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Brown appoints Caren Ray to succeed Teixeira

October 3, 2013
Caren Ray

Caren Ray

Governor Jerry Brown appointed Arroyo Grande Councilwoman Karen Ray to fill the vacant fourth district seat on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, sources told CalCoastNews Thursday.

Ray will succeed Paul Teixeira, who died of a heart attack in June, and will serve the remaining 15 months of his term.

Teixeira’s term concludes in January 2015. Ray must win election to keep the position. A primary election for the fourth district seat is scheduled for June 2014.

Ray is expected to join Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Adam Hill to reestablish a liberal-leaning majority on the Board of Supervisors. Hill and Ray were spotted meeting in July while Hill was supposed to be attending an Air Pollution Control District meeting.

 


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Bad news for the north county! I seen this happen in Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara effectively turned Santa Maria into a slum by mandating all the low income housing and making decisions that kept the wealth in SB. Same thing happening now with hill, gibson and even Mecham helping them out, because he is not to smart and easily manipulated.


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Your comment is misleading. South Santa Barbara is nearly all “built out” and more than 90 percent of all future growth in Santa Barbara County will be in North Santa Barbara County so of course most low income housing will be built there. It only makes sense.


Santa Maria is NOT a “slum.”


Fear-mongering and nasty, misleading propaganda will not reverse Governor Brown’s decision.


Congratulations of Caren Ray.


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It was the Santa Maria agricultural industry that created the conditions seen in that town. Farmers have encouraged cheap illegal farm laborers to come there for generations. When you fill the town with people with an average 5th grade education and no particular skills, and the ag industry does not take responsibility for these people, then you have to have the low income housing, and the government programs.


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Why should employers pay wages when low-income housing and WIC (53% of all children in the US) take care of everything?


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I am excited to have Caren join the Board. She will make it a lot more livelier! Footraces, binge drinking and public nudity! Yeah baby, let the good times roll!!! We really are reliving the 1970’s….


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She does look and sound like a party! I’m thinkin’ election fund-raiser raves.


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Caren hasn’t been part of the SLO H3 for quite awhile, ever since she got into politics and became “respectable.” But let me tell you Slo-cop-you-later (Caren’s nickname) was always a lot of fun. She isn’t out on the trail but leopards don’t change their spots so I am sure the BOS is going to be in for some fun times! Maybe she can get Debbie Arnold to lighten up a little.


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Well Gordo, you imply you know but clearly don’t. A hasher would have never said that crap. Anyone who knows her knows that while her spirit may be liberal her behavior is conservative. I would bet you could not find a single honest person to attest to her binge drinking or naked running. It just never happened as good a story as that might be.

But you are right, she will bring a lighter spirit to the BOS


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“While her spirit is liberal her behavior is conservative” if you say so. I just know she’s going to liven up the place. I didn’t say I saw her running down the trail naked, but birds of a feather..


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Sadly I don’t think any of the local hashes include that activity (not really sure any do) but it is an interesting mental picture. These guys are more commonly seen in silly costume than suggestive attire. Your typical adult Halloween party is far more risqué


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We mustn’t forget that this is the same Jerry Brown who appointed Rose Bird to the Supreme Court, only to become the ONLY Chief Justice to ever be removed from the court by a majority of voters.

Remember, the most important political office is that of the private citizen.


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“Remember, the most important political office is that of the private citizen.”


Sorta depends on who the ‘private citizen’ is.


Who would you recommend?


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Rose Bird was a fine judge who deserved to be on California’s Supreme Court and was a good pick. California was left worse off when she left the court. What a shame.


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Stuff mean things, goofball. A private citizen is not a political office.


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You couldn’t be more wrong.


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I talked with several of those mentioned as possible replacements for this districts supervisor ( but not all persons mentioned , or submitting themselves ).

All that I talked with were adult and civil.


Now that the decision has been made, I would hope that they would express support to Ms. Ray, and to help towards the best interests of the districts citizens in this period of transition.


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Does anyone know what her “Hash Handle” is?


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H3


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I wonder how Supervisor Adam Hill’s fiance, Dee Torres, is going to react about a future of her philandering boyfriend having such easy access to someone younger and prettier than Torres is?


MUWA-HA-HA-HA! The chickens come home to roost.


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I think we may be on opposite sides of many issues, but that’s some brutal cold-ass shit right there, and funny too because it’s true. Well played!!


