When Scotts Valley City Council and school board candidates shared a stage on separate nights to answer questions in two public forums earlier this month, the mood was subdued and cordial, with more agreement than controversy.
With less than two weeks before Election Day, the gloves are off.
Here are the latest developments in the past week:
- Three different sources – two of them anonymous – delivered copies or sent links to public documents revealing that Councilmember Dene Bustichi’s contractor licenses had been revoked in 2015. One envelope – with no return address – was dropped through the Press Banner front door mail slot at 9 p.m. Monday.
- School Board president Michael Shulman – himself a candidate for re-election – sent an email to City Manager Jenny Haruyama informing her of the revocation of Bustichi’s contractor license and stating that Bustichi should resign. Haruyama said the state disciplinary action against Bustichi had no connection to his council duties.
- Council challenger Jack Dilles, a former city finance director, said the revocation of Bustichi’s contractor license meant Bustichi could no longer “effectively serve on the City Council.”
- A campaign flier distributed by city council challenger Jack Dilles critical of what he called a “$200,000 giveback of fees to the 1440 Project” prompted Scott Kriens, the director of the 1440 Foundation, which is building the non-profit “1440 Multiversity” on the former Bethany College campus, to pen a “Dear Jack” response challenging his facts.
- Fifth District Supervisor Bruce McPherson endorsed council incumbents Bustichi, Donna Lind and Randy Johnson in letters, mailers, and advertisements. McPherson won re-election to a second term in the June primaries.
- Councilmember Jim Reed, acting on behalf of a group called Neighbors for Keeping Scotts Valley Strong, placed advertising on behalf of his fellow council members Bustichi, Johnson and Lind, and critical of Dilles. Reed is a former editor and general manager of the Press Banner.
- The Crosson North County Democratic Club – the Democratic Party’s organization for Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley – scheduled a second “meet and greet” at its Scotts Valley campaign office for its endorsed candidates: Dilles and Rosanna Herrera for City Council; Shulman, Sue Roth, Sue Rains, Kim Shultz and Farah Galvez Theissen for school board; San Lorenzo Valley Water District candidate Randall Brown and Scotts Valley Fire Protection District candidates Daron Pisciotta and Arthur Smith.
- The week began on a lighter note, with several candidates joining local celebrities and dignitaries at a good-natured fundraising event on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Malone’s Grill, where customers paid to throw cream pies in their faces to raise money for Valley Churches United Missions.
