Short Attention Span Musing - Primary Edition

...It's looking more and more like absolutely nothing was settled in Scottsdale on Tuesday. According to the City's results page, challenger Jim Lane leads incumbent Mayor Mary Manross by 217 votes. However, there are 849 ballots where the City races were left blank (undervotes), so it appears that he didn't receive the "50% + 1) vote total necessary to win the election outright. In addition, none of the City Council candidates reached that threshold either.

Hence, it appears that we get to do this all over again in November, with two fewer candidates for Council. Oren Davis and Joel Bramoweth, as the two candidates with the fewest votes, will be dropped off of the general election ballot. The other six candidates - Lisa Borowsky, Betty Drake, Nan Nesvig, Suzanne Klapp, Tom Giller, and Ron McCullagh - will fight it out for the three open seats.

Predictions: none for the Council race, there are too many variables, but as for the mayoral contest, Manross should win reelection. She was hurt by the large Republican turnout for the CD5 primary; in November, she will benefit from the increased Democratic turnout.

BTW - if the mayoral results stand without a run-off, Lane owes John Washington. Washington was a write-in candidate for mayor until he dropped out just before early ballots were sent out. If he had stayed in the race, he would have garnered enough votes to force the race to a run off, or even have given the race outright to Manross.

AZ Republic coverage here.

...Republican bloggers all over the state may be gleeful right now because of the large number of moderate Reps who were defeated in primary races, but that glee may be short-lived. It will be much easier for moderate Democrats like Cheryl Cage and Judah Nativio to defeat their extremist Republican opponents (Al Melvin and Russell Pearce, respectively) than the more moderate Reps who were defeated in the primaries (Pete Hershberger and Kevin Gibbons, respectively.)

No smack talk here (I'm not making any predictions. Yet), just an observation.


...Saving the worst for last, but have the Reps chosen David Duke as their national chair? I mean, whatever veneer of civility they might have had has been rubbed off during the pressure of a tough election cycle.

First, there was the abuse levelled at one of their own in LD6, Tony Bouie.

Then, there was Sarah Palin's VP-nominee acceptance speech where she denigrated community organizers in urban communities, but later praised folks in rural, and presumably paler, communities.

But the topper has to be Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-CSA), as quoted in The Hill -

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

And when asked to clarify, Westmoreland confirmed that he indeed meant to use the word 'uppity.'

Yes folks, whether it's Maricopa County Republicans (Arpaio and Thomas) campaigning against Mexicans, or national Republicans campaigning against black people, this is going to be an ugly two months.

Thanks to Tedski for the heads-up on the Westmoreland quote.

My vote in the Scottsdale election...

I wasn't going to weigh in on the races in Scottsdale, but since it seems that everyone else with an online outlet for their opinions is doing so (Scottsdale Republic endorsements here, Jim McAlister, an AZ Rep blogger, lists his votes here, and the EV Tribune has coverage of a number of different endorsements here), here's how I voted...sort of (more on that later)...

The candidates for Council basically fall into two camps (yup, I know that I'm simplifying their positions, probably far more than any candidate would ever want, but) -

- The continued unfettered growth/"whatever is good for developers is good for Scottsdale" crowd (supported by the Chamber of Commerce) - incumbents Ron McCullagh and Betty Drake, as well as candidate Suzanne Klapp. Candidates Liza Borowsky and Oren Davis seem to fall into this category (to be fair though, with Davis it's hard to tell because he's been dealing with some family medical issues and hasn't been able to focus on campaigning in an effective way. Could be an interesting candidate if he chooses to run again in two years.)

- The No Growth/"we like Scottsdale the way it is and won't let anything change no matter what" crowd - Nan Nesvig and Tom Giller.

As you might be able to tell from the way that I've simplified (perhaps oversimplified), I don't exactly subscribe to either school of thought. Mostly, I think that both schools of thought are shortsighted. The first ignores the needs and desires of most of Scottsdale's residents who just want *homes*, not a cover story in Architectural Digest. The second ignores the fact that change happens whether you want it to or not; trying to totally prevent rather than to control and guide change only leads to uncontrolled change.

