I’ll be on KMUD tonight

October 28, 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: KMUD

I’m sitting in for Ed Denson. Kevin Hoover will join me for the first half. We’ll talk local election races.

7:00.

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October 28, 2010 at 4:16 pm

humboldturtle

I predict the weed has coattails:
Brown 52, Whitman 48
Boxer 52, Fiorina 48
Gallegos 55, Jackson 45
Neely 52, Bass 48
Cleary 60, Sundberg 40
LaVallee 52, Jager 47, Spaulding 1
Glass 60, Brady 40
Kuhnel 47, Newman 40, Mann 3

October 28, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Eric Kirk

Very optimistic projections for local progressives. I actually think Brown and Boxer will win with high single digit majorities.

I think Gallegos will win 53 to 47. I have no feeling about the supervisor races, though if I were to place bets I would say based on the June results that Virginia will beat Bonnie. But you don’t get to take any of your primary votes into the final. I think it will be closer than June, but Bonnie has a huge hill to climb.

For the 5th District I’d only be guessing.

As much as I would like to see Johanna win, there are just too many people for whom there is no big stake in the race and will thus defer on “experience.” I hope voters prove me wrong. The big question is where Brooks’ votes will fall.

I think Glass and LeVallee will win, but I don’t have a strong reading. I never do with Eureka.

October 28, 2010 at 7:51 pm

A non mouse

Gallegos 53 Jackson 42
Bass 55 Neely 46
Jager 66 LaVallee 38
Glass 64 Brady 22
Newman 70 Kuhnel 21

Ron Kuhnel Says:

I am a fanatic beer geek and beer taster. I am rkuhnel on BeerAdvocate and Hayduke on Ratebeer. I am also Hayduke on The Beer in Me, a one year old start-up web site on craft beer where I serve sa the Review Moderator.

October 28, 2010 at 7:55 pm

Eric Kirk

None of your results add up to a hundred Mr. Wonka.

October 28, 2010 at 7:55 pm

A non mouse

I hope Kuhnel & LaVallee are sober enough on the 3rd of November to figure out that they lost the race .

October 28, 2010 at 7:58 pm

Plugar

I heard the last half of your show tonight Eric. I will vote for Gallegos but man is Salzman a dick!

October 28, 2010 at 8:07 pm

Anonymous

Brooks voted with the North Coast Appraisers Association to endorse Johanna.

October 28, 2010 at 8:11 pm

A non mouse

Opps , i goofed…….

.that’s Bass 55 Neely 21

Jager 67 & LaVallee 12

October 28, 2010 at 10:39 pm

ED Denson

Thanks for doing the show Eric, I was in Red Bluff with a 4pm hearing suddenly scheduled and got home at 8:30. I told KMUD i could be there by 9 but they thought that was too late for a 7pm show. I suppose so. Looks like your show was a hit with the listeners – I expected it would be.

Mendocino DA recommendation : Eyster.
Mendocino DA prediction: No idea.

October 29, 2010 at 9:23 am

A non mouse

They don’t add up to a 100 because the remaining percentage is for the 3rd candidate if applicable .

Ron has taken a position on the Marina Center & he wants to make it perfectly clear ;
One bar on every corner & a liquor store in between bars .

Ron Kuhnel Says:

I am a fanatic beer geek and beer taster. I am rkuhnel on BeerAdvocate and Hayduke on Ratebeer. I am also Hayduke on The Beer in Me

Example ; Kuhnel 2 % opposition 79%

third part candidate = 19%

October 29, 2010 at 1:16 pm

shankar wolf

I predict Eyster for Mendo DA

October 30, 2010 at 9:16 pm

capdiamont

Hoover: We need a real DA

October 30, 2010 at 9:36 pm

Anonymous

Kevin Hoover: We Need A Real District Attorney – October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
http://www.arcataeye.com/2010/10/kevin-hoover-we-need-a-real-district-attorney-–-october-30-2010/
Paul Gallegos’ listless DA Office leadership is defined mostly by constant explaining and excuse-making, a supposed law-and-order DA with an uncanny knack for letting bad actors off on technicalities.

The other salient feature of the Gallegosphere is strenuously projecting progressive-hipsterism while running a very traditional, fairly brutal politics-as-usual machine.

Any one of the infamous criminal cases which ended with wrist-tap outcomes might have a quasi-feasible rationale, but Gallegos’ record has never added up to more than typical rural mediocrity. Very, very hip though, and certainly we’re all thankful for that.

