Quick Take
Tony Crane, a candidate for District 2 county supervisor, explains how the improper placement of an eight-bed mental health facility pushed him to run for office. He says he does not hope or expect to win.
Editor’s note: Lookout editors wanted to give you a chance to hear from candidates directly. But we also did not want them to simply repeat their campaign slogans. So we asked them a single question: “How will you provide the sort of leadership our community needs and how are you prepared to meet the moment as it arises?”
We gave them 500 words to answer. We hope their answers will provide one more outlet of information as you decide who to vote for on March 5.
It has been my experience that our system of “checks and balances,” which historically provided accountability and held our leaders to a higher standard, has been perverted.
As I see it, there are multiple reasons for the decline. In California, the dominance of one party plays a big role. In general, the lack of term limits, a distorted sense of loyalty and, locally, a lack of fearless, robust investigative journalism.
Our Aptos neighborhood was a victim of an egregious abuse of power and campaign of dishonesty by our county government and Community Services, a service organization, once described to me by a former county official as “too big to fail.” Both colluded to illegally implement an eight-bed crisis mental health facility in my neighborhood, which was not zoned for such a project.
I now have a personal understanding of why people do not trust our government to be the arbiters of integrity and honesty.
Before our neighborhood was put upon by well-intentioned, but unscrupulous, county and service organization officials, I was blissfully unaware of the sad state of politics in the county. Since then, the purpose of my efforts over the past seven years, culminating in my candidacy, has been to bring to light these corrupt acts and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Over the years, I had tried every administrative and legal option to reveal the misconduct and misuse of taxpayer funds. It became clear that, save a lengthy, expensive civil lawsuit, there was no way to fight a corrupt system unwilling to admit its flaws and do what was just.
I have provided detailed, irrefutable evidence of the misconduct to the media that could be easily corroborated, but instead it has just been a clinic in “fair and balanced” reporting. When I saw that a key perpetrator of the misconduct, Encompass CEO Monica Martinez, was running for supervisor in District 5 and opened herself up to public scrutiny, I decided to throw my hat in the ring in District 2 and use the platform to right the wrong because the voters need to know the truth. The evidence also reveals the role of county officials orchestrated by Erick Riera, county mental health director.
So, the simple answer to this question is leadership by example.
Our neighborhood had been lied to and our civil rights violated. The extent of the initial deceit and the subsequent coverup triggered a dogged persistence that has never subsided.
The leadership legacy I want to leave behind is to put our citizens on notice that they need to be diligent, skeptical and willing to sacrifice to hold our leaders to account because our current “system” will not.
At every opportunity, I have made clear that my goal is to bring honesty and accountability back to our county.
So, at each campaign event, I have made it clear that I did not get in this race to win, but merely to right a wrong and make sure that those who have a track record of deceit and mismanagement of public funds do not hold power in this county
To be honest and transparent, I don’t want to win. For the past seven years, to my detriment, I have sacrificed my family time, energy and money in this fight for justice. The revelation that I hope comes from a thorough unveiling of this matter, should change county politics and stop the normalization of dishonesty.
We need the citizens of Santa Cruz County to demand answers from our leadership and a return of the Fourth Estate.
For more information, contact Tony Crane at vote4transparency@gmail.com.