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Published on 04/27/1998 All articles from this issue

County candidates to square off in May 13 election forum

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State proposition pros, cons, presented at Los Altos library

Town Crier Staff Report

Candidates for Santa Clara County offices in the June 2 election will step out from behind their press releases and confront each other in a May 13 forum co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View area, Cupertino-Sunnyvale and Palo Alto.

Candidates for county district attorney, assessor and sheriff are scheduled to meet at the forum, scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at Mountain View City Hall, 500 Castro St.

Candidates Melvin Anderson and incumbent George Kennedy are vying for district attorney. The county district attorney's office is responsible for prosecuting approximately 45,000 felony and misdemeanor cases each year and overseeing the county's Consumer and Environmental Protection units.

William Garbett, Virgil Atencio and incumbent Larry Stone are running for county assessor. The county assessor locates all taxable property, identifies ownership and establishes the value of all real estate and personal property. Annual filings of assessment appeals have grown from 328 to more than 6,500 in less than 10 years, creating a backlog and major challenge for the next assessor.

Sheriff's candidates Brian Beck, Ruben Diaz, Jose Salcido, Tom Sing and Laurie Smith are also scheduled to speak. This office serves the communities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of the county.

Deputies respond to more than 177,000 calls for service annually and conduct an array of education programs.

A second League-sponsored forum will be held 7-9 p.m., May 20, at the Los Altos Main Library meeting room, 13 S. San Antonio Road.

This event will feature a non-partisan look at the nine state propositions on the June 2 ballot. Experts from the League of Women Voters will present both pro and con arguments as well as background information for ballot measures such as propositions 223 and 227.

Propositions 223 and 227 deal with school spending and English in public schools, respectively.

Written non-partisan information on all the ballot propositions will be available at these public meetings.

For more information, call the League of Women Voters at 941-4846.