Bruce Bettencourt
For Central Fire Protection District Director

Occupation:  Pharmacist                                                                              

I am a lifelong resident of Santa Cruz County.  I believe that the Fire Board must be able to make hard decisions for the benefit of the Taxpayer.  As a Board member it is my duty to represent the Taxpayers of this District and be certain that our actions ensure the sustainability of the District.  We must be fiscally sound in difficult times so that when you need help there will be a Firefighter available.  We hire the best people available that we can find and then make sure they are doing their job according to Department guidelines.  CalPERS, which handles the pension system for California, recently announced that CalPERS funding is 139 billion short in their retirement funding.  The last 3 years we have anticipated their shortfall and added to the funding to protect our Firefighters and be ready.  Our job is to protect our Taxpayers and Firefighters.

Thank you for letting me serve you in the past and I hope that you will continue your confidence by letting me try to get the best benefit from your hard earned Tax dollars.