The Political Blotter published this blurb about San Ramon last week:
Mayor Abram Wilson is up for re-election along with councilmembers Dave Hudson and Jim Livingstone [both Republicans].
Wilson has said he will seek re-election and he has also said he will run again for state Assembly in 2010. Wilson, a Republican, is the city's first directly elected mayor and he has never faced significant opposition. But it one wonders if the Democratic Party will attempt to field an opponent in the mayoral contest in an effort to weaken Wilson's chances for success in the Assembly.
Well, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's nearly two years since I wrote the following post here:
As I write this post, the City Council of San Ramon is appointing two incumbent council members, Carol Rowley and Scott Perkins, and the current mayor, H. Abram Wilson, to new terms. All Two out of three of these appointees are Republicans, including Wilson, who has announced his plans to leverage his mayoral office to run for the Republican primary in AD-15 (this appointment will give the Republican front-runner an extra two and a half months to campaign for AD-15).
These three seats were scheduled for a November 2007 election. So why are the incumbents being appointed rather than having to face the voters in November? Because nobody challenged them for their seats.
The City Council scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 pm on Monday, August 20, 2007, to appoint the Mayor and City Council members. Since only the incumbents filed for reelection, the City Council will vote to appoint the three qualified candidates to the positions.
The State of California requires the appointments to be made 75 days before the election, August 20th is 78 days before the election, and 5 days after publication of a notice in the newspaper. The City will save over $100,000 by not holding a public election.
In AD-15 news, the latest Fred Klaske email came out Friday, and aside from the big bombshell that he's dropping $100,000 of his own money into his race, it was vintage Klaske -- that is to say, mostly indecipherable:
Back in April, I wrote about Ellen Tauscher, Joan Buchanan, and the AD-15 race. In the comments to that post, several readers questioned my assertion that Ellen Tauscher would be actively supporting Buchanan, pointing out that her "other" protégé, Steve Filson, was also running in the AD-15 primary race. It didn't make sense to choose a new candidate over one she had previously supported, one reader noted. With two "Friends of Ellen" running, surely she would take the high road and withhold her endorsement in this race, another speculated.
Well, no.
The invitations have been sent out. Joan Buchanan is holding a big kick-off fundraiser on October 18. And the honorary co-chair? Ellen Tauscher.
And Steve Filson? Well, it doesn't sound like he's expecting Tauscher to host any big events for him. Over at Calitics Sunday, Filson had this to say:
I do not seek the support from high elected officials. I have the support of teachers, environmental activists, and working families. Democracy is about the bottom up and not the top down. On that, I've learned my lesson.
It's a good lesson to learn. And "friends" like Ellen Tauscher are just the ones to teach it to all of us.
Fred Klaske redefined what it means to run an "insurgent campaign." He currently lives in Castro Valley -- outside the district; yet conveniently close to the campaign headquarters just outside the canyon separating Castro Valley from AD-15.
The office in San Ramon ain't bad, so long as you don't mind all the UPS signs everywhere. (This will be of no solace to The Progressive Connection's babaloo, but Fred Gear, apparently, is tough to come by.)
I was planning in my latest eblast that went out today to discuss the ongoing strike by the UAW against GM, but news often happens faster than real life ... [emphasis added]
And when it comes to the official Fred Klaske for Assembly blog, he wants you to know...
... that with my busy schedule, I won't be able to post here very often ...
... but to be sure to...
... stop by often.
So when you are continuously visiting Fred's infrequently updated blog, be sure to read posts that you've read once already because it is going to take at least two read throughs to fully understand Fred's literary awesomeness.
I had a very edifying email response to the post I wrote the other day about San Ramon's Republican Mayor Abram Wilson and his appointment to a new term last month. In that piece, I complained that Democrats had failed to recruit a single candidate to run in 2007 against either Wilson or the two Republican members of the City Council, and I laid that failure pretty squarely on the doorstep of the local and State Democratic Party.
Not so fast, said my correspondent.
In the opinion of this person, who is an experienced campaign professional, a big chunk of the blame should be placed with none other than Rep. Jerry McNerney -- or at least with his campaign staff. It turns out that this kind of stuff is pretty basic to running a high level campaign.
Why should building a farm team should be the responsibility of McNerney's team?
He is the sole beneficiary. The farm team helps by eliminating officeholders down ballot that could be hostile and sling arrows at every opportunity they get.