Joel Bramoweth, the eighth candidate for council, doesn't really belong to either grouping. Therefore, I voted for him.

OK, not really. I *did* vote for him, but because he has nuanced, well-thought out positions and because he has worked hard for the last couple of years to learn about Scottsdale's government from the boards and commissions on up, not just at City Council meetings.

He does tend to ramble a bit when speaking in public (ok - he rambles a *lot*), but he's an educated, intelligent, and decent human being who will be an asset to the Council and to the City (even if occasionally annoying to listen to :) ).

While I'm sure that we are going to disagree on some positions and votes, I firmly believe that when we differ, his positions will be chosen because he truly believes that those particular positions are the right ones, not because he is in someone's pocket or because he wants to appease some local reactionaries.

In other words, he'll be wrong, but he'll be honest and reasoned about it (God knows when we disagree, it won't happen because *I'm* wrong, right?? LOL).

I did cast votes for Mayor and the other two seats on the Council, but those were all exercises in "trying to find the least bad candidates" rather than "voting for good candidates." I won't name who I voted for but will say that my votes for Council were split between the two camps.

Anyway, have a good week; don't expect any more posts at least until Friday from Denver.

Later!

Odd and Ends

...Courtesy an email from MCDP...

Two new candidates have stepped forward to run for office in the West Valley.

- Out in Sun City, Leigh Strickman, a small business owner and PC, has filed to run for the District 4 County Supervisor seat currently occupied by Max Wilson. She is running as a write-in candidate and will need 600 people to vote for her in September to make it on to the ballot in November. If you want to volunteer, you can reach her campaign at strickman08@gmail.com or call 623-698-8004.

- And in Litchfield Park (also District 4), educator Randolph Lumm is running for the Maricopa County Community College Governing Board. He needs to collect 2500 sigs to qualify for the ballot, so anyone interested in helping him should contact the West Dems office at (623) 249-7407 to volunteer.


...In a sign that perhaps certain Republicans don't really get the whole "politics is about people" thing, as in "real people with real concerns", CD5 candidate David Schweikert is following up his June fundraiser at the Scottsdale Gun Club with a fundraiser in a gated community in north Scottsdale at the end of this month.

By contrast, Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) spent much of the same period either working for or honoring people for whom weapons and protective walls are more than a conspicuous assertion of social status.

On Sunday, July 13, he participated in the unveiling of a "permanent display" that serves as "a visual reminder of the sacrifices members of the military and their families are making." (EV Tribune). He followed that up on Tuesday, July 15 by chairing a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee into the Department of Veterans Affairs' outreach efforts for veterans who are at risk for PTSD and/or suicide. (AP via SF Chronicle coverage here.)

A quick perusal of Schweikert's campaign website finds rhetoric that is heavy on Club for Growth/Republican neo-con talking points and light on any concerns for CD5 or the people who live here. In fact, other than pro-forma mentions of Barry Goldwater and "Arizona values," this website would serve for any GOP candidate from Maine to California, and serve with very few changes (mostly on the contact information pages.)

And he's the presumptive Republican front-runner here. The other candidates are worse.


...Over in California, Der Governator is proving that he's a true, dyed-in-the-wool Republican - he's ticked off at the California legislature for its failure to pass a budget (as well he should be!), so does he vent his anger at the legislators who are failing to do their jobs? Of course not - that's not the Republican way.

Nope, instead he is trying to cut the pay of every state employee to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour. (SF Chronicle)

Given that most of the affected employees are covered by contracts (union or personal), don't expect this one to go far. On the other hand, picking on working people, especially people who work for the government, will surely endear Schwarzenegger to the radical corporatist wing of his party.


...On Tuesday, the 11 candidates for municipal office in Scottsdale met in two separate forums sponsored by the East Valley Tribune. Trib coverage of the Mayoral forum here; coverage of the Council forum here.

The forums will be replayed on Scottsdale's City Cable 11 on the next two Sundays from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

I'm not going to do a full write up of the event (a bit of dozing off during the mayoral portion of the program and a format with a lightning round combine to make that an overly ambitious idea), but I do have a couple of quick observations -

- Lisa Borowsky did better Tuesday than she did at last week's COPP-sponsored forum. She wasn't spectacular by any means, but her voice didn't get drowned out this week, either.

