Filling Bill Reid’s seat

Candidates for Mono County District 4 seat offer voters substantive choice

Mono County residents were saddened and stunned by the sudden death last year of District 4 Supervisor Bill Reid. As per California law, the governor has the ability to pick a replacement to maintain a 5-person Board until a new supervisor can be formally elected. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office, however, has yet to name someone to the seat, even though a selection process has been started.

Meanwhile, at least two candidates — businessman Tim Fesko and former County Clerk Renn Nolan — recently declared their intent to run in the June election. (A third, Bobby Tems, has pulled papers, and has until Friday to complete the application process, if he so chooses.) The backgrounds of the two candidates present voters with two distinctly different options.

Tim Fesko
After years of visiting the Eastern Sierra, Fesko, a San Jose native and the youngest of seven kids, moved to the area in 1997. He took over the Meadowcliff Resort, located just north of Walker on U.S. 395. With a background in electronics, he also started a software company, and said he’s been self-employed since he was 22. “One of my strengths: I understand what being a small businessman/owner is like,” Fesko said. “I wear a lot of hats. I’m also a general contractor.”

Fesko’s planks are fairly conservative. “I believe in self-responsibility and constitutionally limited government. Government is here to serve people, not the other way around,” he said. “That’s been lost and I want to bring that back.”

He said dealing with almost every County department for almost 14 years while working to expand Meadowcliff has given him “a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t.”

“I’ve been on the Antelope Valley Regional Planning Advisory Committee (RPAC). Every supervisor knows me. I follow the agendas,” he said. “I’ve always been a sort of champion for the little guy.”

Fesko said he had eyed the seat, but said the timing wasn’t right before, not wanting to run against Reid in the last election. “I had some conversations with Bill Reid. He indicated he wasn’t planning on running in 2012. I was thinking about running then, but after his most unfortunate death, I made the decision to move forward earlier than expected.”

Fesko said one of his selling points is his location. “The last person this far north who sat in the District 4 seat was in the 80s. But I’m very comfortable representing Bridgeport and Lee Vining. I already have support in both areas.”
Fesko said he’s also ready to interface with official bodies such as the Forest Service and tribal leadership, and tackle hot button issues such as the Walker River water situation. “I know all about it. I’m part of the ongoing litigation that’s going on; I’m a water rights holder up here,” Fesko stated. He’s a self-professed big advocate for the little guy. “The Mono Lake boat tours issue is perceived as not being a County problem. I disagree. The County doesn’t have to commit to solving the problem, but should at least be willing to be involved, study the issues. And if there’s a way to legally help the public somehow, government is duty-bound to do so.”

The former parachutist said his rule of thumb is simple: “If you get yourself in a situation, don’t panic. Study it and get yourself out if it. Then you can panic if you want.” His bottom line: “I love this county. It’s my way to give back.”

Renn Nolan
A 33-year plus veteran of Mono government, Nolan thinks it’s exactly that amount of service that’s one of her biggest attributes. She and her husband moved to Bridgeport in 1976 from the San Fernando Valley, and Nolan thinks she beat out 15 other applicants for a job in the County Clerk’s office largely because of her background in title insurance. “It dovetails with the duties of the Recorder,” she explained, “and that was back when the Clerk’s office was more heavily involved with the Superior Court.”

Remodeling a fixer-upper was, she said, an “adventure.” The house, which dates back to 1864, had been subdivided into apartments, and was taken down all the way to the studs. The Nolans owned the Bridgeport Inn for 20 years, giving them some practical business experience, but it’s her 20 years of work with the Board of Supervisors she prefers to talk about.

“Following the meetings, I had always been interested in how the supervisors conducted business,” she recalled. “I’d think, ‘What would I do? What would I say?’” Running for a seat, however, didn’t occur to her until the passing away of Bill Reid. “His are big shoes to fill, but the more I pondered it, I thought, ‘I could do this. I’ve got the time, the energy, and my husband’s behind me 100 percent.’”

Following her retirement in 2006, she turned her attention more to family matters, but said she missed being involved. “I loved being an elected official, serving the people,” she said. How would she handle Reid’s considerable workload of meetings and other issues in which he was integrally involved? “I’m smart, catch on quickly and am ready to come up to speed on everything. My 30 years with the Clerk’s office has given me proven experience with hitting the ground running.”

How does she plan to govern? “Listen to my constituency,” she responded. “Discuss what they want within the district, while keeping in mind the county as a whole. Go out, seek opinions and answers and then weigh what [the people] want versus what may be right.” She plans to handle issues big and small the same. “If it’s going to upset someone, too bad,” she stated. “I’m not going along with the majority if I think something’s wrong. I’m not afraid to go with my internal sense. Unpopular decisions happen; sometimes you just have to do it.”

Nolan said her years in the north county have given her a unique understanding of the district and its residents. “I’ll give it my all. The north county is a big are and that means big responsibility,” she said. “I’ll be at RPACs, any meetings I’m asked to attend or not. I want to know what folks need and help them get it.”

As much as she liked her work in the County Clerk’s office, she thinks representing her district will be even better. “I’m personable, approachable and comfortable talking with groups,” she opined. She’s also looking to Reid as something of a model. “He did what he said he was going to do and wasn’t afraid. He was a great friend of mine and if I can get anywhere close to giving the kind of representation he did, I’ll be successful.” Her bottom line: “Make a difference while you can.”