Fourth candidate emerges in foothills supervisor race

A Brownsville resident who's made open Yuba County government a personal cause is taking a step into being part of that same government.

Elden Fowler, a leader in the citizen group Yuba First, has taken out in-lieu papers to run in the county's Fifth Supervisorial District, the fourth candidate to do so.

"I look forward to a healthy, robust debate in the foothills, which we haven't seen for some time," said Fowler, 66, a retired commercial pilot and regional manager for a trucking company. "The more candidates, the better."

Fowler said adopting a true jobs-first attitude in county government and seeing through the county's General Plan update as it pertains to foothills communities are among his top priorities.

For too long, he said, Yuba County has ranked near the bottom in many economic indicators, and reversing that doesn't mean affecting quality of life in a negative way.

"Quite frankly, until we have a tax base that's based on jobs and revenue, that won't change," he said of the county's consistently downtrodden status. Doing so means looking at regulations hampering job growth, he added.

The re-licensing process through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for Bullards Bar dam is also high on Fowler's priority list, he said. Input on conditions for re-licensing should take Yuba County and its residents' perspective into account before that of outside groups, he said.

Fowler grew up in what was the town of Hammonton, and attended both Yuba City High School and Yuba College. He moved to Brownsville eight years ago.

Last month, Yuba First submitted a letter the county asking for a comprehensive performance audit of Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority, saying residents need to know whether the levee-building agency did the best job possible with the most efficient use of dollars.

County supervisors considered the issue last week but neither rejected nor endorsed the idea, instead suggesting both TRLIA work to answer the group's specific concerns and asking county staff to estimate how much such an audit might cost.

If he formally files to run, Fowler would join Oregon House resident Jenny Cavaliere, Loma Rica resident Marc Barnum and incumbent Supervisor Hal Stocker in the Fifth District race.

A candidate would need more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 8 primary to avoid a November runoff with whoever finishes second.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandemeer@appealdemocrat.com. For more Yuba County news, see Ben's blog "Yuba County Insider" at appealdemocrat.com.