Wylie Kicks off Campaign for Fifth District Supervisor

Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley should not have to sell their souls to survive the financial storm local governments are currently weathering. That was retired pilot George Wylie's message to about three dozen people Saturday at the kick-off event for his campaign to represent the Fifth District on the Santa Cruz County Board Of Supervisors.

Reversing the cycle of budget cuts plaguing area schools and filling the void left by the defunct county redevelopment agency top his list of priorities.

“With the loss of redevelopment funds, we must be creative to fix the huge hole it left in our budget,” Wylie said. “[RDA's impact] affordable housing, streets, sidewalks and [other projects].”

UC Santa Cruz professor Kip Tellez, who served on the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District board with Wylie, introduced him Saturday at the Oak Tree Ristorante in Felton. He said Wylie has both the drive and humility to be an outstanding representative for the mountain area of the county.

“He doesn't have the politicians desire,” Tellez said. “He just wants to serve, and needed to be convinced he would be good at this.”

Danny Boyd, 28, said it was the first political campaign event he had ever been to. He is supporting the candidate because he feels he is an honest person.

“I worked with him and Kathy [Ritchie, his campaign manager],” Boyd said. “I know he's smart and level headed.”

Wylie’s role as a school board trustee was the major accomplishment most pointed to when asked about his qualifications. As a trustee, he rallied public support for a bond measure to replace the library at San Lorenzo Valley High School after it was burned down by a group of drunk students in 2006.

The seat he hopes to fill will be vacated by current Fifth District Supervisor Mark Stone—who is running for State Assembly.

Thirty-five-year Felton resident Glenn Lyons offered several reasons for his support of Wylie, including the slow growth platform he is running on. Lyons also wants to see other projects go forward, such as a new library in the San Lorenzo Valley that would be open to all residents. Although he says he was happy to see the high school library finally open, he says the rest of the community needs one too.

“We should have had a new library up here years ago, but past supervisors didn't push for it,” Lyons said. “I think Wylie can make that happen.”

Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision to close redevelopment agencies statewide drained $22 million from the county that is often used for projects such as building new libraries.

"There are tough decisions that have to be made,” Wylie said. “I am not claiming to have all the answers, but I want to be part of the discussion.”

Ritchie said it is an uphill climb financially to take on a campaign. Bruce McPherson, who is also running for District Five supervisor, has about $50,000 to spend campaigning. Wylie's campaign has only $5,000, which he put up from his own pocket.

“That was a tall order for me,” Wylie said. “But that's not my focus. I just need to talk to more people and get more people talking about me.”