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That is a very rude, sleazy mud-slinging comment that does no one in this community any good, “Mary Malone.” Gossip-mongering is NOT the route to a better community or a more healthy political climate.


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The truth sometimes hurts.


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Lies and gossip-mongering hurts worse and can’t help but coming back to haunt those doing it, either in this lifetime or another. May God help them all realize the error of their ways.


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QUOTING WISERGUY: “God help them all realize the error of their ways.”


———–


Hey, I’M not the one running around nude in public parking lots, drinking jello-shots in public places (in front of children), and using screen names like “Cop-U-Later.”


If you are going to ask God to help someone, you might want to ask God to help Caren Ray.


I mean, who would use a screen name like “Cop-U-Later”?


When she traveled abroad, was her screen name “Foreign-I-Cator”?


I mean, really, how trashy is that?


And that’s the best Brown could do, saddle us with a pathetic, attention-seeking bimbo like Caren Ray?


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The cluelessness and steadfast refusal to try attempt to understand anything that does not fit your preconceptions and bias always provides for a good laugh, thanks


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Oh, get off your self-righteous horse. My message is not rude, sleazy or mudslinging. It is simply voicing a reality that sometimes occurs with couples who have affairs while still married to someone else.


Dee Torres and Adam Hill had an affair which broke up the Hills’ marriage. Often, the person who broke up the marriage and then went on to get married (or engaged) to the person they had an affair with, ends up in a heII of their own creation….wondering if their co-affairee is now fooling around with someone else.


Ray is younger and prettier than Torres. In addition, Ray is now in a more powerful position than is Torres.


Torres should be worried about Hill’s fidelity in their relationship. If she isn’t, she is delusional because Hill has far more to gain from a relationship with Caren Ray than he does from a relationship with Dee Torres.


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My first thoughts exactly! Well said.


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I especially like the laugh….MUWA-HA-HA-HA! (; )


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No doubt it will become a very “harried” lifestyle.


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Love the laugh!!!


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So much for Democracy


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This IS democracy in action. The voters elected Governor Brown to make these kind of appointments. It was the will of the people to give Governor Brown that kind of trust and authority. And now he has completed the job voters required of him in this situation. California is very fortunate to have Jerry Brown for its Governor. Good job!


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LOL, ya you would be the first to complain if it was the other way around. The truth is the will of the people in that district has been stolen by the governor. The people voted and brown said screw you.


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Get a clue. Paul Teixeira DIED in office. Governor Brown has acted accordingly in the exact manner as PRESCRIBED BY LAW in accordance, legally and officially, with the authority of the citizens of California.


I most certainly would NOT be the first to complain. You owe me an apology, FineWine.


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LOL, He died so it’s ok to appoint a liberal in his place when he wasn’t. I am often amazed at what liberals can talk them selves into as fair. LOL


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I think Paul Teixeira would support Caren Ray’s appointment. He was reasonable and not of the same extremist, mean-spirited and scurrilous nature of those who are not gracious enough to respect the Governor’s decision, made after much research and due diligence for the benefit of the community as a whole.


Governor Brown made his appointment in exact accordance with the law of the land. His choice is reasonable and not unexpected based on the support Ray has from her community and her experience in local politics. Caren Ray proved herself to the Governor of California, a man who happens to be one of the finest governors California has ever had.


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Oh, brother. You are really reaching if you have to pimp the image of the late Mr. Teixeira by “thinking” you know how he would feel about ANYTHING…but especially his replacement on the County BOS.


I think an important focus for Mr. Teixeira in elected office was agriculture and the water issues facing it. It really was his “specialty” on the BOS.


Other than the possibility of her running naked through farm fields, what agricultural background does Ray have that would support the ag community?


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Governor Brown did the right thing. Of the candidates being considered, I think it is fair to say that no other candidate more closely reflects the type of person that the majority of folks in the South County want representing them.


Paul Teixiera was lucky to get elected and benefited from voters confusion with another candidate who had a similar last name. Paul Teixiera was not a particularly strong leader and seemed more like a glad-hander, “go along to get along (and get re-elected)” type of politician who was too easily influenced by the prodding of people who did not have the best interest of the community at heart.


Caren Ray’s track record as a City Council member in Arroyo Grande shows her to be a firm and steady hand with political conviction and sophistication, more in line with the character of former supervisor Katcho Achadjian.


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I strongly disagree. Ray does not have the experience and knowledge necessary for being a county supervisor.


