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A very good article on the Assessor’s Race and the three candidates. By now most of you reading my blog know that I’ve endorsed Jon Brooks. I believe the office needs new blood, and while I appreciate Johanna’s offer of service and don’t believe that politics should play much of a role in the position, I was very impressed with Brooks when I met him.
There are a few issues and it’ll be interesting to see how each candidate addresses them in debate. One is the taxation of parcels while rendering them legally illegitimate (I’m not sure this is really the Assessor’s problem so much as the Planning Department’s, but it does warrant discussion). Another issue is the current Assessor’s policy of refusing to process parcels which have been conveyed and the conveyances recorded when the conveyances are deemed not in compliance with TPZ regs, Williamson Act regs, etc. The Assessor doesn’t decide who the owner is, but the refusal to process the changes make it impossible to sell or convey the properties, and there are legitimate questions as to whether the Assessor’s Office should involve itself in even passive compliance actions. And there is the alleged failure of the current Assessor to adequately notice property owners of decline-in-value options. And there are complaints of inaccessibility, particularly online. The article touches on each of these issues, and others.
I believe there’s a debate coming up. I’m told it actually won’t be the first Humboldt County Assessor candidates’ debate. But it’s still a rarity worth marveling over.
From the Hagen campaign:
District Attorney candidate Paul Hagen has been endorsed by the Sierra Club.
“Mr. Hagen had much success during his eight years as the circuit environmental prosecutor for Humboldt, Del Norte, and Lake Counties. His work has shown that environmental issues are important to him. Paul has the best environmental record of the candidates” said the Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded in 1892 by the well-known conservationist and preservationist John Muir. The Sierra Club has hundreds of thousands of members in chapters located throughout the country.
“Earning the endorsement of the Sierra Club is a great honor,” said Hagen. “Protecting public health and safety through the enforcement of our environmental laws is a very important job of the District Attorney’s office, and I’m very grateful for this recognition by the Sierra Club.”
Hagen served as a prosecutor for more than eleven years in four North Coast District Attorney offices and has successfully prosecuted a wide variety of criminal and civil cases. Press releases and other information about some of these cases are posted on the Hagen campaign website, www.hagenforda.com.
From CLMP:
Tune in to KMUD, Wednesday night, April 28th, at 8:30pm for a special Civil Liberties Hour program with the three Humboldt County Assessor candidates, Jon Brooks, Mari Wilson and Johanna Rodoni. Tune in and learn more about the candidates and the responsibilities of County Assessor. This will be a call-in program and listener participation is encouraged, so tune in on the 28th at 8:30pm and join in and be informed.
Outline of Civil Liberties Hour election related programs and upcoming live broadcast on KMUD, Redwood Community Radio.
>(Tues) April 27th from 7-8:30pm: live broadcast of Humboldt County District Attorney Candidates Night at the Veterans Hall in Garberville with Paul Gallegos, Kathleen Bryson,
Paul Hagen and Allison Jackson.
> (Wed) April 28th @ 8:30pm: Humboldt County Assessor candidates: Jon Brooks, Johanna Rodoni and Mari Wilson.
> (Wed) May 5th @ 7pm: Humboldt County District Attorney candidate Kathleen Bryson
> (Wed) May 12th @ 8:30pm: Humboldt County District Attorney candidate Allison Jackson.
Humboldt County DISTRICT ATTORNEY CANDIDATES NIGHT at Garberville Veterans Hall.
The four candidates running for the office of Humboldt County District Attorney, will be at the Veterans Hall on Conger Street in Garberville on TUESDAY evening, April 27, 2010 , for a candidates night organized by the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project, moderated by the League of Women Voters and co-sponsored by the Garberville Veterans Association.
Voters are encouraged to take the opportunity to meet each of the candidates and hear their answers to your questions. If you can’t make it to the Vets Hall you can listen to the live radio broadcast on KMUD . Be informed and remember that your vote counts.
Doors open at 6:30pm – debate starts at 7pm.
For more information call CLMP at 707-923-4646.
And from KHUM:
KHUM and the North Coast Journal present a round-table discussion with the candidates for Humboldt County sheriff, Mike Downey and Mike Hislop on April 29th, between 6 and 7 p.m.
Moderated by the North Coast Journal’s Ryan Burns, the event seeks a meaningful interchange between the candidates themselves. “It’ll be an old fashioned shoot-out, KHUM style,” said Burns.
The debate will be the first of a series of programs produced by KHUM and the North Coast Journal, which will include forums with candidates for District Attorney and Humboldt County Supervisor.
Questions from the audience can be submitted during the debate by e-mail to studio@khum.com, by Twitter at Twitter.com/khumradio, through KHUM’s Facebook page, and by phone: 786-5486. Listeners can tune into KHUM at 104.3 or 104.7 FM, or stream the debate through the Internet at khum.com. All KHUM/North Coast Journal candidate debates will be archived and podcast.
Check khum.com for details.
Just a few amusing nuggets, mostly from TPM.
The military birther guy is facing court martial for refusing to deploy until Obama produces a birth certificate to his liking.
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In an interesting twist which I guess may indicate some sort of progress in an off way, a candidate for a political office in Philadelphia is accusing her opponent of faking his bisexuality to win the election. If she’s right, her opponent may go down as the first outted heteroosexual in political history.
The story is evolving.
