Marin Maven » Marin Politicians

Dizzying Lt. Governor Race

The Maven — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:49:00 +0000

newsom

Gavin Newsom. When I listen to him I agree with so many of his positions in terms of universal health care, prison reform, early childhood education, and regulation again predatory banking that keeps people in poverty. He glistens with seemingly earnest passion.

He then finds my weak spot as he quotes Bobby Kennedy. There is this “too good to be true” aspect to him that forces me to find someone in my old hometown of San Francisco to talk me down from being totally in-the-tank over him. I am tough on him because his charms sneak past my higher brain functions into the lower brain-stem. If my knees go weak when I see a candidate, I immediately distrust him.

On March 12th, Gavin Newsom announced he was running for Lieutenant Governor. Both our local representatives, Mark Leno and Jared Huffman have endorsed this run. If Gavin wins the seat that was vacated by John Garamendi, this will open up new possibilities for Leno and Huffman. This isn’t entirely new news, since I pointed out rumors of this on Huffman’s birthday post. Just in case you missed it, here is how more and more people think that this will play out. Newsom’s win statewide will open up the San Francisco Mayor seat, which could very well go to Mark Leno. This will release the State Senate seat in District 3, which can go to Assemblyman Jared Huffman who is in his last term.

If you are bothered by this musical chairs, blame term limits which continues to be a terrible idea.

The next logical question is can Newsom win statewide office? Is the office of Lieutenant Governor innocuous enough for folks who disagree with his stance on same sex marriage to vote for him? Will he be able to explain away why he dropped out of the race for Governor to spend more time with his family only to get back into a contested race for Lt. Governor? Will his opponent, Janice Hahn have the advantage being from a more densely populated Southern California? Given there still may be democrats that blame him for losing the 2004 presidential election by his stance on Gay Marriage too soon, has enough time passed where that is not an issue? I don’t know the answers to these questions.

What do know is what Newsom talked about last April at the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento when he was running for Governor. He stated to a group of bloggers that based on his travels around the state, central Californians were open to him despite his stance on gay marriage. Newsom told us that what mattered to the folks in the interior was jobs. That would be true if we lived in a rational world. Instead we live in a post-rational world where people will consciously vote against their own best interests to make sure laws won’t turn their children gay.

His stance on Same Sex Marriage is one I will always admire. Newsom stepped up and declared that justice delayed is justice denied and made a bold move to legalize gay marriage in San Francisco. The next generation will grow up and see their parents and the politicians they supported be weak willed when it came to their fellow citizens’ civil rights. Gavin can at least tell them he was on the right side of this issue.

Personally, I would prefer someone from Northern California in the Governorship and Lt. Governorship, because power is too skewed to Southern California. So I remain cautiously open-minded to Newsom.

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Supervisor Adams’ Seat May Be A Contest

The Maven — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:34:48 +0000

After running uncontested last term, it looks like this time District 1’s Marin County Supervisor, Susan Adams will have company on the ballot this election. The MarinIJ reports that former Marin Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni has taken out papers to run and plans to file before the Friday deadline. One of the main reasons cited for running is Adams vote to approve the Marin Energy Authority as an alternative to PG&E.

Three others have taken out papers to run against Susan Adams: Carol Brandt, who ran against Adams eight years ago; Craig Yates, a disability advocate; and Robert Coleman, a leadership training consultant.

Marin Maven invites all candidates to use this forum to inform people what you plan to do as supervisor. Just email us.

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My Dear Joe Letter

marinmaven — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:08:50 +0000

Maven loves getting mail. Especially, if it has to do with something I wrote and even if a person disagrees with me. So I got and email from Joe Nation. Here is what I wrote back.

Dear Joe,

Joe you always know where to find me and you are always welcome to share your thoughts as I write on a public forum.

