Editor:

I believe this is the most important local election Discovery Bay has faced in recent times. The town has outgrown its present leadership (sic) and this is an opportunity for us all to step forward and say that we do not appreciate not having a plan for the future, we do not like the way our community landscaping has been ignored and we do not like the way the recent massive sewage spill within our town was handled.

Bob Doran, the incumbent candidate, should not be re-elected due to his lack of interest in properly dealing with the landscaping or the sewage spill. Candidate Jennifer Finetti is supported by Doran and three out of the other four CSD members; she is their hand-picked choice to maintain the status quo.

Finetti's campaign material delivered last week with this newspaper mentions not one word about the CSD's primary responsibilities, which are water, waste treatment and landscaping. Instead, it only talks about issues like a new business park that would deliver increased tax revenue to the town. This is an absolutely false statement, as in this unincorporated town, there is no return to source for tax revenue.

In my opinion, Finetti, who bills herself as a professional communicator, is either uniformed about this important basic issue or chose to focus on a false statement to attract votes. Either way, this is not a person I want to be making important decisions for this community.

It is time for DB to take another step up the growth ladder. This step calls for our local leaders to be open and responsive to the community's needs. No more personal agendas, no more keeping information from the public. No more celebrations thrown for family members with taxpayer money (ZIP code party). Candidates Doran and Finetti do not fit the future of DB.

I support Mark Simon and Ray Tetreault because they have the necessary experience and they have pledged to be responsive to the public and to focus on putting DB into a mode whereby there will be, for the first time, a planning horizon developed that takes all needs/views into consideration.

Simon and Tetreault have publicly stated they support seeking an expedient end to the wasteful litigation against the town. Both Doran and Finetti have stated they support taking the litigation to the bitter end, even though there is no upside and it will be a significant financial burden on the community.

Please join me in voting for Simon and Tetreault so that past problems can be resolved and leadership can be established that will guide this town forward in a positive way.

Jeff Barber

Discovery Bay