At a time when water issues are of vital concern to our county, we need supervisors who have a long history with the various water agencies in our county and state, and an in-depth water knowledge base that only decades of working with county issues can provide.


I am absolutely astounded at Governor Brown’s poor choice for the supervisor’s position, especially when there was another, more qualified person in the final three under consideration for the replacement of Mr. Teixeira’s supervisor position.


Mike Winn is, by far, the best candidate for the supervisor’s position. He has a very long history of working on complex water issues, at different levels of government.


He was on the Nipomo CSD board of directors (serving as president multiple times) for many, many years. Often he served as the voice of reason on that BOD.


He has been before the board of supervisors, representing Nipomo CSD’s issues many, many times. He often attends the County BOS meetings. He has worked with the BOS and County staff on many, many projects, many of which had to do with water issues.


He is well-known throughout the county, and has served terms on county and state water organizations times.


He also has represented the Nipomo CSD’s issues in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.


I am absolutely astounded at Brown’s poor choice. Ray isn’t even a decent city council member, and her lack of water knowledge and experience is shockingly appalling. There is no excuse for Brown’s poor choice for this key supervisor’s position.


The only thing Ray has going for her is that she is a woman and election season is slouching towards us to be born. Brown’s choice of Ray is not much more than pandering to women voters, at the expense of county residents who need, and deserve, a better, more experienced person to step into Mr. Teixeira’s supervisor position.


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Im sure no one would deny Mike Wynns superior knowledge on water. But, that’s where his knowledge ended and its a much broader job than that.

“Ray isn’t even a decent city council member,” How so?


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Winn has a much broader knowledge than just water. He is a walking encyclopedia.


However, it just so happens that it is our current and future water supply that is the major issue facing our county now.


Ray has little experience in water issues. Does she even know what the aquifer underlying Arroyo Grande looks like? What water sources contribute to the aquifer and where/how the aquifer discharges its groundwater?


How about the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin’s subbasins? All of the subbasins play a vital role in the health of the entire SMGB’s health and sustainability. What kind of activities are going on in the land above the subbasins that are likely to contaminate the subbasins?


If she doesn’t know, like the back of her hand, the GWB that underlies the City of Arroyo Grande, where she has been seated on the City Council, how can she possibly be fit to deal with GWB crises in other parts of the county?


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I bet she knows a heck of a lot more than you are giving her credit for. She has been in politics in AG since 05 I think it was and from what I have seen is pretty dang sharp. A walking encyclopedia does not make for an effective leader, in fact the guy who thinks he knows it all can be problematic. Wynn did not have the right experience, that’s all there is to it.

There is always next year, but from what I have heard the support for him is not very diverse.


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If the people wanted Mike Winn to be Supervisor they would have voted him into office long ago, because Lord knows he would have accepted the position if it was the will of the voters.


Mike Winn is not a bad guy, but not necessarily the kind of person everyone would want to have representing them on the Board of Supervisors.


But if I’m wrong, we could find out if Mr. Winn runs for the Board and that could happen soon enough. My bet wouldn’t be on Mr. Winn to prevail. I’ll wager the voters will give more votes to Caren Ray any day of the week.


Jacqueline Frederick would also likely pull more votes for Sueprvisor than Mike Winn.


Governor Brown, perhaps the best governor California has ever had, got it right on this one. He knows what he’s doing.


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Winn hasn’t run for county supervisor before.


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That’s right. He has never held a legislative position and that is why he was lesser qualified


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So the citizens of California are supposed to believe that some random person named person known as “Mary Malone” has better political judgment and experience than Governor Jerry Brown?


I don’t think so.


Get real, please.


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Don’t blindly trust elected politicians. The likelihood that they are actually working in your best interests is often very, very low.


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Sorry. I trust Jerry Brown is doing as well or better in his position as Governor than you or I can do. Nothing you have ever written “MaryMalone” could convince me otherwise. Whining citizens like so many you are aligned with would do well to take responsibility for once. Whining and gossip mongering and mud slinging is not the same as being someone who steps up to govern a community.


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Brown is a politician. He wasn’t looking for the most competent person for the open county supervisor seat. He was looking for the most compliant and politically advantageous person.


In other words, he was looking for a mindless tool.


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Are you implying that is the agenda of ever politician or of Brown, whom you have special knowledge of?


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Get back to me when you become governor. P.S. “slouching toward us to be born”? Is that from your unpublished novel?


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It was a spin-off on the “slouching towards Bethlehem to be born.”


