March 12, 2008, Valley Springs News

Kathy Mazzaferro

Mazzaferro seeks District 1 seat on Board of Supervisors

By Nick Baptista

   Expanding the local tax base, making the ambulance service more responsive and having the financial resources available to expand the sheriff’s department and provide competitive wages to deputies are just a few of the challenges Kathy Mazzaferro looks forward to addressing if elected the supervisor to District 1.

   Mazzaferro has joined Zerrall McDaniel and Gary Tofanelli in filing papers to run for the county Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by Bill Claudino after serving one term.

   Mazzaferro, manager for the Wells Fargo Bank branch in San Andreas, said she had been approached on a number of occasions to run for office, but couldn’t make that big of a time commitment while her daughters were in school. Her daughters Ann, Miss Calaveras 2004, and Amy, Miss Calaveras first runner-up 2007, are now in college and “I have no more excuses.”

   In her role in banking, Mazzaferro said she brings certain skill sets that will be beneficial to the county. Through her background in finance and lending she has worked with many contractors in the county and she has been involved with a number of organizations including the Valley Springs Boosters, Valley Springs Area Business Association, Mark Twain St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation as a trustee on the board, theater groups and Friends of the Library.

   Mazzaferro said she would like to shift the burden of maintaining and expanding public services away from property tax payers and strike a balance with more retail operations and sales tax dollars going into county coffers.

   “We have to support the businesses already here and at the same time encourage new businesses to come to Calaveras County,” she said.

   However, Mazzaferro added, “I’m not a fan of the big box stores.”

   New businesses should compliment what’s already here, she said, and she wouldn’t mind seeing stores such as Mervyn’s or Payless ShoeSource encouraged to take a look at locating in the county.

   It will also be beneficial to seek an expansion of local businesses given soaring gas prices and the prospect that they will continue to increase, she said.

   “The worse the energy crisis gets, the better off it will be to have more businesses here that are easily accessible to our residents.”

   Making the public transportation system user-friendly will also be an important challenge if gas prices continue to follow their recent trend, she added.

   She sees the role of supervisor as bringing disparate groups together and finding ways to arrive at solutions people can live with.

   “Nobody will be 100 percent happy, we’re all going to have to give, sacrifice and be willing to compromise,” she said.

   The election for District 1 supervisor is on the June 3 ballot, If one candidate does not receive a simple majority of the vote at that time, a runoff will be held Nov. 4.

   The Valley Springs News anticipates hosting a Meet the Candidates Night in April or May.

Mail: P.O. Box 1297, Valley Springs, CA 95252 
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