- Joel Bramoweth needs to learn the meaning of the word "succinct." After watching his performance, one sharp-tongued observer opined that if Bramoweth is elected to the Council, the rules that dictate a three-minute time limit for public comments may need to be expanded to Council members, too.

Yes, I was that observer. :))

- Ron McCullagh is running a campaign straight out of the Republican playbook. Right now, he's reading from the page labeled "When in doubt, scare 'em." However, this being Scottsdale, instead of citing the usually boogeymen of illegal immigrants and terrorists to engender fear among the audience members, he went with "payday loan businesses" and "massage parlors."

Hey, it *is* Scottsdale after all. :))

- The biggest disappointment, and this applies to the entire cast of council candidates, was their lack of original ideas on addressing Scottsdale's traffic crunch. When asked about when they thought was the best solution available, they all paid obeisance at the "light rail is dead" altar before advocating for more buses and existing transit options.

While their answers varied a bit in length and vocabulary, they could all be summed up thusly -

"Let's close our eyes and click our heels together three times while saying 'let's do more of the same things that aren't working now and hope that the problem will go away before we have to do something substantial.' "

Given that early ballots go out at the end of next week, time is getting short for any epiphanies on the part of the candidates; don't expect any improvement between now and the election.

Note: I called CityCable11's Dennis Grzelak (the manager). According to him, at this point in time, there are no plans to make the video of the forums available online; if you want to view them, catch one of the Sunday rebroadcasts.


...Sometimes bloggers can make an impact... (thanks to Jobsanger in Texas for the heads-up on this) -

It seems that blogger TxSharon of Bluedaze has been keeping track of the environmental damage caused by energy giant Chesapeake Energy and similar companies. with nice, full-color pictures of some of their pollution.

Chesapeake Energy has responded to her diligence by referring to her as a "radical" and stating that "free speech" is all fine and dandy, but it shouldn't apply to people not directly affected by a given issue. (TxSharon doesn't live in the area of Ft. Worth most directly affected by Chesapeake's actions.)

In other words, they apparently believe that witnesses to a crime shouldn't say anything about it, only direct victims should.

Yeah, right.

Anyway, as near as I can tell, Chesapeake doesn't have much, if any, presence in AZ, but this situation still calls for attention.

It's ok to go viral with this. (hint, hint :) )

Later!

Candidate Forum For Scottsdale Mayoral And Council Candidates

Back to boring (i.e. - content that's only relevent locally)...

Thursday evening, all three of Scottsdale's mayoral candidates (incumbent Mary Manross and challengers Jim Lane and John Washington) and 7 of the candidates for Scottsdale City Council (incumbents Betty Drake and Ron McCullagh and challengers Nan Nesvig, Tom Giller, Lisa Borowsky, Joel Bramoweth, and Suzanne Klapp) gathered for the candidate forum sponsored by the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak (COPP).

None of the candidates did a bad job there, though the one who didn't participate, council candidate Oren Davis, didn't do his candidacy any favors by not showing up.

While there were some differences in their positions, all of the candidates showed a grasp of the main issues facing Scottsdale.

Their positions, shown by their responses to a COPP candidate survey, can be found on this page.

Impressions -

Of the candidates who did participate, Lisa Borowsky had the weakest night - she was all but drowned out by the gaggle of candidates on dais. It's not entirely her fault (COPP should have split the forum based on office sought - 10 on the stage was just too many). In addition, after the first couple of questions that had been prepared by COPP, a series of audience questions were presented to the candidates, but in a move that was unique compared to the other candidate forums that I've attended over the last few years, those questions were directed at specific candidates, not the entire panel. The 'free-form' format of the debate might have worked with a smaller panel, but not here.

On the other hand, the other candidates faced the same conditions, too. If she wants to run for office, Borowsky needs to learn to adapt her presentation style on the fly.

The strongest presentation was from council candidate Nan Nesvig. She was prepared, spoke clearly, definitively and intelligently on a variety of issues. The only flaw in her presentation that I could find (and it's a technical one!) was that she spent a little too much time reading from her prepared notes.