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You would be correct if the candidate selected had been Mike Ginn, not Ray. She will do exactly what Gibson and Hill want her to do. She will just be their bitch. Just like Ashbaugh is Marx’s bitch.


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Quite a leap based on no information at all.


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Well then lets bet. Remember that Adam Hill has already met privately, except for the CCN camera man, prior to the selection and i am sure that Hill is taking credit for the appointment. I will offer $100 dollars for everytime Ray votes against Hill and Gibson if you will give me $10 for every time she votes with them. I will add that this is to be applied in 3-2 decisions.


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The vast majority of decision made by this Board have been UNANIMOUS VOTES among board members.


How about you give me $100 every time Debbie Arnold votes with Adam Hill and I give you $10 every time she votes differently?


But in order to really take a lot more of your money, how about you give me a nickel every time Debbie Arnold votes exactly the way Mike Brown and Andy Caldwell tell her to. THAT one could easily make me rich!


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Hey Einstein, the dude said 3-2 big-issue party-line votes not the numerous 5-0 housekeeping votes. It’s common sense and works with a 3-2 split either way. And it’s nothing new. Just stop the damn charade and put D’ and R’s on the ballot after the candidate’s name.


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That dog don’t hunt. WiserGuy, you just make stuff up. “No other candidate relects what the South County wants”–I’m paraphrasing, but that’s just BS.


On the other hand, I am amused at KPRL who is carrying this story, especially when they shyed away from the Lisa Solomon story. I think Lisa set the gold standard for incompetent and sleezy for this county for many years to come. Some people connected to the city still defend her; Caren Ray doesn’t even come close to Solomon’s reign of sleeze, and Solomon still sits on some youth board for the city. How dare they call Caren Ray’s morals into question when they wouldn’t touch Lisa Solomon’s job performance or morals.


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Well, then YOU tell me who looks to be a better match for the South County electorate? Governor Jerry Brown, upon the recommendation of locals, chose Caren Ray. What better choice was there?


(Yeah, yeah, “marymalone” I know you have an opinion on this, but I’m not asking YOU, so chill out please and we’ll count one vote for Mike Winn, okay?”)


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Talk to the moderator if you want me banned from the boards. Otherwise, grow a set and deal with my opinions or, if they are too much for you to handle, then simply skip them.


Brown was looking for an inexperienced, flexible political tool. He found one in Caren Ray. She will be quite beholding to Brown for the unearned appointment.


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I would doubt a friend or member of CCN would be banned in any case. Even one using a pen name as in your case


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What part of less about each other is not clear?


It’s clear you two don’t get along, stop replying to each other, stop the bickering.


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I don’t care if the involved parties are red, blue, purple, or whatever. The sitting governor in these cases should find a replacement that fits the profile of the person who passed away.


This would reflect the will of the people of that area. The people elected that person because they identified with the ideology of that person. In a nutshell, Paul Teixeira was a reflection of the will of the people.


Something tells me Karen Ray does not offer the same reflection in that district. We will find out at the next election. If the people retain Ray in this office, then Gov. Brown had the pulse of the community and did the right thing. If the people boot her from office, Gov Brown will have circumvented the will of the people. I think the latter.


Integrity. Integrity was ditched in favor of partisan politics in this appointment I do believe.


.


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I agree with all but your conclusion. What in miss ray’s record in politics would indicate an inconsistency with Paul’s positions.


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Adam Hill


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Slowthinker, that’s not offering much. I do know Paul and Adam were often on the same side if a vote. Such as Paul’s support for the dust rule.


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Wow. Bingo.


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Please specify what you are referring to when you talk about “inconsistency with Paul’s positions”.


And even if you can point to something of substance, so what? Caren Ray seems to be a stronger leader and so we should not expect her to be mindlessly following the lead of others, especially when that “lead” was questionable and not particularly strong.


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What experience does Ray have in representing the interests of agriculture in our county?


It was Teixeira’s strong support of ag, and his experience in ag issues, that elected him. He was the “ag specialist” on the BOS.


Again, other than possibly running naked through farm fields, or slurping jello-shots from cow-feed buckets, what ag experience does Caren Ray have in ag interests?


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I agree with all but your conclusion. What in miss ray’s record in politics would indicate an inconsistency with The former supervisor’

positions.


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I don’t believe Mr. Teixeira would have ever joined a group, such as Hash House Harriers, as did Caren Ray. I just can’t see him making a public endorsement like that because belonging to such a group implies support of their issues and activities. He certainly would not be stupid enough to post information about his activities in such a group, if he did join.


