Monday, July 2, 2007 11:13 PM PDT

Supervisor Bruce Kranz holds a copy of "District 5 Update," a self-produced newsletter he's sent to constituents in the far-flung district. Photo by Gus Thomson/Auburn Journal

Kranz funds newsletter to update district

By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer

Supervisor Bruce Kranz has sent out his own newsletter to 26,000 households on work he's doing in his sprawling Fifth District, paid for by his election campaign's Friends of Bruce Kranz fund.

The eight-page publication's front page highlights work Kranz has been doing on catastrophic wildfire prevention and Middle Fork Project funding for water supply infrastructure.

Inside are articles on Kranz' support of the fight against methamphetamine use in the county, the new Sheriff's Department helicopter and a schedule of koffee klatches the supervisor regularly holds.

"I'm highlighting the issues that are important to me," Kranz said, noting that his district is far-flung with several communities from North Auburn to Lake Tahoe.

"There is no media that encompasses my district," Kranz said. "And each community is so different."

Kranz said that the cost for the mail-out was $12,000. It's the second bulletin. He released his first last year.

Kranz said that while an election is in the offing next year, he doesn't believe the newsletter is a political campaign piece.

"It's not saying 'vote for me,' or asking for campaign contributions," Kranz said.

But because of the possibility of melding politics and government, he's ran the information through the County Counsel's office and plans to post the articles on his county-funded Web site. Kranz was the first supervisor to have his own Web site and ran into initial opposition at the time to the idea because of its possible political overtones. Now all five supervisors have them.

None of the other supervisors have bulletins. Auburn-area Supervisor Jim Holmes said he doesn't have a bulletin because he doesn't feel he needs one. Instead, he gets the word out about what he's doing through accessibility, attending meetings and doing opinion pieces in local publications, he said.

Holmes added that with the wide swath District Five cuts in Eastern Placer County, he's understanding of the need for a different tactic to inform constituents.

"If I was in District Five, I'd send a newsletter out," he said.

The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at auburnjournal.com.