Q&A: District 2 Supervisor Candidate Rich McInnis

Editor's note: This is the one in a series of pieces about the candidates for Santa Cruz County District 2 Supervisor. Check back daily for another candidate Q&A.

How does your background make you uniquely qualified to be the Santa Cruz County Supervisor?

I have been self employed for the past 17 years and have owned and operated several companies during that time frame, a computer technology company, an internet media company, and now a restaurant/bar located at Rio Del Mar Beach called the Seabreeze Tavern.

All of my businesses were started with my own initial investment and I grew them as the business demanded it. This includes writing business plans to attain bank financing and lines of credit to buy inventory, hiring employees and negotiating pay and benefits, managing those same employees, and balancing the budget. I also managed the closure of my computer company due to declining sales, and this included layoffs and the eventual closing of that business.

While our county budget might be large, it is still all about not spending more money than your business and or county government takes in and every business owner has to make tough decisions along the way if he is going to survive the ups and downs of our always cyclical economy.

At this time with our county economy in a down cycle, tough decisions have to be made to balance the budget and I have real world business experience making those tough decisions and I will apply my experience to get our county budget balanced and keep it balanced. 

What distinguishes you from the other candidates?

As a resident and small business owner of a restaurant and home in the
2nd district that was forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy by our
county governments "right to use" ordinance, which was put in place for the sole purpose of generating revenue to fund a bloated government. It is because of this experience with our county government that I am uniquely sensitive to these issues and will work tirelessly to repeal county regulations that strangle our small businesses, which keeps them from hiring more employees as well.

I will also work hard to stop the illegal foreclosure tactics the banks we
bailed out in 2008 are using to evict or friends and neighbors and
driving home values down in our county.

What do you see as the main issues facing Santa Cruz County, and how do you intend to address them?

The two main issues facing our economy are Jobs and home foreclosures.

As a small business owner in the 2nd district, I know what the county government is doing wrong that stifles growth and hiring by our small businesses. If elected, I will walk my district and meet with local business owners and find out what else I can do as their supervisor to get our county government out of their way so they can hire more of our local residents and help get our local economy growing. More jobs will help unemployed residents find work and start earning a pay check so the can pay their mortgage and keep their homes from being foreclosed as well.

I will also work hard to stop the illegal foreclosure tactics being used by the big banks, and I will work with my fellow board members to impose a moratorium on foreclosures in our county and require a mandatory face to face mediation between the bank and the homeowner in hopes a loan modification can be worked out.