I forgot to do this weeks ago, but the final precinct report is in. The Supervisor race results are on pages 69, 70, and 71 of the PDF.
I’m not sure what all the initials mean, but I know that “F” is Fortuna and “SH” is Southern Humboldt. I’m assuming “R” is Rio Dell and “HV” is Hydesville. I think that “F-R” must be “Fortuna-Rohnerville,” basically the south end of Fortuna and the surrounding areas.
So as expected Clif did better in the north, but obviously not by enough. Sohum’s turnout rates appear to be a little bit higher than the north’s (and much higher than normal for Sohum), but not that much higher. Clif won pretty handily in Fortuna proper, but Estelle kept it very close in the “FR” precincts, even managing to take one of the precincts. Clif won in Hydesville, but not handily. A key win for Estelle was in Rio Dell, which was a stronghold of Johanna four years ago, suggesting that her voters broke in Estelle’s favor.
The key was in Sohum where Estelle blew Clif out in some districts. Others were fairly close, and Clif actually managed to take one. I have no idea where the precincts are. I can’t find a precinct map online. I’m assuming that the larger ones are Garberville and Redway.
….
Rex Bohn won everywhere in the First. I don’t see a precinct in which the DeModena and Seidner votes combined outnumbered his, not even in Loleta. The loss of the precincts north of Harris Street to the Fourth, and the entry of Scotia into the First from the Second has rendered the First District an ultra-conservative district (by Humboldt County standards) and I don’t see anyone seriously challenging Rex from the left the next time around unless he really messes up.
Addendum: I looked again and there are two precincts, MU and MU-F, in which Cheryl beat Rex by a solid margin. I’m assuming that those are the Petrolia area precincts. I don’t know what the letters stand for.
….
On page 71, the results of the Third District show that Mark took all but two districts – I think one of Brooks’ wins coming in the northern portion of Eureka, maybe it’s the Redwood Acres area? Assuming that “B” is Blue Lake, it appears that the objections to being pushed from the 5th into the 3rd because of Arcata’s politics was not representative as Mark won 2 to 1.
….
In the Sohum precincts, Jared Huffman edged out Solomon 283 votes to 282. Huffman defeated Roberts in Fortuna, by a margin I find surprising, and the progressive votes altogether overwhelmed the two Republicans. Maybe Fortuna really is changing! Not so much in the “F-R” precincts yet, but they aren’t as large as just plain “F.”
Huffman was the Arcata choice, with Susan Addams in second. I didn’t count, but it looked more even between Adams and Solomon in Eureka, with Lawson doing well too.
72 comments
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July 28, 2012 at 8:13 am
Mitch
Eric,
Once the official results were available, I went over the first fifteen precincts (all of them in District 1) in an alphabetical listing and compared all the results from them with the results I got from looking at the transparency project scans and running them through independent vote-catching software.
The most time-consuming part is manually inspecting the apparent overvotes and deciding whether they are really overvotes or situations where there’s been a correction by the voter, or where the voter left a speck in an extra oval, or who-knows-what. After the corrections for that, the official results and what the independent software came up with match precisely, with off-by-one’s about 5% to 10% of the time, most likely due to differing interpretations on apparent overvotes.
The jurisdiction-wide percentages for the whole county also match up well, even before the overvote checking.
July 28, 2012 at 8:27 am
Wonk
I thought it looked like Seidner took Petrolia. Whichever, let’s be sure to find out how much each candidate spent per vote. That story will be available July 31 when 460′s are due.
July 28, 2012 at 9:02 am
Jim
Very helpful and insightful Eric, thanks!
July 28, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Eric Kirk
Wonk – Petrolia! Let me go back and look.
July 28, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Eric Kirk
Thanks Wonk. I did go back and find two precincts in which Cheryl won handily. I’m assuming those are in and around Petrolia. I’ve made the correction in the main post.
July 28, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Anonymous
Eric, Fortuna has not changed much. The liberals came out for Clif. Many of the conservatives sat it out because they could not vote for either of the candidates. This was a fluke election. Dan Roberts will take Fortuna in November as the conservatives come out again to vote against Obama.
July 28, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Anonymous
Cliff still lost, right?
