Montna, Libby vie in 1st District

As Larry Montna campaigns for re-election next month as a Sutter County supervisor, his opponent Rick Libby, a political newcomer, hopes to push the pace of change — and openness — in the county.

"I just felt I could do a better job," Libby said during interviews with the Appeal-Democrat. "I see things that aren't being done and it's frustrating."

The runoff contest for Sutter County's 1st District, which includes Live Oak and the area north of Yuba City, pits Montna's two terms of experience as a supervisor against Libby's promises for a more accountable and proactive county government — and his longtime membership in the Sutter County Taxpayers Association, a persistent county critic.

A longtime gadfly to local lawmakers, the taxpayers' group, which Libby joined more than 20 years ago, has warned that the county's retirement fund — expanded by supervisors in 2004 — could saddle taxpayers with future deficits.

"Our economic growth hasn't performed well enough to provide a Cadillac retirement (plan)," said Libby. "CalPERS has promised the benefits, but Sutter County has to come up with the bill."

Montna downplayed the fiscal risk of higher benefits, saying an aging and shrinking pool of government workers force all counties and cities to compete harder for talent.

"Baby boomers are retiring," he said. "The next group (of civil servants) is smaller, and it's harder to get them to work for government. The younger guys come to the county, we get them up to speed for three years — and another county offers them a little more, and away they go."

Calling for more responsiveness by supervisors to their residents, Libby promised to push for earlier and fuller notice for board meetings. He called the vote to increase retiree benefits itself a symptom of lawmakers' opacity, saying the item was placed on the consent agenda usually reserved for routine, noncontroversial business.

Those charges left Montna unmoved.

"They say we have closed-door meetings to discuss stuff, but with the Brown Act (California's open meetings law), you can't get three of us together unless you invite the press," said Montna. "Once you sit in these (board chamber) chairs, there's so many rules you have to live by. It's like a punch bowl — everyone is watching you."

With multimillion-dollar bills looming for projects like levee repairs and Live Oak's state-ordered sewer-plant upgrade, Montna's focus leaned heavily on wooing taxpaying new businesses to supplement local farms, which he said are no longer the big employers of the past.

"Farming does not employ the people it used to because of mechanization," said Montna, owner of Muffler Masters in Yuba City. "My father-in-law had 100 acres of prunes, and I used to help out in the harvest. It took 40 or 50 people then; today you pick that whole place with five people and a machine."

However, any amount of economic growth, Libby warned, might not be enough without checks on the cost of county government. He urged more attention to long-term problems — flood control, soaring sewage-treatment costs, road improvements, even the still-unfulfilled plans for a third bridge east to Yuba County.

"The more you spend on retirement benefits, the fewer things get built, get done," he said. "Ultimately, the only purpose gets to be to pay for employees. Nothing else gets done."

THE CANDIDATES

Supervisor Larry Montna

• AGE: 68

• HOMETOWN: Yuba City

• YEARS IN SUTTER COUNTY: Lifetime resident

• FAMILY: Wife, Norma

• EDUCATION: High school graduate

• OCCUPATION: Owner, Muffler Masters, Yuba City

• PREVIOUS PUBLIC AND ELECTED POSTS: Sutter County supervisor, 1988-92; 2004-present

• COMMUNITY SERVICE: Kiwanis Club; volunteer work supporting Pink October, a series of breast cancer awareness events

Rick Libby

• AGE: 65

• HOMETOWN: Live Oak

• YEARS IN SUTTER COUNTY: 30; Colusa County native

• FAMILY: Wife, Jerrie; two children

• EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis

• OCCUPATION: Cattle rancher and walnut farmer; former US Airways pilot; member of the Board of Realtors

• PREVIOUS PUBLIC AND ELECTED POSTS: No government posts; member of county general plan update committee; member of the Sutter County Taxpayers Association

• COMMUNITY SERVICE: Support 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs in Yuba City

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Sutter County Supervisor Larry Montna has received contributions totaling $45,729 since Jan. 1, while his opponent, Rick Libby, has raised $17,923, according to campaign statements filed last week with county election officials.

The statements show that Montna has spent $37,093 and Libby $11,818 this calendar year.

Individual contributions of $500 or more for the period from July 1 to Sept. 30 were:

Larry Montna

• Operating Engineers Local Union 3, Alameda - $5,000

• John S. Gill, Woodland - $1,500

• Basrai Farms, Yuba City - $1,000

• Rajinder S. Chohan, Yuba City - $1,000

• Public Employees Union Local No. 1 - $1,000

• Al Montna, Yuba City - $1,000

• Local Union 340 IBEW Political Action Committee, Sacramento - $500

• Tender S. Dosanlh, Yuba City - $500

• Sukhdev S. Mundi, Yuba City - $500

• Ron and Norma Giovanetti, Yuba City - $500

• Sutter County Citizens for Good Government, Yuba City (filed Oct. 8) - $2,500

Rick Libby

• Lomo Cold Storage, Live Oak - $1,000

• Lomo Receiving Co., Live Oak - $1,000

• Charles Miller, Yuba City - $500

• George Murray, Yuba City - $500

• Sarbit Thiara, Yuba City - $500

• R.E. Lanza, Marysville - $500

• Harter Packing, Yuba City - $500

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.