North County Times  San Diego  –  The race for the District 5 county supervisor’s seat pits two candidates who couldn’t be much further apart on politics, personality or campaign war chests.  Bill Horn, the unabashed millionaire landowner from Valley Center, has held the office —- which represents much of North County —- for 16 years.

He unapologetically favors development, property rights and a fiscally conservative county budget.

Steve Gronke, an even-keeled Vista City Councilman and elementary school teacher, wants limits on backcountry growth and greater scrutiny of the county’s massive reserve fund, to see if it can be better used.

On paper, Horn seems destined to roll to a fifth term Nov. 2. He’s spent $345,000 on the campaign this year alone, according to filings through Oct. 16.

Gronke, through Sept. 30, had spent about 11 percent of that, or $39,000.

Horn had also raised about three times as much money: $172,000 this year, compared with Gronke’s $47,000.

But that’s not all the money influencing the race.

The United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund, established by a San Diego in-home care workers union, spent more than $11,400 on activities opposing Horn’s election this summer and fall, including renting an office for the purpose, according to the fund’s recently released disclosures.

The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council also recently paid $18,750 to run anti-Horn radio ads, its filings show.

Horn, however, has also benefited from union help.

The San Diego County Deputy Sheriff’s Association paid for and placed numerous pro-Horn campaign signs across North County.

Money aside, Horn has another advantage in the race. The 68-year-old Republican, is running in the district with the most registered Republicans in the county: 134,600. That means 45 percent of the registered voters in District 5, which includes the cities of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista and San Marcos, and unincorporated towns such as Fallbrook, Bonsall and Valley Center, share his political allegiance.

Just 65,000, or 22 percent, share Gronke’s “decline to state” registration. Gronke, 58, is a former Republican who considers himself an independent.

The supervisor post is intended to be nonpartisan, yet all five on the board are Republican.

Even with the uphill battle, though, Gronke and his message of restoring integrity to the office gained enough traction in this summer’s primary to force the November run-off. Gronke has seized on Horn’s recent flaps, including the supervisor’s failure to secure permits before completing work on his home, to position himself as the ethical choice.

In the final weeks of their campaigns, the candidates have presented vastly different plans for leading the county. Their views on several key topics are outlined below:

Backcountry growth

While city dwellers can vote for a county supervisor, the decisions supervisors make most directly affect the unincorporated lands, or areas outside city limits.

The General Plan Update, a sweeping backcountry land-use plan before the board this fall, is perhaps the most important document supervisors will vote on in years.

Horn opposes the update’s “downzoning,” a plan that would lower the allowable building density on thousands of parcels outside established rural towns. Many farmers and ranchers have criticized the effort. Supporters have argued that it rightly steers growth to rural town cores and away from areas without adequate roads, water and fire protection.

“I don’t want to downzone anybody,” Horn said in an interview last month.

Gronke, who supports the General Plan Update, said it still allows for growth, just not in the sprawling form that’s covered much of Southern California over the past generation.

He noted that state law requires local governments to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Planning for compact towns that reduce the need for long car trips is one way to do that, he said.

During an interview at Gronke’s Spartan campaign office in Vista, the 10-year veteran on the Vista council said it’s not just growth plans that separate him from Horn.

Gronke said he’s a “pretty low-key” personality, especially compared with the outspoken incumbent.

“Sometimes my campaign manager will say, ‘Pick it up a bit,’” the councilman admitted.

Horn, on the other hand, is never shy about touting his accomplishments while on the board, often using the phrase “I built this” when referring to a library, courthouse or community center he and his colleagues approved funds for.

Horn and the rest of the Board of Supervisors are expected to vote on the backcountry growth plan as early as Nov. 10. They heard nearly eight hours of public testimony for and against it last week.

Fire protection

When it comes to protecting the county from crippling firestorms, the candidates once again disagree.

Horn believes the county should continue to bolster its fleet of firefighting helicopters, an effort Gronke supports, too. But the incumbent opposes adding the region’s many volunteer firefighters to the county’s payroll.

“We can’t afford that,” said Horn, adding that such a move would cost the county hundreds of millions of dollars in additional wages and pensions. Instead, he noted, the county should continue to fund training, equipment and vehicles for them.

Gronke supports a phased hiring of those volunteers, who provide service in small communities such as De Luz, Warner Springs and Ocotillo Wells.

That would standardize and improve service across the thousands of square miles of the fire-prone region, Gronke said. It would also allow a more efficient sharing of firefighting resources, he said.

County finances

Horn said his desire to keep the county on a “good, sound (financial) footing” drove him to run for a fifth term.

He said he doesn’t want the county to end up millions of dollars in debt like the city of San Diego, or billions like state government.

Both he and Gronke share concerns about spiraling government pension costs. Horn said, however, the county, through a separate pension board, took a strong first step several years ago by creating a two-tiered system that lowers pensions for new workers.

“We’re going to have to make some (further) adjustments in the future,” Horn said. “I don’t know what they are.”

Gronke said he supports efforts to rein in pensions if they’re plunging a city’s or county’s budget into debt. Otherwise, he said, he does not see a need for reforms in a jurisdiction with a stable budget.

Meanwhile, Gronke said he wants to investigate whether the county can safely use some of its $700 million reserve fund for needed county services.

Advocates for the poor criticized county leaders earlier this year when they refused to dip into the reserve to help retain several social service programs in their 2010-11 fiscal year budget.

The budget included $7.2 million cut in substance abuse services and a $5.2 million cut in child welfare programs, primarily the result of cuts in state funding.

Supervisors also trimmed the county’s workforce by as many as 62 workers and eliminated 517 jobs that had been vacant for the last several months.

Gronke said he wants to examine whether a reduction of the reserve would truly affect the county’s financial credit rating, which is as high as any jurisdiction’s can be, as much as county leaders have said.

“Really, it’s our money,” Gronke said. “Are they keeping too much? We need to find out.”

North County Times
Call staff writer Chris Nichols at 760-740-5426