July 29, 2012 at 7:10 am
gpf
Anonymous: “This was a fluke election.”
Not so. 2008 was a fluke election with no majority winner.
This election had 2 contenders, and one got more than 50% of the vote.
July 29, 2012 at 8:49 am
ED Denson
Don’t be a sore winner, Anonymous.
July 29, 2012 at 8:49 am
ANON
Clif’s camp has been a bit of sore losers and have tried to minimize his loss and Estelle’s win.Looking at the final precinct vote count for Estelle and Clif, it looks like Estelle took average 49% of Fortuna area and about anywhere from 70% – 90% of the votes from Weott down to piercy.
This was a solid win for Fennell.
I remember a hilarious quote from Estelle after the election when she was asked on the air by the radio commentator “So Estelle, tell us your feelings about this Upset Victory.” and Estelle said ” Well, I’m not upset at all”
July 29, 2012 at 9:07 am
Anonymous
That’s the tea party way Ed.
July 29, 2012 at 9:13 am
Anonymous
“B” may be Bayside.
July 29, 2012 at 9:14 am
Fred Mangels
And if Erik hadn’t written that long letter to the Redwood Times, none of this would have happened. IT’S YOUR FAULT, ERIK!
July 29, 2012 at 10:53 am
Anonymous
“…I don’t see anyone seriously challenging Rex from the left the next time around unless he really messes up.”
True, or from the right neither because it’s not about L or R, it’s about $$.
If Rex messes up, the establishment (Russ, et al) will run a candidate against him like they did with Vevoda against Smith in 2008 and numerous against Neely over the years. They have invested a half-million bucks in Rex and expect results.
July 29, 2012 at 11:32 am
Twigs
I don’t think it was a fluke election. I just think there are a couple new tactics for pols to get elected. We’ve seen it in Eureka council races a lot where republican conservatives bait and switch taking on the appearance of moderate dems.
Duping people into thinking someone is more conservative when one is a strident liberal will only work for one election round. Fortuna may not seem to be politically very cutting edge but they are hard working people there who will not be fooled twice. Estelle has one shot at proving she didn’t just pull a whole lot of wool over people’s eyes. That doesn’t bode well for those us who didn’t want to see her elected. That isn’t sour grapes. I may personally, ardently, distrust and dislike Estelle but she isn’t stupid.
In the meantime Southern Humboldt voted to put a blue dog into Congress how that falls in the dominate interest of Southern Humboldt just boggles the mind.
July 29, 2012 at 12:16 pm
anonomous
Seems like more sour grapes from twigs/clendenan.
It’s really very difficult to unseat an incumbent no matter if that incumbent is good,bad or indifferent. That’s what makes Estelle’s win even more impressive. Estelle had incredible support from across the political spectrum and beyond, just look at her endorsement page and see the support and that’s why she was elected.
July 29, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Dave Kirby
The central land use issue that separated Estelle from Clif was not about liberal or conservative. Up until the board of supervisors overreacted to Maxxams proposal to turn its timberland into “ranchettes” folks who owned TPZ parcels were allowed to build a residence on their parcel. It was considered a compatible use along with any structures related to timber production and processing. Overnight owners of these parcels were stripped of an implied right. Sellers had no idea what to tell buyers as to what was allowed on these parcels. In the confusion the no growth folks began to challenge rural housing on several fronts. Points were made on both sides and these issues will hopefully be resolved in the coming term. To define these positions as liberal or conservative is a gross generalization. I am glad that folks are back to using the term liberal as the local progressives are not about progress.
July 29, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Eric Kirk
gpf – I think anonymous was referring to the low conservative turnout which gave Huffman/Adams/Solomon a big win over the 2 Republicans in Fortuna.
As to the percentages in Fortuna, in Fortuna proper I count 902 votes for Clif to 564 for Estelle. In the southern Rohnerville portion I count 757 votes for Clif to 600 for Estelle. Doing the math, Clif won 62 percent in Fortuna North and 56 percent in Fortuna/Rohnerville South, and 59 percent overall.
Given the Congressional race results, one can reasonably conclude that it was the liberal Fortuna vote which turned out and won the day (in Fortuna) for Clif and the Democrats in the Congressional race.
