Sandy Lund with the Big Pine Civic Club, 4th District Supervisorial candidates Deana Davenport-Conway, Don Bright Jennifer Roeser  Photo credit: Charles James

The three candidates running for the Fourth District Supervisorial seat went head to
head Tuesday evening at a Big Pine Civic Club forum. Here’s an abbreviated run-down on the
questions and answers.
Services for veterans and seniors: Don Bright felt vet services in the County were somewhat
lacking and he would get involved if elected. For seniors, Bright would look at additional grant
funding. Jennifer Roeser would get the one-man veterans services office additional staffing and
would listen to what seniors needed. Deana Davenport-Conway would pursue the Veterans’
Walk project in Big Pine and go after grant funding for vets. She’s supportive of the Aging in
Place program.
Working with land-owning agencies in the Valley: Bright would be flexible but if that didn’t
work, he’d pick a point and fight. Roeser isn’t big on collaboration, preferring to go to the top of
the collaboration chain. Davenport-Conway would fight over water issues.
Improving relationships with Tribal communities: They all agreed to work to meet the needs of
the native communities.
County parks and campgrounds: Conway-Davenport acknowledged the County has $250,000
for much needed park upgrades. Bright referenced the Eastern Sierra Sustainable Recreation
Project efforts to secure grant funding for parks. Roeser was big on public/private partnerships,
citing the Onion Valley’s private concession.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power related issues: Bright said the County needed a
robust Water Department. Roeser mentioned that ag leases have been passed down through
families. Davenport-Conway said water, land and the economy are all tied together.
Wilderness: Roeser was concerned the federal government would add more wilderness.
Davenport-Conway wanted to see more.

Housing and Homelessness: Bright conceded the issue was endemic and would require a wider,
regional effort. Roeser wanted to keep land use decisions local. Davenport-Conway’s solution
was to build housing more efficiently.
Balancing County and 4 th District needs: Roeser would answer to the 4 th District. Davenport-
Conway felt the District needed to support small business and would encourage release of
more LADWP lands. For Bright, parks, roads and law enforcement were big issues for both.
The three will meet again at the Independence Civic Club candidate forum on February 3rd.