Letter: Reed not running

EDITOR,
A few weeks ago, after the Board of Supervisors split Scotts Valley’s representation between two districts despite the clearly expressed wishes of our community, I began exploring a possible campaign for Fifth District Supervisor since my preferred candidate, Scotts Valley Mayor Dene Bustichi, was prevented from running by the supervisors’ inexplicable gerrymander.
I did so for several reasons — the county’s seeming unwillingness to innovate, backward attitudes on job creation from some Supervisors and the fact that an open seat in troubled times would spur district residents to new thinking about the future.
Finding approximately 20 hours a week to test the waters seemed an easy thing for me to find in theory. In practice, however, this proved impossible to arrange without unacceptably disrupting my family and professional life, even for only a few weeks, which left me wondering where I’d get the bandwidth for a yearlong campaign.
Above all, I enjoy immensely serving on the Scotts Valley City Council. And it soon became clear that turning my and my family’s lives upside down for the next year in order to get a job I might not enjoy as much as being a Councilmember didn’t make sense.
I’m disappointed that voters won’t have the choice of any Scotts Valley City Councilmember for Supervisor, since I believe the Council’s record of fiscal tight-fistedness, responsibly growing our economy and pro-active engagement with the community is sorely needed at the county level.
I am especially grateful to the people who took the time to sharpen my education on county issues and those in Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley who responded positively to my explorations. I hope they and all Fifth District residents will be active in the critical conversation to come about the future of our communities and Santa Cruz County.
Jim Reed, Scotts Valley City Councilmember