BlogaBarbara

Santa Barbara Politics, Media & Culture

Saturday, November 05, 2005

No, Our CIty is NOT Sacramento!

Do whatever the newspaper wants or we'll try to destroy you -- her man at De la Guerra should just admit his quest for power rather than accusing working men and women and elected officials of manipulating media coverage. He wants to be the only one manipulating media coverage, doesn't he?

Today's "editorial news" is so full of anger and resentment, it's amazing that this guy gets to keep his job. For someone who hasn't lived in Santa Barbara very long -- you think he'd work a little harder at getting along with everyone and give his opinion in a less divisive, accusatory way....Mayor Blum is resentful of Falcone's intellect? Council Member Williams is trying to knock her out now? What's his connection to Falcone?

In a related front page article, Josh Molina reported on a press conference held by PUEBLO and SEIU supporters which expressed their concern with Falcone's lack of support for Das WIlliam's Prop 75 resolution at council the other day. She has been on record -- and even got space on the editorial page today -- as being opposed to the Proposition but voted against it last Tuesday because of the way WIlliams brought the issue to council.

Reality check. Several issue related resolutions including one that opposed the war in Iraq have bypassed the council's legislative committee -- these have also been resolutions she has supported. Tabling resolutions like this until after the election is really more political than actually bringing it before the council without going through the committee. The public has a right to know where council members stand.

It was interesting how the police association president was a pure Falcone supporter the other day who didn't want to comment on Prop 75 -- and was a blue-collar union president today.

PUEBLO et al shouldn't go after a candidate's contributors unless there is something more substantive than "they held a town hall for Arnold" -- so what? Falcone is right -- they do business with the city and their support of her isn't about partisan politics.

28 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

When did there get to be a "legislative committee" through which proposals from citizens have to pass? Seems to be one more hurdle for public input.

Several years ago some friends put forth a resolution opposing preventive war on Iraq; they gathered hundreds of signatures and presented it directly to the city council - it went to the city administrator, too - and then was voted on favorably by a majority of the council (Secord/Hart opposed, I think.)

Now there's a legislative committee to bottle stuff up at the will of the committee chair?!!!

Or what's the story on it?

11/05/2005 8:59 AM  
Blogger Sara De la Guerra said...

In a perfect world, the legislative committee would be a good thing because many requests made of council are not related to city business and probably don't belong (and some are very odd) -- and some feel that even resolutions on foreign policy matters are not the purview of council. Overall I agree (expect in case of the war) -- but state propositions are a little more germaine to city government and if there is an overwhelming amount of signatures related to an issue, maybe they should look at it.

11/05/2005 10:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does this blog really want to go into who people get to pay off their campaign debts? Some of your buddies will have awfully red faces and some splaining to do. Talk about glass houses.

11/05/2005 3:17 PM  
Blogger David Pritchett said...

Yes, campaign debts and contributions are one of the most telling of traits for an elected official. A thorough analysis of financing should be exposed after the election.

The betting pool has started about how much Iya Falcone and her own union associations have contributed in total.

1-to-1 odds are the total spent to benefit Iya will be greater than $70 thousand, including just one-third of how the unions are spending for 3 candidates.

11/05/2005 4:16 PM  
Blogger David Pritchett said...

To be perfectly clear, ALL candidates and the Independent Expenditure groups and donors should have their finances analyzed and reported in the two Santa Barbara newspapers.

An outside, impartial group would be best to lead this, and make some nice summary tables that show where the money came from, where it went, and for what purpose.

11/05/2005 4:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

May be we should create a whole new watch dog independent group to look at every contribution before a candidate accepts and puts it in the bank. The city could hire more people at living wage to oversee the commission.

Isn't it clear enough that every contribution over $99 must be reported and reports filed in city hall. One would assume a good blog about local politics would at least list donors to each candidate.

11/05/2005 4:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, anonymous nimrod, it is not "clear enough" that every report is filed in city hall and that should be the end of it.

Someone, NOT a City employee, living wage or not, has to read and analyze those reports, and inform the world (or at least the readers of the two newspapers) what all the candidates received, including all contributions reported after the election.

