On May 20, the Ledger Dispatch e-mailed each candidate for Amador County supervisor a list of six questions. They were asked to choose five:

Name: John Plasse

Age: 49

City: Just outside of Jackson

Profession: Retired businessman

Running for: District 1 supervisor

Q: According to school district records, the county sent 53 percent of its students to public California universities or community colleges in 2006-07. What other educational options need to be pursued and will the county ever have a community college?

A: One of the biggest challenges for all employers is hiring qualified people, yet many of our youth are not college bound and wish to enter the workforce upon graduating from high school.

We should encourage vocational training in our schools that closely matches the needs of local employers. Teach the basics of the trades, such as construction, agri-business or journalism, or the basics of starting a business, such as identifying a niche, advertising basics, salesmanship and business taxation. Give our youth some inspiration and basics and they will astound you. And yes, I will support efforts to establish a community college in Amador County.

Q: According to 2005 statistics from the California Employment Development Department, 75 percent of the county's job opportunities paid below the self-sufficiency wage for a single parent with two children, while 41 percent paid below that level for adults in a two-parent household. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 9.2 percent of the county's population was living in poverty in 2003. Is Amador doing enough on the economic development front? If so, cite examples. If not, what would you do to bring in better-paying jobs?

A: We can do more. Start by listing Amador County's specific amenities, such as low crime rates, a local hospital, our proximity to rivers and the Sierras, or our higher population of seniors. Match these amenities with businesses seeking better living conditions for their workforce and offering goods and services targeted to Amador County's demographics and aggressively recruit them. Incentivize businesses to relocate here in order to grow our economic base, not just our population.

Q: According to U.S. Census data, Amador County ranked 18th in population growth among California counties between 2000 and 2003, with most of that growth in the unincorporated upcountry area. What should be done to make sure infrastructure (schools, roads, public protection, wastewater capacity) keeps up? What part, if any, should regional planning or revenue sharing play?

A: Much of what can be done to help our infrastructure "keep up" is the proper locating of our commercial and residential developments combined with appropriate impact fees that fully mitigate the impacts of the proposed project.

This would help us to realize the greatest return on investment of those fees into needed infrastructure.

With regional planning involving city-county cooperation, we can direct development to areas with existing infrastructure or planned future infrastructure most capable of handling the impacts. Also, revenue sharing could help to eliminate the "competition" for development projects between the county and our cities.

Q: A Capital Region Healthy Futures Project study projects that the 55 and older group will make up 40 percent of the county's population in 2020, up from more than one-third in 2005. Is Amador becoming a bedroom community for retirees and can it survive as one?

A: Our county is deluged with residential development proposals that are aimed at retirees from outside the area. This tendency places higher demands for public transportation and emergency services while exacerbating the problems our medical providers face due to the lower compensation levels received from Medicare patients.

We cannot survive as a county while focusing on this type of growth. We need to grow our business and commercial base, create jobs and have our residential growth be driven by a demand from within.

Q: What's the most important thing to maintain about Amador County and what's the most important thing to change?

A: The most important thing to maintain about Amador County is the quality of life and sense of community we enjoy here. There is only one Amador County, and many of us love it for what it is.

What to change? We should strive to convert existing divisiveness among some local groups and organizations to collaboration behind a common goal which seeks to better our community as a whole and benefit our citizens at large.