If you read here and here, I keep my criticism to my legitimate complaint about these fliers coming from the “Common Sense Coalition” or PG&E. Like I said, these fliers are no better than the fliers that were going on about you in Spring 08. I wrote against those hit pieces that were against you, and I remain consistently against these fluffy appeals to fear now. You were once a grand benefactor of my disdain of hit mailers, now you are just going to have to take your lumps.

I also wrote, “I understand that even the best ideas like Community Green Power, the devil is in the details. How the program is ultimately executed is important. It is easy to sit up and take notice when our own Marin County Controller, Micheal Smith from Sausalito says, “don’t do it” or when a Marin Grand Jury agrees. As with any public agency, citizens need to educate themselves and hold those who run any agency, including the Marin Energy Authority accountable.”

I do not ignore that 2 out 5 Supervisors voted against it, but I also saw that same body rejecting many of the claims made by the that Marin Grand Jury. Here is the MEA’s response to the Grand Jury. Then there is an investigation about how PG&E got the Grand Jury findings before it was released? While I have no evidence to PG&E’s suspected influence on the Grand Jury and with the rhetoric used I can see how people might get suspicious.

From The Ross Valley Reporter, “The MEA’s contract was reviewed by MRW and Associates, which was commissioned to study the contract to assess financial risks to member cities. The only risks identified in the report were potentially high PG&E exit fees, for which MEA was encouraged to assume responsibility.” Which is odd, because on the latest flier from your Common Sense Coalition it warns us, “and if you don’t opt out of the MEA’s system during the initial opt-out period, you may be charged exit fees” for leaving the program. In the Grand Jury, one of the biggest identified risks was that PG&E was promising to sue municipalities that elect to leave or lobby for laws that will obstruct them (ie. Prop 16). The problem wherever I turn is PG&E, not once is there an affirmative message why we should stay with PG&E. This campaign of PG&E is employing fear, uncertainty, and doubt and that always raises my suspicions.

Another problem is PG&E is not really a disinterested party in this. There may be legitimate issues with financing risks or issues of where we get power, but the messenger is the problem.

Joe, as I wrote in my blog PG&E did this to themselves and if they lose they will have only themselves to blame for their heavy handed way. The best way to keep customers with you is give them a reason to believe in you. If you have to sue to keep your customer, perhaps you need to work on your customer service skills.

Matier & Ross weigh in. Here is not a mindless, but very well reasoned blog on this topic.

Don’t even get me started on Proposition 16. Well, at least you guys are not trying to spin it as some “voter’s rights” proposition. Wait! Really?

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Marinwood Plaza Revival By Farmers’ Market

The Maven — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:11:37 +0000

If all things go as planned, organizers of the Marinwood Farmers’ Market will be opening for business on Saturday mornng, April 24th, 2010 at the site of the Marinwood Plaza. In the past decade, the Marinwood Plaza has been in steady decline becoming a blighted property. A few years ago, the Bell Market closed leaving the community without a walkable market. Again, if all goes well with permitting, the Marinwood Farmers’ Market will be held on Saturday mornings and offers the possibility to revitalize the grounds of the property.

At the beginning of the year, a partnership of veteran vendors of the Civic Center Farmers’ Market have taken out a lease on the grounds of the Marinwood Plaza. The organizers, Kelly Smith and Ron Gradinger envision this as a grassroots community venture that will give back 5% of the proceeds to the local Dixie School District. It will also feature a six morning a week coffee cart where residents can walk or drive through to get lovingly made cup of coffee. As soon as the word went around about the possibility of a Farmers’ Market, you could feel the excitement in the neighborhood. There is even talk of a community garden.

Some felt that the Civic Center Farmers’ Market is a great “destination” market that has gotten too crowded to comfortably shop. Residents who worried about daily and nightly additional traffic and parking with other development ideas, could handle additional traffic and parking a half a day a week.

When Smith and Gradinger made a presentation at the January 12th Marinwood CSD Meeting, and the organizers of the Marin Farmers’ Market also showed up as well. The Marin Agricultural Institute representative Brigette Moran, along with representative farmers, claimed that there were already too many farmers’ markets in Marin and it threatens to spread farmers’ too thin.