But, yes, a good blog about local politics will report the same details for all the candidates. "thesmokinggun" posting above apparently just had time to report on Falcone contributions from the prior election.

Imagine all the time to go through all contributions for all candidates in the current election. That smokinggun needs a magazine clip with a lot of rounds in it!!

Candidates in glass houses still can throw stones, but some houses are fine and brittle crystal, while other houses are bulletproof glass....

11/05/2005 4:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First District Street FIghter thank you. Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord." According to the Old Testament, he established a great kingdom and founded a number of important Babylonian and Assyrian cities.

I think one must consider what makes a bulletproof house build on contributions. The average voter does not have the special connection to the SEIU as they have to police and fire - may make Travis smarter than you wish.

11/05/2005 5:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So are we now debating which labor unions are better and have a more "special connection" to the average voter? Go ahead, have at it.

So, therefore, influence peddling by one union then becomes good, but such influence by another union is bad? Barnwell and his lamentation about the "nest of snakes" is becoming more true every day.

When this city election is done, Falcone with POA independent expenditures will lead the spending with the most dollars spent per vote. And for third place, at that!

Horton will be a close second in $$ per vote, but only because of POA spending on TV ads intended to benefit Falcone, but sweeping along Horton and Redd in the same ad so
that spending adds to Horton's tally of $$ per vote.

And Travis is NOT smarter than I think, as he keeps biting on the bait and escalating his frothing insults in his personal opinion essays and editorials, resulting in far more people concluding that they should think and vote whichever way is the OPPOSITE of his editorial rants.

We should keep the blog free of cursing or ad-hominum insults, but
yes, NIMROD:
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990507
The origin of nimrod 'a stupid or obnoxious person; jerk', which has become increasingly common in the last five years or so, is uncertain. One possible source for the word is the biblical character Nimrod, a great-grandson of Noah, who was a mighty hunter and a tyrant in Genesis 10:8-10. In literary English, nimrod (usually lowercase) has been used since the mid-sixteenth century in the now-obsolete sense 'a tyrant' and since the early eighteenth century in the sense 'a hunter'.

A frequent assertion is that the use of nimrod for 'a jerk' stems from one or more Warner Brothers cartoons of the 1940s, wherein Bugs Bunny tauntingly and dismissively refers to the foolish Elmer Fudd, who is hunting Bugs, as a "nimrod." This is a great theory and is immediately believable to anyone who has seen Bugs in action. "Nimrod" would be easily interpreted as 'a jerk' in this context.

Unfortunately for this theory, there are two clear examples of nimrod 'a jerk' dating back to the early 1930s, well before the cartoon came along. It is still possible that the cartoon popularized the use, but it did not coin it.

11/05/2005 5:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is real good, for a Republican. First Democratic candidates go at each other like schoolchildren despite supposedly having the same interests at heart. Now whose union is better or more progressive will be the issue. This is all personal, not issue oriented and it is hurting anyone who cares about the real issues facing the City. Well played. As Napoleon D would say, "Idiots!!"

Uncle Rico

11/05/2005 6:04 PM  
Blogger David Pritchett said...

To stay on point with the initial subject of this blog entry today...

actually, Santa Barbara IS becoming like Sacramento politics...

I just received the second, in three days, a robo-call supporting LannyE for mayor. (A robo-call is a recorded message sounding in one's phone upon answering it.) Lanny has now become "Dr. Alan" and that is all that is memorable about it.

Apparently the $17K of unspent money by the Lanny "campaign" (per the News-Press article on Nov.01) is getting spent out by a computer-driven telephone calling machine in India to annoy us on our home telephones. Three more long days to go....

11/05/2005 6:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my oh my the annom nimrod and First District are both the icon for this election. Totally out to lunch. Or better yet First District and the nim are the Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd icon of this election.

As are Das and Lanny. Funny when it all comes to an end the useless losers will be Lanny and Das - two opposites yet two of the same - focused on some selfish self focused goals out of touch with reality ego driven and smart and dumb in the same moment.

