On the final lap in the Second District race (with brief SAF report)

The Times Standard is endorsing Jimmy Smith and Mark Lovelace. They will publish their Second District endorsement tomorrow.

Humboldt Herald is discussing the endorsements and the bloggers there are speculating as to the TS Second District endorsement. Hank Sims is “almost certainly” convinced it will be Clif.

The Eureka Report went with the conservatives all the way: Rodoni, Vevoda, and Plumley.

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The TS decided to interview Johanna Rodoni after all. You can view the video here. You can read some excerpts here.

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Clif was at the Summer Arts Festival today. I think he had a good time. I’ve been surprised by some of the individuals who have approached him to say that they’re voting for him, but don’t want to make a public deal out of it because they don’t want to hurt Estelle’s feelings. Personally, I think Estelle has the depth to understand that politics is not always about friendships. But as one of the public Clif supporters, I can testify to the occasional awkwardness. As I was waiting for the shuttle back to Redway (I don’t understand why anyone would drive down and pay 20 dollars to park – I didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes either way), Estelle exited the shuttle to attend the festival.

On the SAF, I had a great time as well. The kids section was the best to date. And they’ve added Egyptian food to the mix. And May’s Chinese is off to the side by itself away from the other food booths. If you want to skip the lines for a good plate of noodles (my daughter and son shared a plate, then later my daughter asked for another before she slept a long nap in my arms through all the music and commotion – she’s obviously in a growth spurt). After some coaxing and her brave brother’s example, she also dipped her hand into hot wax. She also did a flower.

Feet First and the ballet students put on an excellent show as usual. The Andeans played their music. And a great student Afro-rhythm band played their hearts out on the lawn stage. Didn’t make it for any performances at the Solar Stage, though when I left him Clif was headed back there for a performance which interested him from a reading of the program.

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Lot’s more campaign related letters to the TS. Lots more to the ER.

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The TS “election roundup” has more.

Some campaign photos

I got these from Daily Kos. Cute kids. I hope they don’t become casualties of the next generation of cynicism.

You can click on them to enlarge.

This one was accompanied by a caption which asked which figure in the photo was scarier – the guy with the hots for Hillary, or the SS guy who wants to kill the camera man.

Arcata’s grow houses make the L.A. Times

In case anybody was concerned that Humboldt County might lose its reputation.

1000 out of 7500 homes?! Seriously?!

That explains the housing crisis. Zoning anyone?

Is anybody else around here without long distance service?

I’ve been unable to dial out of the 923 area all day. I finally negotiated the voice activated recording maze on Verizon’s telephone service (through my cell phone as 800 numbers aren’t working either). I really hate those things. Finally I got to the point where I had to listen to elevator music before a representative told me there’s an “outage” in my area. They promise it’ll be fixed by noon on Monday or they’re going to send me something or another that I didn’t quite follow.

Anyway, if you didn’t know, that’s what’s going on.

Update: It’s fixed. Now I don’t have to try to scan the exhibits on my mediation brief to e-mail them!

Big Box development in the Second District

I didn’t get to hear all of Thank Jah this morning, but I did hear one caller take issue with Sue’s letter stating that Clif is the only candidate who opposes big box development. It is clearly the biggest difference between the positions of Clif and Estelle, and I would summarize each candidate’s position as follows.

Clif – while certain big box developments may be appropriate for other communities, it is not appropriate for the Second District. The Second District is not large enough to metabolize such a development without serious negative alterations of the local economy. While Fortuna does mostly have the institutional power to make the decision on its own, it is an issue which affects the district and the county as a whole and a supervisor should take a public leadership role and participate in the discussion in behalf of the district and county, even if it means “stepping on some toes.” Supports a mixed use plan for the PALCO land.

Estelle– doesn’t oppose all big boxes and supports mixed use which may include a big box. Believes that it is ultimately Fortuna’s decision to make. Has not offered any discussion of what role, if any, she would play in the discussion if elected supervisor.

Roger – it’s Fortuna’s business and nobody else’s.

Johanna – ???

If I’ve misstated or left anything out of the positions, please let me know. And yes, I understand that you might disagree with a particular candidate’s position on an issue and still support him/her. We can have two threads of discussion here – the issue itself and its significance for the Second District election. Personally, I believe it relates to larger issues of development of the county, the general plan, and questions of vision. We know that code enforcement issues are being linked to development issues, and very unusual alliances are being struck which could result in some odd realignments of local politics. You might ask why certain conservative forces seem to act as if they’re more threatened by Clif than Estelle. It’s certainly been evident in these threads.

The sign wars continue

Let’s be clear. The signs are really just an ancillary issue to the election. Signs serve several purposes, which are rarely decisive.

1. They show you that a campaign is well organized (or not) which may or may not reflect on the candidate’s ability to govern.

2. They imply (though don’t necessarily indicated) endorsements of the property owners upon which the signs are located.

3. They contribute to visceral name recognition.

There may be other purposes, but campaigns are won and lost on the ability of the candidate him/herself to make an impression, his/her positions, and on substantial contact with voters.

That being said, the campaigns obviously take great pains to distribute the signs. In Fortuna, Clif and Roger have Main Street extensively covered, but once you turn the corner onto Kenmore, it’s Rodoni row until you get to the south end where you find more Clif signs and an Estelle sign at the intersection before you return to the freeway. The 101 corridor up there having been dominated by Roger with some offset by Clif, Estelle’s people decided to get into the act with what appear to be “guerrilla” signs placed on public property visible from the highway. She also has a sign on Rio Dell property to the west on the hillside.

