Editor:

It has recently come to my attention that money from interests outside Discovery Bay sponsored some of the major advertising in our recent CSD election. The East Bay Business Coalition, an organization of homebuilders and their attorneys from Concord and Sacramento, purchased the full-page ad in our local newspaper touting candidate Finetti.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I seriously doubt that people from Concord and Sacramento have a real interest in insuring that sewer, water and landscaping funds from Discovery Bay are put to proper use. It seems obvious that the only reason for such support is the expectation of favorable treatment on issues (growth) they bring before the CSD in the future.

It is bad enough that lobbyists for special interests control our national legislature. We need to be vigilant in preventing such interests from also controlling our local governing bodies. As someone who has collected small contributions from local residents to support CSD candidates, I know how difficult it is for local residents to finance even a local campaign and all the advertising that it now requires.

While in the recent election, the person supported by these outside interests was defeated, it is imperative that we are even more vigilant in the future in insuring that outsiders with no interest in the welfare of DB residents do not gain influence over out local governing board with their money.

When we see political advertising in the future, we must be careful to check the source of such advertising so that we can be aware of what interest those sources might have in our community.

Sandra Rogers

Discovery Bay