After reading and hearing some of the rhetoric surrounding Manu Koenig at the Feb. 5 Lookout election forum, I felt the need to share my experiences as not only a District 1 resident, but as a community member who has reached out to the district supervisor’s office a number of times.
Prior to knowing too much about Supervisor Koenig, my neighbors and I had concerns with a proposed project on our street and reached out to him to voice our grievances. Supervisor Koenig made himself available, in person, looked into the issue, and directed us to the avenues needed.
Later, I co-founded a local community group, Better Santa Cruz (formerly Safety in Santa Cruz). We invited several leaders within the county, including district supervisors, to discuss drugs, crime and homelessness in a panel discussion. Supervisor Koenig was the first one to agree.
I highlight this because we were just a couple of people who were angry about what we thought we were seeing, and wanted to hold leadership accountable. Supervisor Koenig not only showed up, along with several other leaders, but continued to make himself available if our group had follow-up questions.
Keep in mind – this first panel covered a number of hard conversations. About 70 community members attended and shared a wide range of concerns and grievances. He, along with the rest of leadership, answered questions from a seemingly unhappy crowd.
We need leadership that shows up and actually builds bridges with the community. Leaders that follow through when the going gets tough. I can speak from experience that Supervisor Koenig not only shows up and listens to constituents, he follows through on his promises of further investigation and execution.
I was, and continue to be, particularly impressed with Supervisor Koenig’s preparedness.
Having held several panel discussions, I can speak to his keen awareness of current issues and the hurdles our community faces. He also is not afraid to say what a potential solution is, even when the public might not like it. That is a key piece to being a leader.
I felt compelled to share my experience after watching him debate with Lani Faulkner. To hear, again, the accusation that Supervisor Koenig does not listen (without specific examples of a circumstance or issue), I had to speak up. Supervisor Koenig listens to his district – and actively works with them to find solutions and collaborate.
To then hear the opponent’s entire campaign is about “building bridges” yet she could not think of a single instance of actually doing that, I found extremely concerning.
The supervisor position is about finding solutions to important issues like how to spend limited budgets. I can personally think of three times of bridging competing wishes just this morning, as a mother of two. To be running for district supervisor, to be running on a “building bridges” platform, but to not think of one example?
We don’t want our county budget to be the first attempt.
As a District 1 resident, I really hope that people will consider this when they vote for their supervisor.
Kaelin Wagnermarsh
Live Oak