Conservative vs. conservative

It’s Oroville conservative versus Oroville conservative for the District 1 supervisor post. Incumbent Bill Connelly is seeking a third term for the position, and Virgle Gage, his lone opponent, is running for the first time.

Connelly said he stands on his successes, which include lobbying the rest of the supervisors to approve ongoing improvements to Highway 70, as well as making sure the south county gets its full share of county resources; something he says wasn’t happening before he came on board.

Gage said, however, that the most important issue facing the district is bringing in jobs, and that’s what he fully intends to do. “Our young people go off to college and never come back,” he said. “There’s nothing for them here.”

Gage wants the county to be more user-friendly for potential businesses coming in. He said his own experience in trying to bring in a small manufacturing firm proved impossible because of all the county red tape.

Both candidates call themselves conservative. Gage’s grassroots campaign is being backed and supported by Concerned Citizens, a conservative taxpayer group that is very active in the south county.

Both men have served in the Air Force. Neither candidate finished college. Gage said his career took off while he was studying and he never had the chance to go back and finish. He went on to work his way up to a vice-president position in the electronics-manufacturing industry before starting his own business.

Connelly said he received a degree from the college of “hard knocks” and that it’s not been an easy road. He left home, worked in both farming and construction and eventually started his own construction business. He now owns a roofing company.

District 1 covers the area from Feather Falls, up in the mountains, to Marysville and Highway 99 in the rice fields and nut orchards, and includes most of the city of Oroville.

Connelly said the important part of his position as supervisor of a $400 million budget is to watch over the county department heads without micromanaging. He wants to finish the work he started on the general plan and says the position of supervisor is “intellectually stimulating.”

Gage said he wants the position because there are so many resources in the south county that are being ignored, and he wants to find ways to use those that will benefit the district and attract industry. “Connelly’s had eight years to make the south county a better place to live,” said Gage. “People are still waiting.”