Last Tuesday, Alameda County Board of Supervisors held a meeting to elect a potential replacement for Nadia Lockyer’s position of Supervisor District 2 at the Alameda County Administrative building in Oakland.

Four out of five candidates spoke, with the exception of Gail Steele, who submitted a letter to withdraw from the interview process.

Steele was a former Alameda County Supervisor for 18 years and has vowed not to run for re-election. She received support from Supervisor Keith Carson last week to hold the seat temporarily until the November general election.

The candidates were allowed 45 minutes to answer multiple questions from the supervisors regarding their stances on subjects involving fiscal stability, increasing taxes to help alleviate financial problems, their top three priorities if selected, conflict resolution, changes within the community and other circumstances and positions.

The candidates interviewed were Union City Mayor Mark Green, businesswoman Sheryl Grant, Newark councilwoman Ana Apodaca and former Union City councilman Richard Valle.

The candidates are vying to fill Lockyer’s seat, which she recently resigned from after a sex scandal and drug fiasco forced her to step down and go into rehab.

Lockyer was elected to the Alameda Board of Supervisors in 2010 with her husband, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, funding her campaign heavily with campaign paraphernalia and utilizing his broad reach to bring influential Democratic influence into the fold.

But Lockyer’s meth addiction and recent incident of domestic violence with her ex-drug dealing boyfriend brought heavy scrutiny that ended with an empty supervisor seat needing to be filled.

Last week, Apodaca received praise from supervisors who unanimously voted her to return for further questioning this past Tuesday.

Green was interviewed first and largely drew upon his 19 years of experience as Union City mayor to advocate for his case. He advocated for additional revenue by utilizing possible tax measures, corporate revenue and firmly stated that he would not shy away from voters and be willing to stand for what he thought best for the county.

“I don’t lose sleep over making decisions,” said Green while explaining his work ethics. “I do listen to everybody, [and] try to weave solutions for the overall good.”

Supervisor Nate Miley expressed his interest in Green but tension rose as he drilled Green on his campaign for Assembly District 20 that he has been actively campaigning for. Green confirmed he would continue to run for Assembly even if he is chosen for the supervisor position and would only run for the supervisor seat in the general election if he did not advance in the primaries for Assembly.

Valle, also running for Mayor of Union City, was interviewed next mentioning to keep the major sports teams local, provide the local children with health care and daycare facilities, along with implementing elements for single mothers when asked about his three priorities as supervisor.

Valle, who is also running for Union City Mayor, said, “If not selected, I will run for mayor, if selected I will abandon my race.”

In response to money being taken from local government and parcel taxes used for generating additional revenue due to the deteriorating infrastructure, Valle explained his sensitivity to voters who are dealing with the fiscal burden.

“The voters understand the problems that we all face, because they live in our neighborhoods. They understand how government works when it comes to taxes,” said Valle. “But the majority of people, in fact 66 percent passed at least three taxes, parcel taxes, only one in Union City has failed, it failed by 84 votes.”

On the issue of concerns with the state and local government, Valle pointed out that the political culture is diverse yet divided where people support extremes from both sides.

Grant, a 22-year executive seller, emphasized her business background, explaining that she would rebuild and restore the trust within the locals by building consistency, commitment and communication between herself and constituents.

All interviewees danced around the question of which areas would receive financial cuts while in position as supervisor.

Grant was specifically grilled for a moment on the question when she offered a wide, unspecific answer. She finally came down on recreation as her proposed area to cut.

“Tough question,” said Grant. “I think it is important and necessary to move outside of that and really look at how do we collaborate to look at ways to bring in more money.”

Apodaca, the favored candidate from last week, spoke well of her own experience in political office at Newark and private fieldwork within the health care industry.

“Resources are scarce and the board of supervisors will benefit from someone who has 15 years of experience of working in District 2. The next supervisor will need to understand the needs of District 2, which I understand,” said Apodaca.

All applicants but Valle said that if conflict would arise between interest of District 2 versus the Alameda County, that they would put Alameda County’s interest before their leadership of District 2.

Attendees spoke fervently in support of Valle and Apodaca. A few familiar faces from the Hayward public office included city councilmember Francisco Zermeño and Hayward School Board Trustee Jesus Armas.

Zermeño supported Valle, calling upon his years of experience as reason to elect him to the supervisor seat, while Armas, who praised both Valle and Apodaco, came down on side of Apodaco as his selectee.

The supervisor to fulfill Lockyer’s seat will be chosen next Tuesday, June 5.