PETERSON AD FLOGS PALLA FOR DRUG USE

Kern County Supervisor Ken Peterson, bloodied from months of attacks to his
leadership, lashed out at his leading campaign rival Thursday through radio
ads highlighting her recent admission of drug use in her youth.

Less than a week before voters decide whether he should keep his 4th
District post, Peterson launched ads questioning challenger Cathy Palla's
ability to lead, given her confession.

Palla admitted to using an illegal drug as a youth after a Cal State
Bakersfield student asked the question of all four supervisorial candidates
at a forum last month.

Candidate Delfino Neira copped to the same, but the ads target only Palla.

"Did you know that Cathy Palla said she did illegal drugs because everyone
else was doing it?" the ad, set up as a conversation between two people,
says.

"I want a leader who leads. Not one who does things because others are doing
it."

A man next says, "A supervisor needs to have the courage to stand alone and
uphold the principles when they believe they are right."

Peterson then adds, "I have upheld my strong moral and ethical values my
entire life."

In an interview, Peterson said he could forgive someone for long-ago drug
use or experimentation. But unlike Neira, he said, Palla didn't appear to
take the behavior seriously enough at the debate.

"It's no laughing matter. Drug use is one of the most serious problems we
have in Kern County," he said. "The abuse and the crimes surrounding it
costs taxpayers millions."

"(Her) flippant attitude is very wrong, especially because supervisors make
very important decisions about people's lives."

In response Thursday, Palla strongly denied being flippant at the forum and
called the broadcasts "an act of desperation by someone who can't stand on
his own record."

She accused Peterson of playing dirty because The Californian endorsed her
candidacy last Sunday.

Neira also criticized Peterson's tactic: "It's a cheap shot. He's just
trying to sensationalize things because he has no agenda."

Peterson is seeking a third four-year term on the Board of Supervisors.
He'll face Palla, Neira and Wasco Mayor Michael White on March 7.

Peterson called himself the victim of mudslinging last month when anonymous
anti-Peterson flyers were distributed in southwest Bakersfield.

The drug-use issue surfaced Feb. 22 when a young person, through a
moderator, asked whether the four candidates had ever used an illegal drug.

White and Peterson said no.

Neira, seemingly reluctant to talk because his wife and children were in the
audience, admitted experimenting with marijuana at age 18.

He apologized, then noted the havoc he saw drugs wreak when he ran a county
children's shelter.

Palla first noted that she grew up in San Francisco, which drew a chuckle.

Then, turning serious, she said: "In our generation of kids, we thought we
were doing something that was cool, neat." Now, she continued, her
generation recognizes the evil drugs pose.

"People want honest politicians, which is why I answered the question," she
said Thursday. "I could have said something different, but I chose not to."

"What I did when I was a kid has no relevance in this race," she later
added. "It has nothing to do with what kind of person I am now."

The ads also attack Palla for saying at a forum that Kern County should
strive to become a bedroom community for Los Angeles workers.

On Thursday, Palla said she wasn't able to complete her statement at the
forum. She said she tried to say that Kern County would be better off as a
bedroom community "than as the bathroom community we've become."