Then my correspondent went on to describe a Congressional campaign elsewhere in the country where a Republican was elected by a narrow margin in 2000 to a district where local non-partisan seats were held on about a 50-50 basis. This Congress member's campaign manager had the foresight to "lead a purge of down ballot office holders" that resulted in almost 80% of all current local electeds being Republican. Now, facing a tough race in 2008, this Congress member's support from local officials could make the difference in whether the seat is won or lost.
One month ago, I wrote about the Democrats’ failure to recruit a single candidate in the San Ramon City Council and Mayoral election scheduled for November 2007. In the absence of any electoral challenge, the two incumbent City Council members and the incumbent Mayor, all Republicans, were appointed to new terms last month. Now, I made a fleeting reference to the fact that this shameful state of affairs was going to act as a boost to Mayor H. Abram Wilson’s candidacy for State Assembly in the 15th District, but I guess it’s time to revisit the issue and spell out the ramifications of what amounts to a case of Democratic Party malpractice.
From Bill Baker to Richard Rainey to Lynne Leach to Guy Houston, there has been a steady stream of Republicans representing AD-15 over the last two decades. But in recent years, Democrats have closed the registration gap with Republicans to less than 2%, and the CDP has targeted this seat as one ripe for a challenge.
It’s important to understand a few things about this race. On the Republican side (and I’m basing my assessment here strictly on campaign cash on hand), there are four viable candidates: Scott Kamena, businessman; Judy Lloyd, businesswoman; Robert Rao, businessman; and Abram Wilson, Mayor of San Ramon. Now, it’s probably not much of a surprise to see the results of this August 1, 2007, Probolsky Research poll commissioned by Wilson:
Among the candidates in the race for the Republican Nomination in the 15th Assembly District, Mayor Abram Wilson has the highest name identification among the voters. In fact his positives are more than two-to-one over the next opponent.
WILSON
KAMENA
LLOYD
RAO
Positive Name ID
21%
8%
2%
2%
Negative Name ID
2
2
1
1
In the ballot test Mayor Wilson earns an impressive margin over the next closest opponent.
So I moseyed on over to Fred Klaske's AD-15 campaign website the other day, and I have to say -- you just can't make this stuff up. There on his home page was the following message and illustration:
I will not run away from the tough issues that our state faces…
Last week saw big wins by Woodfin workers, the youth of Tracy, and the dwindling population of Delta smelt -- three groups that have struggled for justice against the odds.
Last April I wrote about Emeryville's Woodfin workers and their scandalous treatment by the Woodfin Suites Hotel:
In 2005, Emeryville voters passed Measure C, a ballot measure intended to improve wages and working conditions in the city's hotels. The Woodfin Suites Hotel led the campaign against Measure C, filed two separate lawsuits seeking to overturn it, and illegally underpaid housekeepers for more than a year after the living wage went into effect.
When Woodfin workers blew the whistle on the hotel's violations of Measure C, managers began harassing and threatening them. In December, the Woodfin fired 21 workers, including nearly all the housekeepers who had led the campaign to enforce Measure C. The Woodfin claimed that it had found problems with the workers' immigration status. But the workers had been on the job for up to five years without problems until they stood up for their rights.
Workers returned to the hotel two weeks later, thanks to an outcry from the community and an injunction issued by a state court judge. But the injunction expires on April 20th, and the Woodfin still insists that it plans to fire the workers. The hotel has also refused to pay more than $200,000 in back wages owed to workers.
Well, to follow up on that, the injunction expired, the workers were re-fired, and the hotel continued to refuse to pay back wages. Most of the workers were quickly able to find new (and presumably better) jobs. But the issue of back wages has continued to fester. Last Monday night, the Emeryville City Council reaffirmed its earlier decision awarding back wages to the workers and assessing penalties against the Woodfin. The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy gave this report of the decision:
In a unanimous vote last night, the Emeryville City Council ordered the Woodfin Suites Hotel to pay about $300,000 in fines and back wages to housekeepers. The Council rejected the Woodfin's appeal of a similar decision issued by the City Manager in June.
Over 200 residents, workers, students, faith leaders and activists turned out for the hearing, which followed a momentous rally outside Emeryville's city hall. The rally was the culmination of a year-long highly visible campaign for the back wages of former and current Woodfin workers!
For months, workers and activists have picketed the hotel, demanding that the company pay back wages to housekeepers who were illegally underpaid under the City's living wage law. The August 27th rally and hearing marked a milestone victory in the struggle.
