KRWG Public Media is covering the Sierra County Commission District 2 race. Early voting in the state is underway, and election day is November 3rd. Democratic candidate Sandy Jones spoke with Susan Morée.
Susan Morée:
Sandy, how has your background prepared you for this office?
Sandy Jones:
Well, I think that I have a pretty solid blend of both government and private enterprise. I founded a construction company with my wife in 1980. It operates to today about 46 years. I have been served in government probably 16 years off and on from administration stuff to being elected to the Public Regulation Commission and some appointments. I currently serve as a Sierra County Commissioner now and I'm also the Flood Commissioner in Sierra County.
Susan Morée:
Okay. And what are the top issues facing your district?
Sandy Jones:
I think the top issues that are here right now may just be our population decline or stagnation of it. Because as our growth has stopped and our kids are leaving the community and we're an aging population, it just leads to so many other issues that we have tax base issues. I see that we have an increasingly bigger trash problem in Sierra County. It seems like everywhere we go there's trash. We've tried to do some trash cleanup days that have been successful. And as the population declines, it seems like our community starts losing a little pride in itself. Not to mention the fact that we've got a hospital that's struggling. All of these things that develop out of a stagnant or declining population just become more and more problematic as we look forward.
Susan Morée:
And what are your proposed solutions for these issues?
Sandy Jones:
So that's kind of an interesting question. Our local governments have done a really good job over the last several years of modernizing local government. We've got better buildings, we've got better fleets, we've got better equipment for our people to work on roads and stuff and and it seems to me like there ought to be, there's an opportunity to switch our emphasis and kind of zero in on quality of life issues. We have a lot of senior citizens here. We have youth that are leaving and one of the things that I think we could do is really, really zero in helping out our senior citizen centers, modernizing them Maybe building up a big sports complex. Maybe for our kids with swimming pools, with a rodeo arena, something kind of big that would help us keep our kids here. And also allow our seniors to interact with them and have a place to go swimming. You know, we have a local swimming pool, but it doesn't operate year-round. It would be nice to have something indoors. The other thing that needs to happen is if we can keep our kids here with a job base and really have an emphasis on our local business. You know, we get in the habit of sending a little bit too much of our business out of town and we've got all the talent we need in Sierra County. We've got good businesses here and I think we just need to emphasize on helping them to succeed. I don't think we have to give them. We just got to give them the opportunity to succeed.
Susan Morée:
And last question, what else is important for voters to know about your campaign?
Sandy Jones:
Well, I've been here since 1992 with my family, operated a business here. My kids have gone through the school systems here. I've operated the business here. I've been on a few different boards, commissions here. I've been in Sierra County. I'm not running for any notoriety. I've been elected to other positions but I think that I bring a little bit of fiscal responsibility that I think that we need to concentrate on as well but I'm kind of excited about maybe switching our attention to good infrastructure, good quality of life and I think I've got the the motivation to do it.
Susan Morée:
Okay, thank you so much Sandy for taking the time to talk to us.
Sandy Jones:
Well, I appreciate it. Appreciate you all taking an interest in it because it's really important for people to get to know the candidates so they can make the right choice.
