We are very fortunate here in Santa Cruz County to have three excellent candidates running for the office of sheriff. I will be voting for Jim Hart because of his dedication, experience and qualifications. As a retired Scotts Valley police captain, the retired director of the Public Safety Program at Cabrillo College, and a fellow college instructor, I have had many occasions to work with Jim.

Santa Cruz County has issued 70,777 vote-by-mail ballots for the June 3 Election and just 8,939, 12.62 percent, had been returned as of May 27.

To the editor:

I would like to address three recent letters written to the editor about the sheriff's race.

To the editor:

I am writing in support of Measure A because it would benefit everyone in Scotts Valley. This well-structured measure would provide funds that would stay local and be used almost entirely on a badly needed new middle school. Because a healthy fully-functioning community must have an excellent school system, everyone in Scotts Valley should support our youth and vote for Measure A. Children should be our number one investment because the payoff is so big. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, community member, or business owner, you have a stake in our school system.

To the editor:

To the editor:

Kiwanis of the Valleys

I have owned property in different areas of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties for 28 years. I currently own property in Scotts Valley. The school taxes are overwhelming. I currently pay over $1,000 year in property taxes just for schools, and now we are faced with yet another school tax (Measure A) that would cost me another $300/year or more in school taxes. To top it off, our kids are grown and gone. By the way, what happened to the California Lottery school funding?