Royal Oaks resident announces candidacy for Monterey County supervisor

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SALINAS — A North Monterey County resident with deep roots in the area and an active record of volunteer work has announced he is running for District 2 supervisor.

Steve Snodgrass is the chief financial officer of Watsonville-based Graniterock and has served on a number of government and nonprofit boards. He was named United Way Santa Cruz County’s Volunteer of the Year in 2013.

The 66-year-old Royal Oaks resident joins farmer and businessman Glenn Church and Grant Leonard, a housing analyst with the city of Monterey, in what so far is shaping up as a three-way race for the supervisorial seat. The position is currently held by Supervisor John Phillips, who has signaled he won’t run for another term. The primary election will take place on June 7, 2022.

District 2 encompasses North Monterey County including Pajaro, Aromas, Royal Oaks, Las Lomas, Moss Landing, Castroville, Prunedale and parts of North Salinas.

Snodgrass is running on a platform of bringing community, government and nonprofit groups together to tackle challenges in District 2. He said his financial background has taught him the importance of maintaining fiscal responsibility.

As an example of helping the county run a tighter financial ship, he cited a Monterey County Civil Grand Jury report a couple of years ago that criticized a massive cost overrun of the installation of an advanced accounting system in the county. The project was budgeted at $4.3 million but ended up costing $40.6 million.

“You could have built 100 miles of two-lane roads in the county for that overrun,” Snodgrass said.

County government needs to work side by side with business, other local and state government agencies and the nonprofit world to tackle the difficult issues facing the county, he said.

“We must work together to solve problems together,” he said. “My experience and leadership in both business and community nonprofit work have led to this decision to dedicate the next chapter of my life to making north county a better place.”

Snodgrass has said he is looking at a retirement date of early in 2022 so he could focus entirely on serving as supervisor.

“I don’t hunt and I don’t fish and my golf game is terrible,” he quipped.

At a campaign kickoff last week at Pajaro Park, Snodgrass was joined by former Supervisor and dairy farmer Lou Calcagno. He is also being endorsed by Linda Lines, former president of the North Monterey County Unified School District; retired Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano; Vince Ferrante of the Moss Landing Harbor District; Jeff Byron, a member of the California Energy Commission; and Larry Bonine, the former director of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Just last week he garnered another endorsement from Mary Peters, the former secretary of transportation under President George W. Bush.

The business acumen he has achieved over the past four decades, including as a certified public accountant, will aid him in helping to run county government, he said.

“I know what it’s like running a small business and to worry about meeting a mortgage payment because business slows down,” he said.

With Graniterock’s expertise in road construction, Snodgrass said he is primed to take on the task of improving roadways.

“(California) has the highest gas taxes in the country and the poorest quality roads in the country,” he said.

Water is a perennial issue everywhere in the county but water problems have hit northern Monterey County hard. Brackish seawater is lapping at fresh water aquifers in the Castroville area and high levels of arsenic are in the drinking water in North County. If elected, Snodgrass said he would work toward solving those water issues.

In addition to fiscal responsibility, Snodgrass said he is an advocate of open government, community safety and balancing the need for affordable housing while preserving the county’s agricultural resources.

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