Local Republicans did a major disservice to the citizens of Monterey County when they convinced Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to appoint Ila Mettee-McCutchon as Fourth District Supervisor. With this appointment the ostensibly non-partisan Supervisorial race has been irretrievably politicized. Fourth District voters had anticipated a heated contest between Marina Mayor McCutchon and Jane Parker, a not-forprofit executive who had narrowly been defeated in her 2004 campaign for Supervisor. McCutchon, a Republican, and Parker, a Democrat, were expected to focus on critical development issues, not party affiliation.

By engineering the Supervisorial appointment just three months before the June primary, local Republicans exposed their fear that Parker was running ahead of her rival. They also may have felt that they needed to get McCutchon out of Marina before any more of her massive development schemes failed. To be determined is whether such partisan politics will be tolerated by local voters and whether more of Marina's development projects will unravel before June, leaving scarred land and local taxpayers paying the bills. Parker is the clear choice for the Sierra Club. Her record on health care, fair-paying jobs, education, and the environment is clearly superior to that of her opponent. We are confident that Monterey voters, not Sacramento politicians, will decide the Fourth District race and that Jane Parker will be the next Supervisor.

For more information on Jane Parker, District 4, and how you can help, visit electjaneparker.com.

—Rita Dalessio

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