Estelle clearly won the conservative vote in Fortuna, even prevailing slightly in one of the more conservative south Fortuna precincts. It confirms what we learned during the phone banking – every Green registered voter I contacted in Fortuna was supporting Clif. Most (not all) of the Greens in Sohum were supporting Estelle.
All this underscores is that there is indeed a deep divide between progressives in Sohum and progressives communities which are, by Humboldt County standards, “urban.” We already knew that anecdotally. We now have the data to confirm it.
The “fluke” aspect of the election was the absence of so many conservatives in Fortuna. They didn’t like Clif’s “urban” environmentalist policy positions, but they didn’t come out to vote for Estelle even with the business establishment backing her. I didn’t anticipate them sitting it out. The question is whether Estelle can win many of them over in four years.
If Clif or another “urban” progressive valued candidate runs against her in four years, and someone runs from the right, even her incumbent status won’t be enough. She’s going to have to appeal to right, left, or both somehow.
July 29, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Eric Kirk
Dave – that was the issue in Sohum. It wasn’t so much of an issue in Fortuna, though in general the property rights issue was obviously a big deal for the business community.
Twigs – Huffman is mainstream left, but he isn’t blue dog. And the votes of the other progressives combined far exceeded his votes in Sohum. Solomon actually did better in terms of percentages in Sohum than he did in Arcata, which surprises me as Solomon is much more of an “urban left” figure than Adams. I think that was partly due to Adams having the support of some key figures up there. I think in Sohum Solomon benefited from the Democracy Now bump.
July 29, 2012 at 4:52 pm
ED Denson
I can’t find a precinct map online either. I did find a list but with no location identifiers. Frustrating.
July 29, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Twigs
I know you don’t see Huffman as a blue dog. I disagree and I think it will be interesting to watch his score card. You go back and trace his days in Sacramento he is a Blue Dog. He killed parks funding before he came up with his solution. He is just on a climb to the Senate. He has every reason to cut deals with other Pols to get him there. We’ve already shown him we won’t even test him he can just walk across the tape. His attention span for voters will be in micro-sound bites and a few headlines.
Adams spent a lot of time in Arcata and she is a pleasant person, easy to like. I think her campaign knew she wasn’t going anywhere seriously and concentrated on Arcata. Doesn’t matter we missed the chance to put the real progressive in office.
As for Estelle (to the other poster–Jim) the color of the sky in my world is blue or gray. Don’t know what it is in yours but it is obviously not the same.
July 29, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Eric Kirk
A Blue Dog is a very specific designation. It’s a caucus. Mike Thompson is a member. Huffman will not be.
If you’re arguing that he is a conservative Democrat, that is something else.
July 29, 2012 at 8:24 pm
HUUFC
I voted against Cliff because he never returned any of my telephone calls or responded to my e-mails.
His election staff called me late in the campaign asking for my support and I informed he caller about the lack of response and was answered with a thank you and a click.
Later I read at least two letters in the T-S complaining about the same problem.
July 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm
HUUFC
Thompson is just another liberal big spender that enjoys the blue dog moniker that means nothing.
July 29, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Anonymous
When is Estelle going to get the $16mil she promised for our potholes?
July 29, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Jim Ferguson
Eric:
My prediction is that Clif will NOT run in 4 years and Estelle will beat any and all challengers. I also predict she will have the seat as long as she wants it.
July 30, 2012 at 6:03 am
Anonomous
“When is Estelle going to get the $16mil she promised for our potholes?”
why don’t you ask cliff? he still has 6 months left of his term. oh yeah, that’s right he was the swing vote that actually gave away the $16mil to caltrans for the 101 project and he locked up our county road funds till 2020. those funds are GONE
July 30, 2012 at 6:23 am
Anon
“She’s going to have to appeal to right, left, or both somehow.”
Uhmmm that’s why Estelle won this election. Pay attention
July 30, 2012 at 7:13 am
Dave Kirby
Jim…I agree. It makes a whole lot more sense to have the supervisor from this district come from the unincorporated area rather than Fortuna. Had Roger Rodoni lived Clif wouldn’t have been elected. The chances of Fortuna uniting behind a conservative of their own is slight. The cliques and backbiting up there will preclude that and any right wing candidate would get creamed in the rest of the district.