On the downside, I noticed two businesses in Fortuna which had previously had Clif signs displayed have removed them, as well as one business in Rio Dell. I also noticed an Estelle sign on the ground in a yard on the main street in Rio Dell, which had probably been removed from another location.

Ron J. aired an All Sides Now yesterday complaining about Clif signs being stolen from his property. He blamed Estelle supporters, though with all due respect to Ron, there’s no telling whether it was done by Roger supporters, or by people without a political motive at all. I doubt there is a political motive for the incoherent graffiti on signs from both campaigns in Redway. And all three campaigns have reported vandalism and disappearance of signs from the beginning.

As the Town Dandy notes, it’s been a very clean campaign so far, with a few exceptions probably not sanctioned by the campaign leaderships themselves. We’ve got just a few more days in which the campaigns are probably going to remain focused on turnout of their bases.

Go Clif!

If you get the chance…

Watch Keith Olbermann’s interview with Scott McClellan. It’s pretty remarkable. I haven’t made up my mind on his sincerity, but he’s putting on an excellent act if he isn’t. I imagine it’ll be available online at some point.

John Dean is commenting on McClellan next. I’m going to listen to it then head to bed.

New kid on the block

By e-mail:

Hi fellow bloggers.

We’re new to the Humboldt County blog scene and realized that despite the ridiculous amount of media and blogs up here, no real news is discussed.

So we decided to provide the masses a way to get the right news, raw and unfiltered. That’s right, our staff writers aren’t afraid to tell it how it is, to rake muck, to point and prod and so forth.

Since we’re new, we need help with promotion. So, we were wondering if you all would be willing to trade links on you respective blogs. Any help you can provide would do wonders for attracting poor unsuspecting readers to our site.

We look forward to talking trash with you all.

Chief-of-Staff
The Redwood Ridiculer
http://redwoodr.wordpress.com/

Among many runner-ups, the most moronic political moment of the year thus far

This post is for the benefit of those without cable television who’ve missed the latest in right wing noise machine melodrama. Another of those moments you just can’t satire in any way that outdoes the real thing. Michelle Malkin isn’t the brightest bulb on the tree in the first place, but as Ed Wood remarked after completing his masterpiece Plan 9 from Outer Space – “this is the one I’ll be remembered for,” – Michelle has carved her own niche.

See the scarf on Rachel Raye? That’s a terror scarf. No really! Worthy of a threat of boycott. But what’s truly amazing isn’t the comment itself. We’re talking about the woman who puts private phone numbers on her blog for millions of ditto heads to terrorize her targets of disdain. What’s amazing is that Dunkin Donuts caved! That’s right, the ad was pulled!

It’s not like a boycott from me will make any difference. I haven’t eaten one of their things since I was about 12. But I sure won’t go out of my way now.

In the meantime, I think I’m going to buy a keffeyeh or two. You can buy them here.

Oh, and not that it means anything, but Raye wasn’t actually wearing a keffeyeh. It was just a run-of-the-mill paisley scarf.

Addendum: Daniel Goldbloom writes about the real controversy of the ad.

On a side note, why is Rachael Ray even in Dunkin’ Donuts ads in the first place? The fact that someone known as a chef would agree to promote Dunkin’ Donuts is the real crime here. Then again, if Ms. Ray were promoting Tim Hortons, I’d probably be all for it.

Meanwhile, the Indy 500 may also be guilty of terror symbolism chic.

Malkin isn’t the only blogger gunning for Raye. But maybe this is why Sen. McCain is avoiding Malkin like the plague.

More election links and thoughts

Clif’s My Word piece.

Estelle’s.

I thought Johanna was going to be invited to submit a My Word piece as well, but I can’t find it. Maybe it’ll be in tomorrow’s edition.

Addendum (5/29): Johanna’s piece is in today’s paper. Also you can find statements from the Third District candidates.

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The papers are full of campaign support letters.

For Clif: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

For Estelle: here, here, here, and here.

For Roger: here, here, here, and here.

Urging votes other than for Roger: here, here, here, and here.

For Jimmy: here.

For Mark: here, here, and here.

For Bryan: here and here.

For Measure C (McKinleyville): here.

Against Measure C: here.

Here’s one for Mark, Jimmy, and Estelle in one – Addendum: didn’t notice until Carol posted in the thread, this one is her’s.

The Sohum weeklies are both loaded with letters. The RT doesn’t have this weeks’ up yet.

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For anyone confused by the huge signs for both Clif and Estelle on Redwood Drive in Redway, the explanation is that the property is leased to two tenants each supporting a different candidate.

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Clif will attend and meet people at the Summer Arts Festival on Saturday. I assume Estelle will be there as well.

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I returned from Ukiah today. On my way down and up I saw lots of yes and no on B signs. The yes on B signs are homemade, almost hippiesque, no doubt intended to convey an image of poorly funded underdog status. But I’m told by people on both sides of the issue that they expect B to pass, whether it will be upheld in court. The question is whether the parts are severable, and I would assume that overturning Measure G may be severed from the provision limiting the number of 215 plants, but Measure B opponents argue otherwise.

The No on B effort made a huge error in sending out a glossy mailer with Sheriff Allman’s mug on it, leading him to come out for Measure B. KC Meadows says that as much as $100,000 could be spent by CalNORML to defeat B with other mailers suggesting that Republicans and other cops oppose it. Meadows supports B, a position which contributed to her falling out with KZYX.

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Jen Sullivan Brych of the SF Bay Guardian argues that Proposition 98 could deprive us of the next Kerouac. The argument has merit, but the irony is that unlike most of his fellow beat writers, Jack was a political conservative who probably would have voted for 98 hook, line, and sinker – at least as long as he was drunk, which unfortunately accounted for most of his latter years (including his time memorialized by the above-linked video).