Responsibility to Lead: The Ethics of Governing

Friday, March 27th – 3:30PM

Friederich Hayek once said, “we must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage”. As the closing panel of the conference, “Responsibility to Lead” aims to pick up that gauntlet thrown down long ago and discuss the duties and responsibilities that elected officials have towards their constituencies. In an effort to close the gap between the normative and the descriptive, this panel will explore where campaign promises translate into policy changes, as well as where the motivations for public sector changes are born.

Panel Chair

Jeff Mitchell, Columnist for “The Californian”

jeff mitchel

Senior Writer and Columnist, The Salinas Californian, Salinas, Calif. December 2010 to present. Duties include supervising The Californian’s politics and government coverage, writing the thrice weekly column, Civic Chronicles and producer of Civic Chronicles Live! a video podcast. The Californian is a Gannett Co. Inc. property. For work published in 2013 I won a First Place Award for “Best Columns” from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. In 2012 Mr. Mitchell won a national Best of Gannett award for his watchdog reporting of Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. That same year he won a First Place Investigative Reporting Award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Panelists

Fmr. Monterey County Sheriff, Scott Miller

Scott Miller

Scott Miller served as Sheriff of Monterey County from 2011 to 2013. He has made a career in law-enforcement and justice since 1976, and is a Golden Coast native. Mr. Miller served both the Pacific Grove and Salinas police departments before his stint as Sheriff. He also served on numerous public service posts, notably on the Monterey County Domestic Violence Coordinating Councol and the Governor’s Task Force on Sexually Violent Predators. His many accolades extend to his education. Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s Degree in Management from Cal-Poly University in Pomona. He is also a graduate of the 170th session of the FBI National Academy at Quantico.

Mayor of Santa Cruz, Don Lane

don lane

Don Lane (born January 12, 1956) is an elected official, community organizer, and charitable foundation administrator in Santa Cruz, California. As a fourth generation Californian, Lane arrived in Santa Cruz in 1973 at the age of 17 to study politics and history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After graduating with honors, he staffed the election campaign of then Congressman Leon Panetta. Searching for a way to remain in Santa Cruz with long-term employment, he started the Saturn Café and built the restaurant into a local institution. Once the Saturn Café was on steady footing, Lane returned to community politics, serving on the City Water Commission and the City Public Works Commission. He was also active in the local Democratic Party, serving as chair of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party and as president of a local Democratic Club. In 1988, while still managing the Saturn Café, Lane was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council. During his term, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake devastated Downtown Santa Cruz. Much of his tenure was focused on working with other city officials and community members on the successful downtown rebuilding effort. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Metro Transit system and on the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.While serving on the City Council, Lane successfully championed a handful of affordable housing projects and led an effort to improve homeless services. After completing a term as mayor of Santa Cruz in 1992, Lane chose not to run for re-election and began work in the nonprofit sector. After his 1988-92 term, Lane continued to play a key role in the community by initiating two new nonprofit organizations. The first was the Homeless Community Resource Center—which has now grown into the Homeless Services Center. The second nonprofit organization was Youth Opportunities, a job training program for disadvantaged teens—that was located within a downtown ice cream shop. The Youth Opportunities program trained and employed more than fifty teens during its 4 year run. More recently, Lane has worked as an administrator with three different nonprofit organizations in Santa Cruz and he is currently employed as the administrative manager of the Appleton Foundation, as Santa Cruz-based charitable foundation. He again successfully ran for a seat on the Santa Cruz City Council in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012. He continues to focus his energy on housing and transportation issues. He has also served on the county’s Criminal Justice Council and the Youth Violence Prevention Task Force. In 2012, Lane led a successful city effort to convince the Golden State Warriors to locate their Development League team (now the Santa Cruz Warriors) in the City of Santa Cruz. As a volunteer, Lane also serves as the chair of the Smart Solutions to Homelessness Leadership Council, which is a project of the United Way. Lane lives with his wife Mary Howe, a retired UCSC electronics technician. His daughter Tida Lane-Howe, lives in Portland, Oregon.

Mayor of Salinas, Joe Gunter

JoeGunter

Joe Gunter was elected as Mayor of Salinas in November 2012.  After serving his country in the United States Marine Corps, Joe Gunter returned to Salinas and joined the Police Department in 1969. After 32 years as a Police Officer and Detective, he retired in 2002. Over the years he has served his community in many capacities.

Joe has always been involved in community events and served six years as Director of Security for the California International Air Show. He is now the Past President of the Air Show, having served two years as President. He sits on the Board of the Central Coast Federal Credit Union and is the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee, responsible for reviewing and signing off on millions of dollars in loans. He is a Past President of the Women’s Crisis Center for Monterey County and has been a volunteer for the California Rodeo and Alisal youth sports for over 30 years. For many years he was a board member of the Bobby Sox as a coach and served as President of the organization. Joe is the first Police Officer ever elected to the position of Mayor of Salinas.

 Mayor of Pacific Grove, Bill Kampe

Screen Shot 2015-03-03 at 9.58.03 AMBill Kampe and his wife Cheryl bought their house in Pacific Grove in 2003, looking forward purely to enjoying the charms of the city and recreational activities of retirement. Yet the experience of a home remodel led to increasing engagement with city affairs, including the ever-challenging tree ordinance and the first seal policy. In 2008 Bill ran successfully for the city council. In 2012 he was elected Mayor, where the issues of water supply, pension costs, and business vitality became the major focus. In addition to the role of Mayor, serves on the boards of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority and the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments. He also served for 4 years on the board of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, including as chair of the Finance Committee. Bill started his career in private industry after 3 years of Navy service, plus graduate degrees in engineering and business. He brings 35 years of experience with Hewlett-Packard Company and Agilent Technologies in Senior Marketing and Quality Management roles. That included leadership of product and service pricing, environmental programs, global product regulatory affairs, customer satisfaction programs, innovation practices, and financial performance measurement. In his recreational moments, he enjoys bike rides with his wife around our scenic coastline. And he continues his original job in Pacific Grove – artist’s assistant to his wife, a very talented painter of regional scenes. He also serves as board chair of the Ventana Wildlife Society – restoring the California condor to the central coast.

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