July 30, 2012 at 8:22 am
Anonymous
Uhmmm that’s why Estelle won this election. Pay attention
Her sole appeal to the left is that she was Estelle. All the long time KMUD listeners do not want to understand that they just elected a conservative to the Board. That is why the conservatives supported her.
July 30, 2012 at 8:34 am
Twigs
Eric you and I both are probably aware that there are benefits into not joining that group but still voting along with it and promoting the same agenda. If you want to go to the technical membership description adopted to help Huffman secure the progressive votes he needed then, yes, you are correct. Watch his voting record. Or go back and match it up. Time will tell.
July 30, 2012 at 8:54 am
Eric Kirk
Twigs – the problem with the loose usage of the term is that Blue Dogs represent a coalition originating in the south which was conservative on social issues, but liberal on economic issues. They maintain a pro-union, pro-welfare, pro-progressive taxation position, but are moderate to conservative on issues such as abortion, marriage equality, impacts of the media, family values, etc. That does not characterize Huffman.
The flip version was the no-defunct Democratic Leadership Council which maintained liberal social views, but pushed for more conservative economic and foreign policy positions. They were more “neo-conservative” in the modern sense.
What you want to say about Huffman is that he is only as progressive as he has to be, and will burn the left whenever he believes he can get away with it. But that doesn’t make him a Blue Dog, or even a conservative Democratic really. It just makes him an opportunist who has to be watched closely.
July 30, 2012 at 9:11 am
Eric Kirk
Her sole appeal to the left is that she was Estelle. All the long time KMUD listeners do not want to understand that they just elected a conservative to the Board. That is why the conservatives supported her.
If that’s the case, then she won’t be reelected in four years. She will always need a supermajority in Sohum and she can’t afford to piss off a population which is easily pissed off. So her conservatism will probably be limited to the property rights issues. If she plays it smart she’ll throw just enough bones to Sohum progressives to avoid pissing them off, but not so many as to piss off the Fortuna right wingers who got her into office. It’s a difficult line to walk. During the debates she did say she opposed the urgency ordinance, but she was extremely careful about her wording. And it’s okay for her to make fun of WalMart’s “cheap plastic crap,” as long as she doesn’t actually do anything about it which might be perceived by the right as “anti-business.”
I don’t envy her position, but I disagree with Jim and Dave. I think she’s going to be facing a tough election in four years no matter what happens. I could be wrong. But I’m hard-pressed to think of a scenario where there won’t be lawsuits out of the General Plan Update. If the state and/or courts don’t buy Bill Barnum’s definition of the word “or” and reject the inevitable “ministerial permit” policy with regard to TPZ, the issue could still be alive in four years. There are about a dozen other issues that could keep the GPU issue alive for years to come. That wouldn’t benefit any incumbent, anywhere, any time.
As to Clif, I don’t know if he’ll run. He’s keeping his phone lists, and his signs. But he may be too nice of a guy for politics, especially in a district like this one. I’m not saying that to suggest that Estelle was mean or anything – her campaign was fairly typical in the balance between positive and negative campaigning. But it’s rare that you can win an election without going at least a little bit negative, and that’s just not Clif.
July 30, 2012 at 9:36 am
Jim Ferguson
Eric:
You keep taking the position that the GPU was THE defining issue of the campaign. I wholeheartedly disagree. It was important for a small segment of the voters, but most people didn’t know or care since it didn’t directly effect their lives.
More weight must be given to the fact that Clif didn’t have anything of real substance he could point to as an accomplishment. And also the perception that he didn’t put the wishes of the 2nd District first when he voted.
July 30, 2012 at 10:12 am
Eric Kirk
Yeah, we disagree on that Jim. The turnout was exceptionally high for Sohum, which means they were motivated by an issue.