Gallegos’s DNA is that of an extremely adequate defense attorney. He’s reliably malleable and dominated by the much-stronger personalities who manage him as a figurehead, including Master Ethicist Richard Salzman and Christina Albright. These folks provide, in turn, political brains and ideological cover for their enterprise.

That’s good for Paul, because the man can’t speak for himself. Not even intending to, John Matthews of KSLG tripped him up just by asking his stance on Prop 19.

Gallegos is voting for Prop 19, you see, but he doesn’t endorse it. All John wanted to know was why you’d vote for something you don’t endorse.

Listen to the audio clip and be mortified as you hear our county’s top courtroom talent hem and haw, squirm and weasel as he tries to address this obvious contradiction while having it both ways, and fails. kslg.com/gallegos

Can any of the passionate Gallegos supporters please translate what their candidate is trying to say? It’s easier to understand dolphins than Gallegos-speak. “How many more people have to be killed?” the DA rightly wonders, alluding to that the strife the current nonsensical cannabis laws cause. But he won’t endorse Prop 19 “for a multitude of reasons,” none of which he will name.

The elephant in the room is that Gallegos isn’t allowed to endorse Prop 19. Cannabis legalization would undermine the business interests of his major supporters, who are fully invested in the broken status quo. But like any industry-approved politician, he can’t say that, so gasping and tense silences have to do. Does it really matter that the controlling industry is Big Cannabis and not pig ranches or a chemical factory, as in other places? It’s no surprise that Humboldt’s defense attorneys are just thrilled with Paul Gallegos. He’s always been and always will be one of them.

The cannabis industry-friendliness and vacuous environmental and social justice talk are why, when you call Gallegos HQ, a young, no doubt idealistic volunteer will probably answer the phone. These folks evidently think they’re helping advance social progress or environmental ideals in some way. But what has Gallegos really accomplished over the years on any of these scores other than mouth words? The campaign volunteers could better spend their time helping at the Food Bank, or planting trees along a creek in Arcata some weekend.
For all its well-polished Hipster Moderneimage-building, Gallegos is the figurehead for a hopelessly old school political machine. It’s one which fires dissenters, hires sycophants and verbally shreds enemies. In the latest example, the campaign manager’s Eye column attempts to conflate the Gallegos brand with Progressivism itself while concern-trolling accomplished environmental prosecutor Paul Hagen as some sort of witless tool of the Right.

Inevitably, Biblical scripture is invoked to cement this point. There’s nothing cynical or manipulative about this, mind you. After all, the question just has to be posed: Does Paul Hagen challenge the Bible?

It’s funny how only soulless monsters ever speak out against such a pleasant fellow as Paul Gallegos. Remember when dapper gentleman Worth Dikeman turned out to be a cop-lover and a racist? Now Allison Jackson is a drunken rageclown and enemy of civil rights. “We have to defeat the fascist,” said one frightened Gallegos supporter. Another one spoke with conviction that Paul Hagen is a “spy,” because he is seen at some of the same public events that person attended. So many enemies.

Given this progression, and with the Gallegos campaign’s newfound affinity for the Bible in mind, one can scarcely imagine what kind of morally bereft Spawn of Satan his next opponent would inevitably turn out to be four years hence. Happens every time.

It’s hard to envision Paul Gallegos masterminding the systematic discrediting of all opponents that marks his campaigns (or masterminding much of anything else, for that matter). For this kind of wet work, he has people.

The Gallegos campaign projects idealism and progressive values while funneling cash in the four figures to the likes of Richard Salzman. Political dialogue these days is toxic enough without this character going around throwing gasoline on it. But, as only a lying political hack can do, he’s managed to con a number of local politicians into thinking that he’s somehow essential to their political survival. ”I am completely happy with the people that I work so closely with and I trust their integrity,” says Gallegos campaign manager Natalynne DeLapp.

At this point, many of us are weary to the bone of the enduringly mediocre performance of the Humboldt County DA’s Office, and even more fatigued with the frenzied flim-flamming and fakery that strives to mask it. These features, plus the scorched-earth attacks on any who question Gallegos, are the true hallmarks of his tenure in office.

Allison Jackson will run a streamlined, no-excuses DA’s Office. If you’re innocent, resources won’t be misspent on futile prosecutions. But if you beat your wife, kill a kid, steal a purse, torture an animal, dump toxic waste, wreck a neighborhood or spew diesel into a creek with a dope factory, you’re going to jail, dude! Have a nice day.

