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Health & Fitness

Vote for Meaningful Change: Toni Shroyer for District 5 Supervisor

Election Time is when politicians take credit for anything good that happens in their district whether they made a significant contribution or not. It's the spin that an entrenched incumbent uses to gain votes. It often succeeds because people want to believe they are well represented.

In the past it was the responsibility of journalists to question the efficacy of our politicians and to call them on their foibles and failures. Our press was the avenue through which free speech reached the people and it could be relied on as being free of bias. Sadly those days are long gone. The press has become yet another special interest advocating for the party or person of their choice.

The press can be fickle and turn against an entrenched incumbent but for the most part the press, along with unions, corporations and any large financial body of lobbyists will thread a race with accolades for their candidate and condemnation of their opponents. 

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In the race for District 5 Supervisor we are led to believe that Judy Arnold has only made exceptional decisions in her two terms as supervisor and that she is incapable of error like a character in Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon.

It's this denial of Judy's culpability that should make every District 5 voter ask themselves why would the press and Judy's supporters refuse to address the many errors of judgment and the credit taking for contributions that took no real time or effort on Judy's part. These contributions magically appear at or near election time when Judy wants to be seen.

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Some of the questions that should be asked include:

·         Where was Judy when Novato succeeded in getting approval for their Housing Element? 

·         Where was Judy when the IJ condemned Novato with a headline that read, "City of Rage"? 

·         Where was Judy when residents struggled to express their concern about the mismanagement of Wyndover Apartments? 

·         Where was Judy when the county submitted their Housing Element and lost the fight for a lower density because they failed to prove it was fiscally sustainable? 

·         Where was Judy when residents of Novato complained that ABAG created unfair RHNA numbers and that Novato didn't have the financial resources to support excessive zoning of tax free housing? 

·         Where was Judy when the Warner Creek Senior Housing Development advertised units in multiple cities throughout Sonoma, Marin and the East Bay but not in Novato? 

·         Where was Judy when the Novato City Council requested a lowering of RHNA numbers for low income housing mandates? 

 

The list of "Where was Judy" questions can go on ad infinitum.  The real issue here is why the press refuses to acknowledge her many foibles. Judy was against SMART and now she says it better than jam on toast. Judy supports ABAG's Plan Bay Area as the solution to climate change.   Judy supports SUNN's efforts to oppose Novato city planners on the 20/20 Housing Element.  In it the city provided evidence that a density reduction of 10% and an intensity reduction of 80% to zoning of affordable housing would succeed in Novato and Sacramento agreed.  When Novato city planners made history Judy's office was noticeably silent. Later Judy's explanation was without a change in legislation it was too difficult for the county to succeed as Novato had.

When we ask ourselves why Judy Arnold gets the white wash by the Marin IJ and the Novato Advance it looks like both papers are ashamed of Novato residents that speak out about unsustainable:  pensions, developments, budgets, and transit projects.

Any Novato resident that questions our leaders and their practices is immediately chastised in the Press or worse censored.  Novato has no voice when it comes to politics in Marin because our leaders lack the ability to advocate for the economic and social well being of our community.

So a vote for Judy Arnold is a vote to maintain an unsustainable status quo that sees Novato as an embarrassment to the rest of the county for residents willing to speak out on issues that through censorship are demonized in the Press. 

It's time to take a stand for meaningful change. If you are unhappy with Novato's representation on the Board of Supervisors then please cast your vote for Toni Shroyer in the race for District 5 Supervisor.




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