July 30, 2012 at 10:51 am
Jim Ferguson
Just not that issue
July 30, 2012 at 11:22 am
tra
I suspect that the TPZ and GPU issues (and related matters like the Code Enforcement fiasco, the Tooby Ranch lawsuit, etc.) were an important factor for many rural voters, and probably did contribute significantly to increased turnout in SoHum and to Estelle’s high margin of victory in most SoHum precincts. Of course Estelle being from SoHum was probably a big factor too.
But I’m sure there were other important factors as well, and I’d be curious to hear which issues, or other factors, Jim F. has in mind.
July 30, 2012 at 1:07 pm
moviedad
When you’re poor and struggling you’re a liberal and you seek justice in an unjust society. When you get older and become richer and have property, you become conservative and since you have been rewarded for all your hard work; justice has been done. I’m old enough to have watched this transformation occur more than once. People with means are for the most part conservative. This is why I feel folks who put a lot of faith into the differences between the Democrats and Republicans are misguided. Our “representatives” know which side their bread is buttered on and they will serve the rich, because they are the rich.
Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you can point out some outlier liberal who happens to be rich. But personally I don’t look for Zebras in the Six Rivers forest. It is possible there could be one, but it’s pretty damn unlikely.
July 30, 2012 at 1:40 pm
erniebranscomb
Issues that made SoHum turn out in great numbers:
1-The Tooby Ranch/Williamson act lawsuit lawsuit that should never have been an issue, and has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees instead of bringing Humboldt county millions of dollars in taxes and improvement in the SoHum economy. The ranch is in dead stop with “clouded parcels”.
2- Trying to drive people away from country parcels in favor of urban living. Estelle has a long record of fighting, not only for property rights, but also peoples rights
3- The loss of The STIP funding for roads. Clif chose… excuse me his “advisers” chose the safety corridor project, over Estelle” screaming objections. The project was denied because of the coastal Zone. STIP money is only issued to ready-to-build projects. Thanks to Clif’s advisers we lost the STIP money and have no chance to get any more chances until 2020, so that precludes any chance for Estelle to get STIP money in the next four years. Some tried to claim that was not an issue, but that was a major issue with a lot of people.
4-Estelle is extremely popular with fire, police, and public service departments, who admire her hard work and dedication. After the next four years I will be surprised if she doesn’t win over the people that didn’t support her this election. She is open minded and wants to hear all sides of an issue.
5-Jobs were a major factor. Estelle wants to create an atmosphere open to business and employment. She is wisely for the minor realignment in Richardson Grove to make progress in Humboldt County more viable. She is as big a lover of redwood trees as there is. We all want to protect them, but evidence shows that the redwoods won’t be harmed. If they would be harmed everybody would be against realignment. She also wants the oversight of Caltrans that the judge requested.
6- She hopes that even the people that think they “lost” will still bring her their issues. I think that people perceived that she would be open to everyone.
July 30, 2012 at 1:57 pm
suzy blah blah
patrolia
July 30, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Anonomous
What is so obviously lost on Erik/Clif campaign is that the supervisor’s seat is supposed to be non partisan. Maybe that’s why Cliff lost because he only wanted to represent the 1% of Greens that make up the voting ranks.
Fennell had support from the whole spectrum and that’s why she was elected to be our 2nd District Supervisor.
July 30, 2012 at 2:01 pm
erniebranscomb
Thanks Suzy.
That’s a classic photo of a SoHum liberal!
July 30, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Mitch
moviedad,
Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you can point out some outlier liberal who happens to be rich.
The large majority of Jewish people are liberal, whether rich or poor. My theory is that jews and some other minorities know that “rich person” can change to “poor person” in a flash, with no connection to what the person has done or not done.
A fundamental measurement of the justice of a society is how willing you’d be to live in it if your position in it was determined by a roll of the dice.
A liberal is a conservative who’s had their life savings stolen by a bankster.
July 30, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Eric Kirk
Of course Estelle being from SoHum was probably a big factor too.
It wasn’t a factor four years ago. There was Code Enforcement and the TPZ issue, but we didn’t have four years of relentless screaming about a plot to force homesteaders off their land and into Soviet Style housing.
