" Go, Dan! "

" You got my vote "

" Imagine, a Supervisor for the 1st district that can talk in complete sentences. "

" Dan Monez I always have repected you has a leader of the Napa Valley Community and my best wishes go to you. "

" Given you retired from the city of Napa early, and are being paid a six figure income with full medical benefits for the rest of your life will you forgo the supervisor salary and benefits to help keep the local economy healthy? Will you recuse yourself from all labor union related issues at the county given your situation? "

" Just to set the record straight, I didn't retire early, I served 33 years in law enforcement and I don't get fully paid medical benefits. We are allowed to participate in a group medical through PERS but Diana and I pay that out of our pocket. The City of Napa does provide a small monthly stipend but in no way covers the cost.
Dan Monez monez4supervisor.org "

" I appreciate all that Brad has done for slow growth in our county, but maybe it's time for some "new" blood. I'm not sure I understand the reference to labor union related issues, but I'm sure we will hear more during the campaign. I was glad to see that Dan answered the question about his retirement, and health care benefits. Is this something all of our local politicos will be making public record? "

" Brownsvalley - everyone's been there, done that. No one cares about that issue. "

" Dan is a person who will give the job 100% of his attention. He was the best Chief of Police this city has had in a long time. Although I don't live in that district I fully support his candidicy. Mr. Wagenknect's failure to monitor the spending of several million dollars on farm worker housing is very telling of the type of job he has done for the county.
I also don't understand the question about union issues. Why would he have to recuse himself? As the COP he was management and not a union member. Brownsvalley, enlighten us as to why he has to recuse himself. "

" Dan Monez is a great leader and a great man. I have met him personally and feel that he is a man of integrity. His only interest is the public's interest is the public's interest. Dan, you have my vote! "

" @brownsvalley:

you're asking a man who served his community, who has no idea what his future holds as far as his health, etc. to give up his pension?

i can also attest that the city of napa does pay retirees a very small stipen toward health care, but believe me, it's not much.

get serious brownsvalley. this man wants to continue to serve his community. would you give up your pension? please remember that these CalPers people have had money taken out of their checks toward this pension for years. it's not something for nothing.

now if we could just find someone to get diane dillon out of there! "

" I think Dan would make an outstanding Supervisor....

I wonder why those who question Dan’s sincerity fail to question the other Supervisors who have been paid by UCD while holding public office and then voted on controversial issues UCD supported. That would include the Land Trust which supposedly is nonpartisan… "

" I'm sure that Monez is a nice person. But what you people need to be aware of is that this election could tip the scales toward unprecedented growth.

Many of you may not be aware, or particularly appreciative of the fact that Wagenknecht and Dillon (and now Caldwell) have played a significant role in keeping growth in check.

Development, held back for such a long time, has created what developers view as a vacant void needing to be filled. As developers pile up to fill this void, the pressure (and influence) build up to the point that any amount of weakness will unlock that gate and everything we've worked so hard for will collapse. We are not immune from becoming another San Jose.

From what I have observed about Monez, he's a well liked man in the community. Being well liked is not the only ingredient needed to be an effective supervisor. We need to maintain a strong anti growth position in this County. It's what makes the County unique. Monez appears to be pro growth, pro development. He will tip the scales toward growth. If that's what you want, vote for him. If not, you are wise to vote for those who already have a strong, anti growth record. "

" anti-growth = unemployment "

" Those of you that think no growth = unemployment need a reality check.
For every house built in Napa county the County loses money, something like 15-20 cents on the dollar.
If you think the tourist revenue will continue when there are houses border to border around our vineyards you do not know the hand that feeds us.
If you think that houses use more water than vineyards just down load the Napa County User Permit and see that a home uses more water than an acre of vineyard (8 homes per acre??????).
If you think that houses will replace the $9+ billion Wine industry in revenue and jobs for the county you need an Economics 101 Class.
If you think that traffic increases with vineyards, again, look at the use permit. The average home does 9.6 vehicle trips per day, the average vineyard is much less.
Unless Dan Monez swears an oath against houses (not going after development driven state mandates alone) you are jeopardizing the golden goose. He can espouse all the wonderful 2nd order issues he wants but kill the Goose and we are just another bedroom community.
I guess that you would recommend that Santa Clara County votes to build more houses and squeeze out Intel, Google, Cisco etc etc etc. We have vineyards, they have tilt up cement buildings.
Is that growth or short sightedness?
Dan you decide, I know Brad's answer! "