Moran claims that they did look into having a both a large or small farmers’ market at the Marinwood Plaza site and, “After meeting with the property owner, and evaluating the site, our board decided that our markets are too large for the site and we would heavily impact the neighborhood with parking and traffic…A year later, our board considered a smaller market on that same site, but came to the conclusion that the site was too close to the Sunday and Thursday Marin Farmers Markets, and that even a small market would negatively impact those farmers.”

I think as the January 30th Community Clean Up Day at the Marinwood Plaza site illustrates our community has the demographics and spirit to support whatever or whoever decides to make a go of it in that spot. I believe they made a mistake in passing us by, but that was their call. Instead, they had decided to open a market in Marin City, which makes having one in Marinwood now somehow impossible.

My support for the Farmers’ Market in Marinwood only has to do with being a Marinwood resident and fighting to keep Marinwood Plaza a
commercial/retail site that fits our needs. Ultimately, someday, there will be a small retail development there because the community
came together an embraced a grassroots solution to a problem of blight in our neighborhood. An out-of-the-box solution is needed during a time where commercial, retail, and residential development money is not quite ready to take the leap. It will be up to our community and surrounding communities of South Novato, Terra Linda, Mont Marin, and Lucas Valley come out and support the farmers and vendor who will serve our community. This is our opportunity to show everyone that our community can support a thriving retail center that we deserve.

Competition is usually a good and very American Apple Pie-ish thing, isn’t it? If farmers are having difficulty going to all these markets, then adjustments need to be made. In this economy everyone who wants to stay in business is rethinking how they do business. You have to be nimble to changing circumstances.

I am like Tim Gunn on Project Runway, I say, “Make it work, people.”

Then, there is the politics behind this whole thing. Our Supervisor Susan Adams is up for re-election and some blame her for trying to put through affordable housing units in plans for Marinwood Plaza. Then last fall candidates for the Marinwood CSD tangled over claims that another stood in the way of getting a plan with a market.This whole thing is bigger than any one candidate.

There is the property owner, Gerald Hoytt, who some say his prop 13 protected property gave himthe ability to sit on the sidelines and wait for deal he wanted. It is a hard sell to anyone who would consider developing anything given the declining state of the property and the chemical spill from dry cleaners past (which they say they are going to clean up). Somehow, Smith and Gradinger are able to work with him and residents seem willing to see what happens.

Marinwood is a community of people who come here to escape high density in a county that is hard pressed to find places for infill high-density development. There was a point where some Marinwood residents would tolerate some high density residential for the sake
of a market, but then the Novato Whole Foods Market happened. One morning, after being excited about a Whole Foods Market selecting downtown Novato, residents woke up to find the multi-story monstrosity. At the last big meeting about the Marinwood Plaza, people were asking how high this development was going to be. You could literally feel the momentum for the whole project die that night. It really brought up the downside of using the promise of a market and a community space while de-emphasizing the residential component that comes with it. You cannot unbuild a monstrosity once it is built.

Then there was the whole practical matter of parking and traffic that came with the residential component. In order to fit the residential units, Marinwood Avenue would have to be narrowed and then the school buses wouldn’t be able to turn around as they absolutely needed to. There was problems with traffic flow that CalTrains didn’t want to deal with to make adding about 200+ cars to the neighborhood tolerable.

This Farmer’s Market is a modest plan that can get the property in good enough shape and proof of concept for a proper retail down the road. It is temporary, scalable, and gives the community a really needed lift in morale.

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This Election Season’s New Fad?

The Maven — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:36:59 +0000

Double-endorsing is the New Endorsement
According to Northbayist, Mark Leno is claiming that my Supervisor, Susan Adams has endorsed him, and Carole Migden has Susan as an endorser. In an earlier post, I pointed out an article that has Susan announcing that she is endorsing Joe Nation, but it appears that there are two Susan Adams, one being my Supervisor and one of Rohnert Park. Doh! I did think it was weird that Susan would be involved in Rohnert Park business. My BAD.