It was also ideological. There is a definite ideology among “rural” counter-culture and “urban” counter-culture which has reached a head. While I don’t expect that the Cato Institute gets many donations from Sohum, there is a definite libertarian element, even as it applies to economic and property rights issues. I think it’s very real, and we’ve just witnessed the first political manifestation. It’s not the only issue in which I’ve seen this. While I don’t expect that the NRA gets many local donations either, when I did my first radio show it was on gun control, and nobody argued for gun control. And when I interviewed a teacher’s union rep about certain issues pertaining to the state of public education, we got two calls – both calling for more homeschooling and the abolition of the public school system – on quasi-leftist grounds that they don’t want to pay taxes for government indoctrination of children.
There is the element that was active in SDS and the like, and they are more conventionally left. Most of them voted for Clif.
But it’s a libertarianism that is not only “left” on social issues, but with regard to corporate America. They might oppose regulations which restrict business in property rights terms, but they are happy to endorse mandatory labeling for GMOs (which is why they won’t be donating to Cato). They will support campaign finance limits for corporations. They will oppose the construction of damns on rivers, and windmills on rural sites. They won’t buy cheap plastic crap from China, or step into a WalMart, Starbucks, or McDonalds.
I wonder if these politics manifest themselves elsewhere in the country. Rural Vermont for instance. Alaska.
I’m working on an article right now, which I’m going to submit to a nationally distributed political quarterly, but someone with much more time than I should really look at this more closely. I think a new species of political animal has emerged from the woods. It warrants some examination.
July 30, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Eric Kirk
“B” may be Bayside.
That makes more sense.
July 30, 2012 at 5:30 pm
moviedad
Thanks to the power of the network media the “Bankster’s” most energetic supporters are also its greatest victims.
July 30, 2012 at 5:36 pm
suzy blah blah
-wearin’ a crystal and packin’ a pistol.
July 30, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Eric Kirk
suzy, I’m going to plagiarize that!
Or I guess I can attribute it to “suzy blah blah”
July 30, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Anonymous
I agree, perfectly put.
July 30, 2012 at 7:20 pm
suzy blah blah
-better talk to my lawyer first Eric.
July 31, 2012 at 8:36 am
moviedad
Or like the New American Centurion’s version of X-tianity: “Trust in God, but carry a .45″
July 31, 2012 at 9:09 am
Dave Kirby
There is a real possibility that Estelle’s victory was due to the fact that most Fortuna voters don’t care who is supervisor. The city has its own planning department, law enforcement and public works. While the GPU has a real effect on the unincorporated areas it has no effect on the vast majority of voters in Fortuna and Rio Dell. Clif was elected during the general election which offered real choices on a number of candidates and ballot issues which is why the turnout was higher. I would also point out that in that election the rural vote was split between Estelle and Johanna Rodoni. So for all the analysis, it may not be that complicated.
July 31, 2012 at 9:42 am
Good Heavens
Fortuna voters don’t care who’s Supervisor? That’s a ridiculous statement. Everyone I know in Fortuna cares and most of the moderates (including me) voted for Estelle because we wanted someone in office who could think for themselves. I personally was tired of having two 3rd District Supervisors serving on the Board. This County isn’t just Left vs. Right, there are a large number of Moderates who turned out to vote and helped determine the outcome of the election.
July 31, 2012 at 10:00 am
Eric Kirk
The GPU certainly wasn’t a motivating issue for conservative Fortuna voters as they appear to have largely sat out the election. It was an issue for the Fortuna left, many of whom think along “Third District” lines when it comes to planning. And perhaps it was the moderates who made the difference for Huffman.
The whole “Arcata influence” thing was BS though. Mark and Clif disagree on many issues both in substance and style. If he was really under the influence of his Arcata backers, he would have gone negative as some of them were pushing.
Dave – I don’t know what you mean by the “rural vote” but Clif came in second in Sohum, well above Johanna. The only precincts Johanna took were in Rio Dell, Scotia, Hydesville, and one of the Fortuna/Rohner precincts.
July 31, 2012 at 10:11 am
Anonymous
Clif was actually an independent. Estelle is owned by CPR. Way to vote.
July 31, 2012 at 11:11 am
tra
Neither of them is “owned” by anyone.
July 31, 2012 at 11:17 am
gpf
Clif’s poor performance as supervisor gave Fortuna voters a reason to not vote for him. TV took the message into their living rooms.