Joel Bramoweth, as has been noted here before, tended to go on a little too long and sometimes made his answers more of a project than was necessary. However, he also was the funniest of the candidates, frequently connecting with the audience poking fun at his own speaking style. Overall, he probably helped himself a little.

Tom Giller (council) and John Washington (write-in candidate for mayor) did a good job of delineating their differences with the status quo, and did so strongly but without being strident.

Incumbent council members Drake and McCullagh stressed the need for a return to civility in Scottsdale politics (Drake) and that they were running to represent the entire city, not just one neighborhood or single section of the city (McCullagh).

In addition, all of the incumbents, including Mayor Manross, pointed out that the city is in decent shape (and to be fair, while there *are* problems here, as in any other city, Scottsdale really *is* in good shape overall).

On the other hand, most of the challengers, including current council member Lane, cited distrust between the City government and the citizens of Scottsdale as one of the big problems facing the city, and used that to call for a change in city goverment.

Anyway, the forum went fairly smoothly, other than some of the format issues cited above. It was not recorded on video, so anyone who couldn't make Thursday's event should plan to attend the EV Tribune Mayoral forum on Tuesday, July 22 in the City Hall Kiva from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. It will be broadcast live on CityCable11 and repeated at various times.

Later!

Joel Bramoweth, candidate for Scottsdale City Council

Last week, I invited each of the candidates running for office in Scottsdale (mayor and city council) to submit a statement for their candidacy to be published here. Today, I received the 2nd response, from Joel Bramoweth, candidate for Scottsdale City Council. His statement is adapted from a speech, which is why it occasionally reads like he is targeting it toward a live audience. With Mr. Bramoweth's permission, I made a couple of edits in that regard that did not affect the content of his piece, only the readability.

Here it is -

I want to be elected as much as you want to protect and complete the Preserve. I will support you without reservation.

I’m Joel BramOweth and you can HELP ME BRING BACK the ideals of office to City Hall. Born and raised in Tucson, I believe “Elective Office is a Job, it is not a Reward”.

My mom and dad went to Tucson, in 1944 by train from St. Louis, Mo. and when they arrived they had nowhere to go and the town consisted of 35,000 people. They made a life and my dad’s the smartest guy I know.

When I graduated the U of A in December ’69 I wanted to Experience the East coast, drove to Newburyport, MA in an old car without a heater and went to work for a 120 year old silversmith called The Towle Company. I spent 10 years with them working throughout the US and came home to open my own business.

Qualifications: I’ve been self employed for 30 years in real estate management working in four states and along the way I’ve owned some land and built some building and said no to the largest developers and tenants. I have the skill, experience and especially the perspective for the job. (Did you know that each year the council makes about 500 decisions and 375 or 75% of them are real estate related.?)

Prepared: I’ve attended every city council meeting, commissions and interviewed department heads for 28 months and talked to 10,000 people because it’s not just learning the issues; it’s learning your views. “I’m fired up and ready to go”.

Ideals: We need to bring ideals back to city hall by electing modern people who welcome debate without bullying, who are tolerant of new ideas and can do the job without political self-interest or arrogance. If elected officials expect to keep the job, they must do the job and be accountable for the job. We are a wonderful city despite this council, not because of the council. We need change; we need 6 new councilman and I look forward to discussing the issues most important to you and earning your vote.

There is a distinction between “Positions” and “Opinions”. Positions are based on fact, your views and the city’s best interests, opinions are personal and selfish. This council doesn’t get it. Politicians like to decide things, it emboldens them, they like big issues to get reelected like condemning the water company and sweeping the Toll Brothers decision under the rug, this is the old politics of fear, alliance and ideology. It has caused failed lawsuits, referendums and squabbling.

This council has not had one original idea, they jump from problem to problem and draw-out issues creating controversy, lawsuits, condemnations actions and referendums and instead of compromise they bully. Their attitude does not welcome debate and they believe only in their own ideas.

We need a change; we need three new people this year and three in two years. They are sitting right in front of you, they are qualified, modern people who will conduct the business of the city better. I want to be one of them.

I look forward to talking about the issues, which most concern you.

Thank you.

Later!