As supporters packed the hearing -- both the City Hall chambers and the overflow basement were filled -- City Council members patiently listened to the Woodfin's appeal and waited for relevant evidence to surface. When none was produced, the Council motioned to adopt the conditional operating permit ordering the Woodfin to pay its back wages to housekeepers and a $45,500 fine to the City. The Woodfin has until September 14th to pay the wages and the fines.
EBASE and the groups who have worked in tandem with them deserve huge props for fighting against the Woodfin, staging twice-weekly picketing actions for months and months.
As I write this post, the City Council of San Ramon is appointing two incumbent council members, Carol Rowley and Scott Perkins, and the current mayor, H. Abram Wilson, to new terms. All three of these appointees are Republicans, including Wilson, who has announced his plans to leverage his mayoral office to run for the Republican primary in AD-15 (this appointment will give the Republican front-runner an extra two and a half months to campaign for AD-15).
These three seats were scheduled for a November 2007 election. So why are the incumbents being appointed rather than having to face the voters in November? Because nobody challenged them for their seats.
The City Council scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 pm on Monday, August 20, 2007, to appoint the Mayor and City Council members. Since only the incumbents filed for reelection, the City Council will vote to appoint the three qualified candidates to the positions.
The State of California requires the appointments to be made 75 days before the election, August 20th is 78 days before the election, and 5 days after publication of a notice in the newspaper. The City will save over $100,000 by not holding a public election.
One month ago, I wrote a post about Steve Filson’s MySpace page and the inherent problems faced by politicians who don’t carefully monitor their social networking sites. Filson stopped by in the comment section a few weeks later to bemoan the difficulty of pulling down the site with the following statement:
Believe me we don't like it anymore than anyone else but we do not "own" the site and thus cannot easily take it down. We did try for several months in 2006 to stop it but we were unsuccessful. We have now found a solution and are working on it again since it has attracted this kind of offensive posting. We thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Well, you're welcome.
However, I would strongly suggest that Filson needs to try a little harder. Just one day after he left his comment here, his MySpace site attracted another comment, this one promoting the tremendous business opportunities that are available in buying choice marijuana online and setting yourself up as the local retailer in your neighborhood.
Sheesh. You know, I heard earlier in this campaign season that Fred Klaske had hired Jim Ross to act as his campaign manager. Now, I haven't heard much more about Ross since those early days. And that makes sense because something tells me that he isn't actually managing the campaign — at least, not actively. Otherwise, Klaske would never have made the kinds of mistakes he's been making. And in the latest fundraising email which he sent out today, Klaske has committed the cardinal sin of politics: mismanaging expectations.
After announcing that he has raised "over $38,000" from "over 90" donors, Klaske gloats that he is on target to meet the eight goals he set for himself at the beginning of the campaign. Humble, they're not.
With your help, we can hit all eight of the goals I set for this fundraising round earlier this month when I found out we had an excellent chance to come in number one among the six Democrats vying for this 15th Assembly District seat in the "East East Bay" of Northern California:
Largest amount of money raised of the six Democratic candidates in this race
Largest number of donors of the six Democratic candidates in this race
Largest number of endorsers of the six Democratic candidates in this race
More money raised than the other five Democratic candidates combined
More donors than the other five Democratic candidates combined
More endorsers than the other five Democratic candidates combined
More money raised online through ActBlue than any other Democratic Assembly candidate in all of California
More online donors through ActBlue than any other Democratic Assembly candidate in all of California
We'll all know shortly whether Klaske can live up to these flamboyant promises. Anyone want to start a pool?
In his post this weekend, kid oakland talked about millennials and their passion for progressive politics. He then touched briefly on some of the social networking tools that they are putting into use for political purposes, including MySpace and Facebook. While it’s true that these sites offer tremendous opportunities for candidates to reach out to a demographic that has historically been notoriously difficult to organize, it’s important to keep in mind that they also require a commitment of time and energy to maintain.
Just as an example, take -- oh, say, Steve Filson’s MySpace page. Back in early 2006, when Filson was running for Congress in CA-11 against Jerry McNerney, his campaign jumped onto the MySpace bandwagon. Now, I’m guessing that some of his young, enthusiastic staffers set up the page and checked it frequently during his Congressional candidacy. But when the campaign ended abruptly, so did their interest in maintaining the MySpace site.
