The Bee’s endorsement for Placer County’s 2nd Board of Supervisors District | Opinion

In the last decade, Roseville has undergone unprecedented growth and change. In 2022, it was ranked as one of the country’s “top growth destination.” But with development also comes new challenges: Balancing responsible growth with conservation; maintaining and expanding infrastructure and roads; and meeting the needs of a diverse, growing constituency.

The communities of Lincoln, Sheridan and West Roseville — where much of the city’s growth is concentrated — are currently well-served by Placer County 2nd District Supervisor Shanti Landon. As the best candidate running for the seat, Landon deserves to be re-elected.

Landon has served the county since 2017, when she served as director to the former District 2 supervisor, Robert Weygandt for more than five years. She was elected in 2022 to fill Weygandt’s seat after he announced his retirement. He had served on the board for 28 years.

With an impressive and extensive knowledge of the county, Landon has proven herself to be an effective leader in her first term. She helped conserve thousands of acres of open space, and championed funding for the Placer County Crime Lab, a new facility being established in partnership with California State University, Sacramento. And she fights for transparency, even though her colleagues recently voted down her request for an internal audit of homeless spending.

Landon is running against Lincoln City Councilmember Holly Andreatta, who garnered attention last December when she told a group of high school students that her daughter is a lesbian due to childhood trauma, and that “separation of church and state is a myth.” Andreatta declined to attend an endorsement interview with members of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board and Landon.

Unsurprisingly, the race between Andreatta and Landon has grown fractious: Each has accused the other of lying about a medical respite center proposed for the city of Lincoln, and in March, the two women engaged in a heated confrontation at a Placer County Republican Party event, where Landon’s team was passing out a packet that included information about the respite project.

According to a Placer County Sheriff’s Office incident report, Andreatta apparently threw one of the packets at Landon, hitting her in the face. Landon declined to press charges but did ask Sheriff’s deputies to document the event.

The situation seems to be more than just two candidates competing for public office, it could also be read as a disagreement between city and county. That interpretation rings true for Landon; two years ago, as part of her role in the National Association of Counties, Landon asked supervisors from around the country whether they have challenges with their cities.

“Every single one of them said ‘Yes,’” Landon said. “Counties often hold a lot of the cards — that’s just the way the laws are written. Cities trust us that we’re going to be fair. We may not always agree, but at least if people feel like we’re fair, hopefully some of those tensions will die.”

Working as a good-faith partner alongside Placer County cities and its unincorporated areas is the challenge of a county supervisor, and Landon is the candidate best-positioned for that responsibility.

She has already shown herself to be a voice for the needs of her constituents while also championing policies that advance the well-being of the entire county — and even communities outside Placer. For example, the National Association of Counties adopted as a priority initiative a resolution Landon helped spearhead that advocates for farmer and rancher mental health; farmers have a suicide rate more than three times the general public’s.

“It was really eye-opening that it passed unanimously in the ag committee,” Landon said. “For everyone to agree that this is an issue (means) that it’s important.”

Closer to home, Landon has four adopted children from foster care and has worked alongside Rocklin Assemblyman Joe Patterson on legislation to expand services for foster kids who are adopted.

Since Proposition 50 passed, Landon has also met with U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who — if re-elected — would now represent parts of Placer County, including Lincoln, in the newly redrawn Fourth Congressional District. Though they identify with different political parties (Landon is a Republican; Thompson, a Democrat), that did not deter her.

“There are definitely things we can work together on — issues that are important to the people of Lincoln,” Landon said. “I am all about working across the aisle. We all have things that we care about jointly.”