George S. Smith, Nevada County Justice of the Peace for District 8, will run for re-election.
Smith is a first-time member of the county's Quorum Court. "I ran for office promising my District 8 neighbors that I would work to create an understandable, workable county budget and to look for ways to enhance revenues and curtail unnecessary expenses that have become status quo expenditures for the county," he said in a statement.
Smith said the county wastes money by not adequately planning for the "unexpected events that arise and I have been vocal about the need to raise revenues to pay employees more than the bare minimum."
"This year," he said, "more of the JPs have gotten involved in the budget review and the end result will be the best budget that has come before the court in a long time, if ever.
"The review has resulted in more money for county employees and a closer look at all expenditures," Smith said. "We worked hard to make sure we have an understandable budget, that expenses are clearly indicated as to where the money is going, rather than having to rely on institutional memory as to where funds for specific items are located.
According to Smith, Nevada County is one of the poorest counties in the state in regard to revenues, and the solution is to raise revenues or forego essential services.
"We are one of the few counties in the state that still gives free trash pickup to county residents," he said. "It is past time to look at charging a small monthly fee just like Prescott does and that neighboring cities and counties charge so we can raise revenue to provide certain services: better roads, to asphalt and chip-and seal more roads each year; acquire good, reliable equipment that does not need repairing all the time; help our service partners-Senior Citizens Center, Extension Service and others-keep their buildings in good shape, and; pay our employees a comparable wage to our neighboring counties."