth in politics, all you need to do is follow the money. McPherson would be a third supervisor from Santa Cruz with an unknown Santa Cruz agenda, shared by moneyed interests without a 5th District connection. He would tilt the board to the south, while north county and the 5th District would lose influence. The political calculation is about money and power, not the needs of the 5th District.
Eric Hammer has lived his entire life in the 5th District. He has worked tirelessly in the community and knows it from the inside out. His and the community’s needs dovetail in a shared perspective. Hammer will represent SLV and Scotts Valley proactively, from within our community.
Michael Burns, Felton