Johanna voters broke more for Estelle than for Clif.
Estelle has proven successes at serving the public, and this experience will be put to good use on the board.
July 31, 2012 at 11:19 am
Dave Kirby
E…Perhaps “rural” was the wrong adjective. Johanna took one Fortuna precinct Estelle none but they drew 60% of the votes. Clifs support was thin to begin with.
July 31, 2012 at 11:21 am
Eric Kirk
gpf – whether he gave them a reason to vote against him I’m finished debating, but they clearly did not. Of those who voted he took over 60 percent. Was it his poor performance which caused the conservatives who couldn’t vote for Estelle to sit it out? I suppose it depends on your perspective. What we were hearing during our phone banking was that he was “too liberal.”
July 31, 2012 at 11:23 am
Eric Kirk
Dave – Estelle actually took one precinct in the southern portion of Fortuna – I think the same one Johanna took.
August 4, 2012 at 8:38 am
gpf
Jim Ferguson deserves a round of applause for his exceptional work as Estelle’s campaign manager.
August 4, 2012 at 8:52 am
Anonymous
And his great anti-KMUD letter to the paper this week!
August 4, 2012 at 1:31 pm
gpf
Jim, if appropriate, will you please post the letter here?
August 4, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Anonymous
Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? Here is is. There is also a letter by someone else advocating that we throw feces at the Mateel Community Center because people are pigs.
http://www.redwoodtimes.com/letters/ci_21210230/incident-and-board-rsquo-s-response-deeply-saddens
August 4, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Anonymous
I don’t see how that letter is “anti-KMUD.”
August 4, 2012 at 5:39 pm
gpf
Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? For one reason, it is completely off topic. I was simply commending Jim for a job well done in the election.
After reading his letter, I’m left with the feeling that Jim is taking care of his health by effectively expressing feelings for which he has no other outlet. Good for Jim, because this is the first step to creating a healthy community.
August 4, 2012 at 6:01 pm
anon
who knows the details behind jim’s letter? (names)
and will eric allow it to be printed (probably not, that sweet family man)
August 4, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Eric Kirk
anon – it looks like someone already posted the link anon. When you see blue letters on your screen, it’s a link.
There is also a letter by someone else advocating that we throw feces at the Mateel Community Center because people are pigs.
4:47 – It’s not the most thoughtful letter I’ve read, but you are leaving out a little bit of context, don’t you think?
August 6, 2012 at 10:16 am
anon
yes, eric, someone posted the link to the letter but the letter-writer didn’t name any names in his diatribe, just wondered WHO he was talking about?
anybody know?
and for that matter WHO was the parent in redway who single-handedly ran off the last principal?
is it my business?
no…
but…………….
August 6, 2012 at 11:00 am
Eric Kirk
Oh, those details. Well, actually I know the names, but unless Jim wants to post them, I think I’ll leave it alone. I’ve heard two completely different versions of the events, and I don’t think a blog thread is a forum which tends to generate any objective clarity on a subject like this. Jim isn’t happy with KMUD. That’s what he made public. If he wants to be more specific, that’s his prerogative, but obviously he doesn’t think that would be productive, and not being directly involved I don’t think I’m in a position to second-guess him on that. If KMUD wants to respond, it’ll probably be in tomorrow’s newspaper. I suspect they’ll probably just leave it alone rather than get into a “he said/she said” about what appears to be a personal matter in the newspaper – or on an Internet forum.
August 6, 2012 at 4:58 pm
moviedad
God I hate it when people take their personal issues public. Was that really necessary? Reminds me of the whole “Reggae” thing when people were lobbing “Hate-Bombs” throughout the airwaves and newspapers.
On the surface his account is pretty hard to believe knowing the people involved.
I guess when you’re “owned” by the whole community, you’re going to see disagreements played out in the public arena. It’s too bad. I want to see KMUD informing the revolution; not be dragged into petty squabbles.
August 6, 2012 at 9:05 pm
anon
looks like KMUD has more problems than these petty things…
hmmm, maybe a thread about KMUD so we can blast those losers for fucking it up…???
(and find $olutions?)