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Michael Steele is publicly acknowledging the “southern strategy” embraced by the Republicans for the past few decades, beginning in 1968 when Richard Nixon used the Civil Rights Act (which ironically received more Republican votes than Democrat) against the Democrats. Conservative turned liberal Kevin Phillips has written about it extensively. He was the architect of the strategy.
Some Republicans are all over Steele for the admission.
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Republicans in Nevada are a little defensive about their Senate candidate’s chicken-for-treatment policy proposal. But apparently she’s not alone. This Republican candidate suggests vegetables.
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Paul Krugman argues that financial reform is pointless if it doesn’t hurt bankers.
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According to Gallup, American businesses are hiring again. Maybe it’s because they read last month’s Newsweek article which proclaimed that “America is Back,” in a media cheer leading reminiscent of Reagan circa 1984. It does appear the economy really is improving, however slowly.
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There are many signs when economies are improving in what used to be called the “third world,” a term which probably no longer applies to South America. The ascent of a Green Party in Columbia is such a sign.
I may have some more later.
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Addendum: Clinton had his Gingrich. Bush had his Waxman. And now Obama has Darrell Issa looking for an Obama scandal. Unfortunately for him, we’re over a year into Obama’s administration and pickins are slim. Really, the biggest scandal consists of a fairly wild, though widely held, belief that Obama was born in Kenya, faked a birth certificate with help form the Hawaiian state government, and therefor doe not qualify as president.
Issa is working on several others: whether Obama knew about the SEC action against Goldman Sachs and timed the financial reform push accordingly; whether the auto bailout was conditioned on acquiescence to his proposed environmental standards; and whether Joe Sestack was offered a White House job so that he wouldn’t run against Arlen Specter. That’s what he’s got, and as worded, I’m not even sure any of those actions are illegal even if true.
TPM looks into Issa’s quest with a little more detail.
From the Times Standard:
Humboldt County District Attorney candidate Paul Hagen will hold a meet and greet event in Shelter Cove from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday.
The event, hosted by the Shelter Cove Pioneers, is open to the public and will be held in Abalone Hall at the Shelter Cove Community Clubhouse, 1555 Upper Pacific Road. Potluck dishes are encouraged, and people from all over the county are invited to attend.
For more information, visit www.hagenforda.com or call 832-8056.
Addendum: Also, Hagen’s Third Annual Environmental Law Conference takes place next Thursday on April 30 in Eureka. The topic this year: Water Sustains Life-We Have Met the North Coast’s Future, and It Is Now. More information through the link.
I still want to see what ends up in the bill.
On financial reform, now the Republicans want to talk.
Maybe it had something to do with the Administration’s presser today in which they basically said that they feel “liberated” by the GOP tactics. I guess they’re going to nominate a liberal candidate to replace Stephens on the basis that the Republicans are going to oppose the nominee in any case. 30 years later, it sinks in to a prominent Democrat.
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Are the Democrats getting a little too cocky? Apparently they’re taking up immigration reform in May.
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In an unintended moment of levity, the likely Republican opponent of Harry Reid wants to return to a system in which doctors are paid with chickens. I shouldn’t laugh. I was literally given a chicken in return for legal advice some years back. And no, I didn’t report it as income. If I’m hauled away in cuffs tomorrow, you’ll know why.
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Addendum: If you’ve been paying attention you know that moderate Republican Florida Senator candidate Charlie Crist fell behind his “tea party” opponent Marco Rubio in the polls for the Republican primary, so now Crist is pulling a reverse Lieberman. Republicans aren’t happy with him. In fact, they’re hoping to toss him into the pit of darkness where there shall be a weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Meanwhile, Rubio is facing an FBI investigation.
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Second addendum: Bring a chicken to the doctor!
Spent much of the day in Eureka yesterday. I don’t know what impact the signs have on the outcome of a race, but a few local candidates have already plastered the landscape with their June election signs.
It’s only a trickle down here in Sohum at this point. Paul Hagen has a big sign up at Calico’s. Kathleen Bryson has a window sign up at the 4×4 sales place occupying the former office of EPIC. A few Rodoni and Downey signs pepper the main routes. I haven’t been out on Briceland Road nor Alderpoint Road recently, so I can’t say what’s out there. I expect a slew of Gallegos signs will pop up all at once at some point soon.
In Eureka Rodoni, Downey, Hislop, Bass, and Leonard can be seen everywhere. Mari Wilson has a hsndful of signs up, and Neely and Gallegos signs are starting to sprout.
I saw one Pat Cleary sign on I Street, but obviously that’s out of district. I haven’t been up in the 5th District lately so I can’t report on signage movement up there.
Virginia Bass has some huge signs up on the major arteries. She probably wins for volume at this point.
In terms of aesthetics, this year I give the prettiest sign award to Bonnie Neely. Leonard went for bright primary colors, which grab your attention but make some of them with smaller print hard to read.
Hislop isn’t seen as the favorite in the Sheriff’s race, but it won’t be for lack of signage. I’d say he’s at least matched Downey in Eureka so far, but I haven’t seen much outside of Eureka. Both Downey and Rodoni are well represented on the 101 corridor.
Again, some organizers will tell you that signs don’t win elections, but having your signs out in big numbers early conveys at minimum that you’re enthusiastic about your campaign and that you have it together.
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