What is so fun is that in three days it will be Roger, House, the Iya and the slug. And the slug along with the das will be useless as they were irrelivant before now the are useless and irrelevant. Those with an issue at the city are polite to go to Das so they do not miss him but consider him as mush of a joke as CPA. What one thing has the das or the slug done in two and four years on their own.

Think hard.

11/05/2005 7:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my oh my the annom nimrod and First District are both the icon for this election. Totally out to lunch. Or better yet First District and the nim are the Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd icon of this election.

As are Das and Lanny. Funny when it all comes to an end the useless losers will be Lanny and Das - two opposites yet two of the same - focused on some selfish self focused goals out of touch with reality ego driven and smart and dumb in the same moment.

What is so fun is that in three days it will be Roger, House, the Iya and the slug. And the slug along with the das will be useless as they were irrelivant before now the are useless and irrelevant. Those with an issue at the city are polite to go to Das so they do not miss him but consider him as mush of a joke as CPA. What one thing has the das or the slug done in two and four years on their own.

Think hard.

11/05/2005 7:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay - I am back . . . . . .. . . . . . . .

Okay thought hard?

Das - turning a good city into a cat fight. Das vs. Iya and the thing is Iya wins. Das fights like a sissy.

Slug - a legacy of lawsuits, the dumb statements of the day. What would one expect from a teachers union activist? The only saving grace for the slug is Dr. Joe.

11/05/2005 7:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Slug. Perfect. Slimy. Hides in a shell. Comes out at night.

Please no longer the slugger but the slug

11/05/2005 7:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

slug is a harsh but fitting

11/05/2005 8:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Slug may fit but it is going too far. Lets be civil.

11/05/2005 8:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

New Election Polling as per the laundered Levy contributions:

Falcone gets buried on election day in the pit at the end of state street

11/05/2005 9:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of course that's total baloney. What is being heard on the street today is the rise of Redd. Disgust with everyone else is feeding her candidacy. Coupled with the POA money she is getting some legs. Can you imagine Marty, Iya and Loretta side by side? Who wants off the island?

11/05/2005 10:03 PM  
Blogger Sara De la Guerra said...

Maybe it is getting to be a little too much like survivor in this race --- and as for the Sacramento calls, I got one from McGrew pushing their troika.

As for finance reports, the post was from thesmokinggun, not Blogabarbara. It would take a great deal of time to analyze each and every report -- I'm not against it, but it would take awhile -- perhaps a paying gig at a blog would give me the ability to do that research, but not for something I am doing for fun.

Let's see what happens tomorrow....tempers seem to be getting hot here, let's try to take it easy!

11/05/2005 10:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Troika? What's the progressive word for troika when the Slugger puts her trio out front? Fair is fair Sara.

11/05/2005 10:35 PM  
Blogger Sara De la Guerra said...

Didn't say it was progressive or not -- a descriptive noun, I believe -- no judgement behind it. But sure, Blum, SEIU, etc have their troika as well - -should I have used trio? :)

11/05/2005 10:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you Sara. Trio seems somehow to be a little less Stalinist than Troika. Doncha think?

11/05/2005 10:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah, all those pro-Blum letters in the the Indy too over the last month .. not.

But the pro-slug-ger people here are won't say their names. No one will stick up for her ...... in public. This site proves that.

No one wants their name with hers.

11/05/2005 11:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The pro-slug people have to support her or she will retailiate (if one can imagine that). But those who are pro-slug do it quietly except for the union leadership. Don't see much rank and file. Those in leadership of non-profits and business in Santa Barbara agree the slug leaves a trail and you never know when she will turn and attack.

11/06/2005 12:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

pro-slug and anti-slug so happy all this will be over and we can get back to the mundane arguments about petty issues only on tuesdays

11/06/2005 4:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can we do a thread on predictions????

11/07/2005 6:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HORTON = 9100 votes
HOUSE = 8300 votes
FALCONE = 7400 votes
REDD = 7200 votes
CHANNING = 6900 votes

11/07/2005 6:31 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home