October 30, 2010 at 11:01 pm

Eric Kirk

Maybe Gallegos’ opposition should run somebody not associated with Farmer’s administration.

I do take issue with Kevin on the one hand decrying the demonization of Gallegos’ opponents, and then writing the following paragraph:

It all goes back to the sock-puppet letter thing some years back broken by the NCJ – which was unethical but hardly the crime of the century and hardly worth harping on half a decade later.

Richard is a rough-and-tumble political operative but so are his opponents. There is plenty of bad blood between Kevin and Richard which transcends this campaign. It’s apparently all very personal, and I’m in a tough spot even commenting on this because I like both of them.

As to whether Paul G. is “mediocre,” the problem is that I really don’t know how to measure the performance of a District Attorney. Yeah, I read the grand jury report, but the GJ has also been politically stacked this year, and seems heavily agenda-driven. Probably not the first time, and probably not the last.

But how do you measure the performance of a D.A.? Are there really more plea bargains under Gallegos than Farmer or any other county? Are the high profile cases which haven’t generated satisfactory results really an indication of incompetence and representative of all of the cases, or is his relentless opposition cherry-picking as I suspect they are? Maybe someday some HSU students in a statistics class can survey the court case files to determine some sort of plea bargain percentage comparing it with the previous administration.

I kind of downplayed the bar letter I signed on the show the other night because I do think it is of only limited value to voters’ decisions. But I do think it ought to be considered. It is very easy to suggest that defense attorneys prefer an incompetent District Attorney, but that is really not the case. We depend on competent D.A.’s for many aspects of justice for our clients, and to suggest that all of these attorneys, some of them very conservative politically, are backing him simply because we want easy wins is grossly oversimplifying the situation and profoundly misunderstands the adversarial system of justice which also requires a certain level of collaboration. We each play our roles, and those of us who have dedicated our lives to the work of justice are not simply looking for “easy wins.” We don’t enter the profession for the money or the glory. There are much easier ways to obtain both.

The point is that we who signed the letter do in fact believe he is competent and working in the bests interests of the county. He wasn’t my first choice in the primary, but he is the best choice now. I respect the passion of some of those who disagree, but these campaigns have become way too personal.

That we have disagreements as to how to read the crime statistics says something as well with regard to the claims of incompetence. Whether you can attribute a reduction of crime, or where the point of reference should begin or end with regard to reading them, there is obviously no crime spree as the result of Gallegos’ policies.

I suspect that Paul will win on Tuesday. I could be wrong. But whatever happens, we as a community really need to chill. Your political opposition, whomever you or they are, just aren’t all that evil. And you’ll have another shot in a few years.

November 1, 2010 at 7:45 am

tra

Hoover’s over-the-top rant and Eric’s thoughful response certainly provide quite a contrast between someone who seems to be motivated largely by a petty personal grudge (much like Hoover’s preferred candidate), and someone who actually has a clue about the two candidates. Thanks, Eric.

November 1, 2010 at 8:05 am

Eric Kirk

Thank you for the compliment tra. Hoover does feel strongly about the race, and it comes out in the editorial. But while there are personal grudges, I don’t know that he’s motivated by the grudge. I think it’s fair to say that he really does view Gallegos as the wrong person for the job. He doesn’t really sing Jackson’s praises however, and actually kind of threatens her towards the end of the editorial.

Paul Hagen also didn’t complement Jackson in his letter. There is a definite “anybody but Gallegos” element.

November 1, 2010 at 12:06 pm

mresquan

Jackson’s most ardent supporters have never taken the time or seemingly have had the will to sing any praises about her either.Even on Rose’s watchpaul blog,there has never been a post explicity dedicated to only her virtues.It has been all Gallegos,Salzman,Gallegos,Salzman,which is unfortunate stuff coming from someone deeply involved in her campaign.I thought at some point,an ardent supporter of hers would step up and deliver a thoughtful piece just focusing on Jackson.It hasn’t happened,and it is a big reason as to why Paul is going to win on Tuesday.

	Forest Queen on For a Crisp Spring Saturday…
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	Forest Queen on Priorities
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	Ed Voice on For a Crisp Spring Saturday…
	That Other Anonymous on Darryl Cherney to Join Me on K…
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I’ll be on KMUD tonight

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