" I would think with all those vacant buildings in Napa you would want some sort of growth there. I am sure the tourists on which you rely are not thrilled to discover downtown Napa is heavily boarded up. Maybe I am wrong and the locals like it that way? Seems like this man is very popular and has a great history in Napa, I wish him and Napa all the best. "

" i think people in the construction/lending/landscaping/hvac/electrician industry would disagree with you factcheck.

the county has put the kabosh on several projects that have cost people in this county their jobs. several of my co-workers are among them. "

" danmonez:
Thank you for your clarification.

Some politicians in the state and federal governments pull in multiple pensions and will never have Obamacare forced down their throats.

Good going and best o' luck! "

" Sorry for my lack of clarity, by early retirement I meant before the age of 60 or 65 as is customary. To be more specific and help you clarify your position on a few things.
Do you feel it appropriate for public employees to “double dip” that is take retirement benefits and a public employee salary at the same time? How about when the county budget is in dire straights, will be reduced again next year and for some time to come?
Are you opposed to meeting our legal obligations to provide low income housing in Napa as your “challenging state mandates for growth and residential density in Napa County” seems to imply?
Where in the county would you locate low income housing other than American Canyon?
The cost of existing public employee salary and benefits are un sustainable by definition, do you have a plan to contain these costs or do you believe the county can “grow” their way out of the problem? "

" Not that Napa should be a single-industry community. "

" sdnapa, most every single housing construction site that I have observed today hires low wage, often illegal construction workers for the job. These low wage workers go home to Vallejo or Fairfield and make very little contribution to the Napa County economy.

The custom home builder is usually a small business contractor who does not typically benefit from large scale development. They more likely benefit from remodels and new construction on larger lots.

The large scale developers are often from out of town. They hire cheap labor crews to come in and do a job in an assembly line like fashion. When the massive project is complete, they all go home, elsewhere.

The independent contractor such as a skilled local plumber or electrician is typically not hired to work on these large scale developments.

If you do not believe me, go by a tract development, even a smaller one. Observe who is doing the work. Ask them where they live.

Sadly, the demand for skilled and qualified contractors has decreased as a result of the influx of the low wage worker into California. This has permeated into just about every labor type of industry around.

Slow growth does not typically deter the construction of custom homes on legally zoned lots. Slow growth holds back the massive influx of tract development into the County. It defends hijacked zoning laws.

Put blame where it belongs. We have tolerated low wage workers taking over the jobs of higher paid, skilled workers. California is tilting too far toward low wage workers who require other types of support for survival. The middle class cannot afford to pay for these services AND hire a contractor to finish their remodeling! THAT'S the real problem. "

" @vocal

i can only tell you what i see for myself in the line of work that i'm in. construction is a huge part of the industry i work in, and i can tell you that the people that have been laid off due to the slow down in construction are paid somewhere between $25-$30 per hour.

i also know that civil engineering, which is no low paying career, has been affected by the no growth. "

" sdnapa, the question is, do we continue the pattern of growing more and more to accommodate the population that has become dependent on such growth? When the population of the country has doubled, are you still going to be making that same argument? At what point do you say "stop"? When there is so much pollution you can hardly breath? When it takes an hour to drive ten miles? When all of the damns we've built to contain the water we need for the over population are insufficient?

Keep this in mind: we either face a "little" pain now or massive amounts of pain later because the greater the number of people who become dependent on the growth foundation we have built, the harder it's going to be to repress the revolt that's bound to come along when limited resources step in to do the job that humans were not self disciplined enough to do for themselves. "

" I meant to say "dams" not "damns". The latter kind of describes how I feel about the whole mess, though! "

" Dan all the way..... "

" Personally I'm sticking with Brad. Not interested in Devil I don't know. "