Ray’s behavior reflects poorly on her fitness for public office. She’s an embarrassment for the county, and considering the nincompoopery that has been exhibited by two of the county supervisors, that is saying a lot.


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This was a political appointment so it should come as no great surprise. Caren is an active partisan Democrat. and it is common knowledge that Supervisor Hill was her main supporter. Now she will either become the third vote for the Hill-Gibson bloc or she will suddenly become an independent and disappoint her mentor (consider Eisenhower’s appointment of Warren and Brennen to the Supreme Court). We’ll know the answer by June when the voters of the district finally get to have their say.


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It was a political appointment but one that included careful looks at a variety of people. Ultimately, she was the most qualified on the list. She is an active democrat to be sure but I have seen no signs of partisanship. It is common knowledge that Adam Hill is a supporter, one of main. It is an erroneous conclusion that he was her main supporter. She has wide and varied support throughout the county. You give Adam way to much credit to think his support had much influence. It is also discrediting to baselessly state Adam is her mentor. He might hope she comes along side but her track record is one of conscientious independence.


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You cannot deduce that Ray is the most qualified simply because the governor picked her.


Lord, I hope you aren’t Caren Ray because you don’t sound very bright. You do sound like you know the Rah!Rah!-Caren-Ray talking points, however.


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I live in AG and know how effective and trusted the city council is.

The rest deserves no response


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The AG council is a joke. They have participated in allowing the SSLOCSD administrator to steal from customers for DECADES.


Having Ray serving on the AG city council is about as much of a positive as is saying Dee Torres should be in control of pesticide licensing in the county because she has experience with bedbugs.


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Well I can say that two members of the city council and the mayor were up for reelection last year and the community was satisfied enough to not bring any challengers forward. The only city in the county where that was the case.

That says something far more than twisted facts an innuendo.


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Governor Brown did the right thing. Of the candidates being considered, I think it is fair to say that no other candidate more closely reflects the type of person that the majority of folks in the South County want representing them.


Paul Teixiera was lucky to get elected and benefited from voters confusion with another candidate who had a similar last name. Paul Teixiera was not a particularly strong leader and seemed more like a glad-hander, “go along to get along (and get re-elected)” type of politician who was too easily influenced by the prodding of people who did not have the best interest of the community at heart.


Caren Ray’s track record as a City Council member in Arroyo Grande shows her to be a firm and steady hand with political conviction and sophistication, more in line with the character of former supervisor Katcho Achadjian.


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“…more in line with the character of former supervisor Katcho Achadjian…”


———


BWA-HA-HA. You wish.


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“This would reflect the will of the people of that area.”


Not true. I live in that district and I didn’t vote for Teixeira.


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I didn’t think it was necessary to include “…majority of the…” when referring to the will of the people, but I guess that it isn’t the case in all instances. So, just for you cch, all ow me to clarify:


This would reflect the will of the majority of the people of that area.


.


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So, tell us choprzrul, who do YOU think the Governor should have appointed instead. And then tell us why that person would have been a more appropriate choice.


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For my opinion on who should have been appointed, and why Ray is unfit for the position:


10/04/2013 at 10:39 am

http://calcoastnews.com/2013/10/brown-appoints-caren-ray-succeed-teixeira/comment-page-2/#comment-96440


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The one major thing Ray has in common with Mr. Teixeira is lack of sufficient experience for the position.


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That is YOUR narrow-minded, mean-spirited, over-emotional opinion that is primarily a concoction of your mind and does NOT reflect the opinion of people I know.


Do you really think you are more political savvy than Governor Jerry Brown? Get real, please!


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Quit whining about my posts. Your self-serving characterizations are ridiculous.


If you don’t like the reality that both Teixeira and Ray lacked sufficient experience for the position, then that is your problem. Deal with it.


You keep introducing false arguments. The issue is not whether or not I am more politically savvy than Brown. In fact, “politically savvy” politicians usually vote for their own best interests first and foremost, without much of a thought on how it may harm the people they are supposed to be serving.


What is Ray’s experience on water issues? That is the most serious problem we are facing. Can she make educated, informed decisions regarding water issues and our future? Or is she going to be another sock-puppet for special interests, just voting how she is told to vote on water issues? We already have a sock-puppet who votes as she is told (Debbie Arnold) on the BOS. Do we really have to have another clueless sock-puppet?


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Less about each other, much less.


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