It’s worth noting that when Filson lost on June 6 of last year, his campaign managed to pull down his principal website almost immediately. But apparently, his eager young staffers were in such a hurry to get out of Dodge and back to DC that they forgot all about the MySpace page. And I’m guessing that Filson personally never had anything to do with it. So the page proudly announcing "Steve Filson For Congress" has just been sitting there, unchanged and unmonitored, for the last year.
You can see what's happened there on the flip... though you may find it offensive.
Yeesh. Democratic candidate Fred Klaske just sent out yet another fundraising email in his campaign for the 15th Assembly District. I have to say this guy has a special talent — unfortunately, it’s not for politics. But if you’re looking for an expert in mangled metaphors, hey, Klaske’s your guy.
I'm happy to report that through the end of May, over 100 of you have already responded to my on-line or telephone request for help -- and together our efforts have pledged over $35,000 into this campaign to make a real difference for this district and for all Californians, especially our children.
With the first reporting period of June 30th coming up in less than 4 weeks, I need your help right now.
I need you who haven't yet had a chance to let your wallets or purses be heard, to step forward right now and contribute your voice to the growing chorus that is fueling this campaign -- by donating today .
Well, I don’t know about your wallet, but mine has a prior singing engagement.
You just have to wonder why it’s so hard for political candidates in 2007 to figure out this internet thing. My co-author Matt has previously mentioned the Cluetrain Manifesto (which has, incidentally, been around since 1999). Rules 19 and 20 seem apt here:
19. Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
20. Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them.
If you read the Cluetrain Manifesto and substitute “campaigns” for “companies” and “voters” for “markets,” you’ll end up with some critical insights into the internet dialog that all political campaigns ought to understand — and yet few do.
Just as an example, let’s take a look at Steve Thomas, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the 15th Assembly District seat being vacated by Guy Houston. I’m not quite sure what Thomas was thinking when he put up this laugher of a website:
Well, Fred Klaske is at it again. In his most recent email, Klaske introduced the latest feature of his campaign: Channel Fred. Here’s how he describes it, in only three remarkable run-on sentences:
For several weeks, we've been planning to announce the latest step in communicating with you on what's happening with the campaign to turn the 15th Assembly District from red to blue in 2008...
...and we are extremely excited to finally be able to unveil "Channel Fred" -- a regularly updated area on the campaign's website where I have a chance to communicate directly to you, "in person" on various aspects of the campaign, and on issues that matter to both you and me. [gasp!] This newest "reach-out resource" of our campaign will require you to have the latest Flash updates on your web browser, but you can easily get that here -- and since the vast majority of browsers support Flash, if you can view YouTube videos on the web, you can watch and hear from me via your web browser without any problems at all. [deep breath!]
We intend to make even more use of the latest in virtual communication technology to ensure that you know exactly how I will communicate, in a clear, consise, [sic] and compelling fashion, the issues that need to be addressed, and the right means to solve them, to the people who need to hear that when I am in the Assembly, fighting for you and your families each and every day. [whew!]
Okay, I officially give up. It’s been fun mocking Fred Klaske over the last several weeks, but he’s now moved into a realm where I can’t compete. I’m reminded of a quote from Florida’s great satiric novelist Carl Hiaasen:
There are times when it's frustrating because when I've written something that I think is about as sick as it gets, and about the best I can do — and the next day in the Miami Herald there's a headline that just makes me weep that I didn't think of it. It's worse than anything I could have thought of, you know, I mean, I just feel defeated.
But enough about me. Find out more about Channel Fred on the flip…
I was recently forwarded an invitation to a campaign fundraiser. The fundraiser is being held to support Loni Hancock in her 2008 race for the State Senate seat (SD-09) being vacated by Don Perata, who will be leaving due to term limits. Loni Hancock will be facing competition in this race from Wilma Chan. Hancock is the current representative from Assembly District 14, who is herself being termed out in 2008. Chan was the representative from the neighboring Assembly District 16 until she was termed out in 2006.
Look for this to be a hard-fought race between two women who probably don’t differ on a single substantive issue. SD-09 is truly blessed to have two such sterling progressive candidates vying for this seat. Which is why, when I read the Hancock fundraising letter, I was stunned to read this:
We need to raise at least $175,000 before June 30th to show that Loni is viable and can raise enough to defeat an opponent, who has been raising money for this race since before she “termed out” in 2006.
