Letter: 5th District needs real leadership

 EDITOR, Annette Marcum has for several decades been a towering icon of both the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley communities. Her exhaustive and selfless work on several fronts, most notably as the leader of Valley Churches United Missions, has made each of our neighborhoods a much better place to live, particularly for those of us less fortunate. On May 11, Marcum published a letter in the Press-Banner (“Candidate’s experience worth gold”) which reflected her support for Bruce McPherson for 5th District Supervisor. Since then, she has received several malicious, obscene or intimidating phone calls, apparently from members of our community who are opposed to McPherson’s candidacy for supervisor. The calls have been serious enough to trigger an investigation by the sheriff’s department, which is currently under way. Of particular note was a difficult call she received from 5th District Supervisor candidate Eric Hammer, wherein Hammer emphatically stated how upset he was that she was supporting McPherson in the race for supervisor. Hammer’s call was highly improper in that it forced Marcum into the difficult and unnecessary position of having to defend her choice against his unsolicited challenges, on the fly and without warning or preparation whatsoever. We need real, competent and ethical leadership in the 5th District if we are to successfully navigate the difficult times in which we currently find ourselves. Hammer’s call to Marcum reflects an apparently different leadership style.
George Wylie, Brookdale
Editor’s note: Marcum reported to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office that she received more than six hang-up phone calls and one obscene call from a woman she didn’t recognize over two days.