Candidate for
Supervisor; County of Fresno; Supervisorial District 2

Public Safety Deborah knows that releasing criminals early onto our streets is unacceptable. As Fresno County District 2 Supervisor, Deborah will work to ensure that the Fresno County Sheriff's Office has the resources to keep dangerous people behind bars and maintain appropriate staffing levels for law enforcement and corrections.

Protecting Our Tax Dollars Deborah's extensive experience with Fresno County bureaucracy has revealed many wasteful practices. She has seen that Fresno County has huge bottlenecks and multiple duplications in services. She knows that this is due to the failure of County departments to work together and the failure of Fresno County leadership to insist on cooperation. Additionally, the County has failed in capturing funding from State and Federal sources to which our community is entitled. As Fresno County District 2 Supervisor, Deborah will work to capture all applicable funding, combat any and all financial waste, and fight to make Fresno County government maximally efficient.

Preserving Rural Lifestyle Deborah will staunchly fight attempts to annex any part of Fig Garden into the City of Fresno without the residents' consent. She will work to preserve the distinct rural lifestyle of the Fig Garden neighborhood and fight to ensure that traditional County services are maintained.

Homelessness Deborah knows the homeless of Fresno are of grave concern to the public. The mounting numbers of homeless individuals are a direct result of Fresno County's failure to deal with the issues that drive homelessness. The City of Fresno can never end homelessness without the direct involvement of Fresno County. As Fresno County District 2 Supervisor, Deborah will present a real, workable plan to truly bring about the end of homelessness in Fresno.

Listening To Constituents As Supervisor, Deborah pledges that she will maintain an open door policy, and oppose the practice of access being granted only to those with political influence. She will always be willing to meet with, and listen to, the constituents of Fresno County's District 2. Deborah Harkness will be the Supervisor that can, and will, champion your concerns.

Jobs/Economy Deborah will not claim that the Board of Supervisors can directly create more jobs because it cannot. However Deborah is committed to creating the kind of climate in Fresno County where businesses want to be and grow. This includes all of the priorities already mentioned above, ensuring adequate funding for public safety, making the county government more user friendly, capturing all funds Fresno County is entitled to, reducing the homeless population and guaranteeing a Board of Supervisors that is responsive to the people's concerns.