What? I can only assume that if Hancock feels pressure to raise $175,000, then Chan must be on pace to race a similar amount. So we’re looking at roughly $350,000 being raised by the end of this month so that two splendid progressives can duke it out in a primary race where the winner will move on to certain election in the November general election.
When I look at the invitation to this fundraiser and think about those numbers, it personally pains me. I think of what $350,000 could accomplish in some of the other races around the area, races where really bad Republicans are in jeopardy, and where the money and energy being sucked up by the Hancock/Chan campaigns could make a dramatic difference in how our government works. Think about Charlie Brown here; think about AD-15.
There are lots of ways coming up for you to be active and really useful in local progressive politics during the next week-plus.
If you want to help Democratic candidate Charlie Brown in his CA-04 Congressional race, you can join in the door-to-door voter registration drive that will be occurring this weekend in Lincoln. Project BlueBridge is going to be bringing Bay Area activists into the local community to support the efforts of the Lincoln Democratic Club. Together, they hope to register 1,000 new Democratic voters.
Project Bluebridge volunteers will be driving to Lincoln (which is near Sacramento) on Friday night (lodging provided), and there will be an 8:00 p.m. introduction and orientation. The next morning, at 9:00 a.m., folks will get busy reaching out to the local community.
Yesterday’s Contra Costa Times featured news of a decision by the Air Line Pilots Association to support a push for new legislation that would allow airline pilots to work until they are 65, an extra five years beyond the current mandatory retirement age of 60. The article carried several quotes from Steve Filson. Filson entered politics with an ill-fated run against Jerry McNerney; now he is one of the Democratic candidates for the 15th Assembly District seat being vacated by Republican Guy Houston.
On Jan. 19, Steve Filson of Danville piloted a United Airlines flight from Osaka, Japan, to San Francisco. Two days later, Filson celebrated his 60th birthday and was forced to retire from his career of 28 years.
"It was a sad day," said Filson, who ran for California's 11th Congressional District in 2006 but lost in the Democratic primary. "I definitely would have worked longer if I were given the choice." […]
"I think the union realized they reached a momentum tipping point where the whole community, the FAA and lots of other people want to see this change," Filson said. "It's unfair because I've protected the flying public for years, getting them through icy storms, and then I get shoved out of the door at 60." […]
"I've had friends in this area that have had to sell their homes and move to other communities, when they otherwise would have been able to stay if they were able to retire at 65," Filson said.
So what do you think? Can we can get some legislation moving on this issue? Then maybe Steve Filson can get back to his job as an airline pilot. And then, just maybe, he won’t be quite so desperate to seek out a new career in politics. Hmm… sounds like a win-win.
Fred Klaske, one of the Democratic candidates for Assembly District 15, has been busy establishing monthly meetups in his base of San Ramon. According to the Meetup website, Klaske’s May 9 event was attended by one person — Fred Klaske. Next month’s meeting is scheduled for June 13, and it looks like attendance is dropping… Fred Klaske himself hasn’t even bothered to RSVP.
California contains 100 million acres of land, of which approximately half is privately held. Of these privately held lands nearly 60 percent, or roughly 27 to 28 million acres, is in some type of agricultural production. […]
From 1998 to 2000, conversion of all farmlands exceeded 90,000 acres… Much of this growth during the report period was occurring in the state’s most productive regions, including the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast. In San Joaquin County, 2,037 out of the 2,555 new urban acres occurred on irrigated farmland (80%)[…]
The loss of these lands does not just impact food and fiber, but also negatively affects state and local revenues and jobs. California’s working landscapes offer other critical environmental benefits to California including scenic open space, flood protection, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, recreation, agri-tourism, renewable energy, carbon offsets and climate control.
The good news is that out of the 27 to 28 million acres of land in agricultural production in California, just over 16 million acres are protected from development by a piece of legislation known as the Williamson Act.
Here's a sort of random exemplar showing the I-80 corridor between Dixon and Sacramento.
The bright green and yellow land is protected by the Williamson Act.
Back in April, I wrote about 
One month ago, I wrote about the Democrats’ failure to recruit a single candidate in the San Ramon City Council and Mayoral election scheduled for November 2007. In the absence of any electoral challenge, the two incumbent City Council members and the incumbent Mayor, all Republicans, were 
"It was a sad day," said Filson, who ran for California's 11th Congressional District in 2006 but lost in the Democratic primary. "I definitely would have worked longer if I were given the choice." […]
