Like Nailing Jell-o to the Wall

Hey, I'm a nice guy. Really. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to call a spade a spade, or call out a lie when I hear it, but it does mean that I try to be super nice and polite around people who don't know me, especially total strangers.

But I will admit to being tested today. Got a call from school around lunch time. Turns out my son was going to go home with a friend after school was out. The friend's dad was going to take him and several other boys over to his mom's (the boy's grandma), where I could pick him up this evening.

So far, so good. Til I drove up to the house and saw the "Stay Sacramento - No on Measure D" sign in the front yard. Ick! But I swallowed and walked up to the door. The kid's grandma was nice, and the home was well appointed. She told the kids to get out of the pool, and my son went to change into his street clothes. Just making conversation, I asked why she had the sign in her yard. The way she bristled, you would have thought I'd thrown acid at her grandson. Her answer was extremely curt: "We would never support that!" As if that was torturing bunnies or something similar.

Well durn my hide, I just couldn't leave well enough alone. She asked if I was in favor of cityhood, and I was off and running. In less than a minute I told her how police services were at a third of recommended levels, how the hookers pretty much own Watt Avenue, how the gangs are fighting for control of the area around Howe Park. I told her how the sheriff was constrained by budgets that prevent doing anything about it. And I told her that my son, and her grandson, deserved better.

The whole time just stood there with a smug look that clearly communicated that I was wasting my time with facts - her mind was made up. But as I concluded my "mellow rant", something occurred to me. The thing we need to fight is not Stay Sacramento. Their intellectually and ethically bankrupt smoke and mirrors tricks aren't hurting our efforts. If anything it seems like every time we engage them in a debate, we gain a number of supporters. No, the real enemies are apathy and inertia.

When supporters get together lately, the conversation always seems to run towards "our signs vs their signs." But we need to remember that 90% of the homes in Arden Arcade still have NO signs. These are the people we need to reach. And that is why it's so vitally important that supporters are out walking the precincts, meeting people, and politely sharing the benefits of cityhood. We don't need more signs, although they are nice to see. But on November 2nd, no one is going to count the number of signs to declare the winners. They count votes, and many of those votes will have to come from the no-sign folks.

Inertia - the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest. Last week I stopped off at a local business to talk with the owner about a candidates event. As we spoke several people in the room were listening, and started asking me questions. Over the next half hour we discussed all the major talking points - schools, police, blight, section 8 housing, massage parlors and head shops - and when I left, two of them told me they had become supporters on the spot. No sales pitch, no close, no asking for the order. Both of them had said they knew the vote was coming up, but hadn't really started looking into the matter. One even said he works in Citrus Heights, and because of what he sees there, was leaning toward a yes vote, but had no reason beyond that. All of this goes to show that simple conversations will beat out all the signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts that we can print. Not that those are bad things.

I'll close by repeating last week's challenge. Make this personal. In the next week go find two undecuded voters, and engage them in conversation. Be polite, but show your passion. Then, no matter the result, come back here and leave a comment about the experience.

***

Wow, there are so many meetings over the next 2-3 weeks that I'm having trouble keeping them straight. Thankfully I have a wife to help with that. We have a meeting somewhere this Thursday evening. I think it's the Wright Street Homewoners group. Check the cityhood web site, or Jane's Arden Arcadian, or even the Save Arden Arcade - Yes On D Facebook page. Links for all of them are on the right.

***

Jane and I have been discussing something I find incredibly interesting. I've also run it past a couple cops and they think our conclusion is right.

The Stay Sav web site shows a sign of theirs that has been vandalized. Of course, they accuse our side of doing it. I think that's ludicrous, because if we wanted to eliminate their message, we'd pull the thing out of the ground and toss in into a dumpster. Not that I would ever suggest anything like that, of course.

But this sign was vandalized, and left in place. If you go look at the sign, you will see that some of the wording is still visible. In Blue: "No Hood". And in Red: "Stay Sac" (not Sacramento). Now, if you were a blood (the ones who wear red), and you wanted to send a message to the crips (blue), wouldn't the idea of no hood for the blue, while the red will stay Sac, be a pretty overt way to do so?

Yet, the PhD's at Stay Sacramento think we vandalized their sign. Do they really have their heads that far into the sand, that they can't see the gang activity growing around them? Oh wait, I forgot. They pay for private cops to keep those types out of their neighborhoods. But apparently they think it's perfectly fine for them to take over your areas. And they call themselves a group of community-minded individuals. Go figure.