According to Susan Adams’ aide, Rick Freites, Susan originally endorsed Carole Migden, since Carole has done so much for this county. Carole Migden’s recent problems with campaign finance lead Susan to endorse Mark Leno as well, because she believes he too can do just as well for this county. Susan does not want to abandon Carole Migden because of everything she has done.

Nevertheless, it appears that Susan may have seen that Woolsey can get away with double endorsing in this race. I have recently talked to JudyArnold, and she is sticking with Carole Migden, but if it becomes between Nation and Leno she prefers Leno. She stopped short of a double endorsement.

Is it that easy? You mean I have been agonizing over who to endorse when I could just say “A and B” or “all of the above”? Maybe I can make triple-endorsements in vogue!

The thing about double and triple endorsing is that it ceases to be useful. If I cannot endorse one candidate I am going to tell you why and give you as much information on all of them and let the readers decide.

There are people who are sincerely are balancing Migden’s ability to deliver funds for our district versus her campaign finance and reckless driving scandals. Ultimately, those voters will have to either pick her or not. Endorsements should enlighten people where each public figure or publication would come down on that issue. There are voters who will have to weigh Mark Leno’s idealistic progressiveness with concerns with how he will fight for Marin and Sonoma voters concerns. There are also people who have to balance Joe Nation being the first local politician to become State Senator in 30 years, who knows our issues versus his moderate views and his outsider status among the progressives.

The Marin IJ Unmasks A Joe Nation “Hit Man”

I told you about the huge glossy hit piece against Joe Nation from Opportunity PAC. The Marin IJ talked with the guy who financed similar hit pieces which I received today.

Jonathan Frieman of the North Bay Progressive Alliance and Douglas Kerr of Larkpur were motivated by the belief that Joe Nation is not progressive enough for Marin and Sonoma. Frieman’s piece is not as bad as the Opportunity PAC piece. At least, there is a group name and local address.
I have no problem if a group creates literature for or against politicians, but only if they present their case in an open and fair way. If you are going to spend money, filling the landfill with these ads they better provide real information that enlightens people. I get cheesed off regardless of what politician the piece is targeting, because they just clutter out real information. Hit pieces take a grain of truth and skew it to the point where truth is undermined.

This particular source of hitpieces stated that 30% of Joe Nation’s contributions are from corporations, but Joe Nation has stated it is only 10%. Joe Nation has also made the claim that his opponents receive far more corporate contributions (in the 50%-60% range). A cursory check of the sources cited by the attack ad shows that Leno has received almost double or triple of contributions that Nation has. For instance, Attorneys and Lawyers gave Leno 141k whereas Joe Nation recieved 33k. Leno has received 30k in real estate interests and 36k from investors, while Nation got none. I pointed out that when he has received contributions from corporate interests his voting record was 14%-39% which suggests he really wasn’t a good deal to those interests. Whereas his contributions from unions yielded a 91%-93% voting record.

Unless you take a look at the legislation that makes up these percentages, you don’t know if these numbers mean anything. The hit piece I received had plenty of room to cite the bills he voted for and against that backed up their claim that he is bought by insurance companies and doing their bidding.

Why did the first piece I received have to hide behind Opportunity PAC from Pasadena? I have asked around political circles in the county and no one seems to know who they are. That is another pet peeve. If you are making claims you should be a real organization with full disclosure of your goals and purpose. Who are you and what makes you qualified to speak to our issues? If you are a faceless PAC with a generic name, in my mind there is no accountability and no credibility.

If I receive stuff like this for Migden, Leno or any candidate, my disdain will extend to those materials. I will notify the campaigns like I did in Nation’s case, so they can fairly respond.

It Should Be A Law

It should be a law that all printed campaign materials are compostable and printed with soy ink, so you can at least use it on your edible garden. It is not enough to print on recycled paper anymore. I’m just saying.

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