Wow. What a great time at the cityhood campaign kickoff celebration last night! Good times all around. Thanks to the organizers for... well, for everything. Thanks to the firefighters local 522 for rockin' the grill. Awesome dogs, guys (and ladies)! Thanks to the candidates to showed up to meet us common folk. Thanks to Stevie Scott and band for a great performance. And especially thanks to the dozens of volunteers who kept the trash emptied, kids playing safely, lawn signs and t-shirts moving out, and all of the other thankless tasks that made it all work.
For a political event, it really didn't seem all that political. This was community at its finest. People coming together from all races, belief systems, ages, and whatever else you can think of, simply to unite as Arden Arcadians. It rocked.
Shortly before everything closed down, I was chatting with Brian Rice from Sac Metro, when an alarm went off and three trucks, including the huge ladder rig, pulled out of the Butano station and temporarily deafened us all with the siren's blare. Someone, somewhere, was in danger of losing life or property, and our finest were on the way to stop the tragedy. That is community. That is what I don't want to see continually eroding, or swallowed up in the metropolis. That is what I want to keep. Not Stay Sacramento - Stay Arden Arcade. I'm not going to let you take that away.
***
You may notice the list of links on the right side of the page. People I meet out there in the real world keep asking where they can get the facts, and I finally decided to just post everything here and let the chips fall. If you are a candidate, and have a site I didn't post here, get it to me asap so you can be included. Then find a good search engine optimization consultant who can get you listed higher in Google. If you were in the first two pages, you would also be here.
I really went through a "long dark night of the soul" experience about adding the Stay Sacramento site to the list. But then I realized what several people have told me in the past few weeks. Nothing sells cityhood like reading their site and seeing how incredibly flimsy their rhetoric really is. I want this to be a place for open communication and debate, something their site just doesn't seem to appreciate.
***
Campaign signs are now available! Check the Cityhood web site for info on how to get one! They will be the fashion hit of the season!
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This Tuesday (10/7) is an open debate at the Community Center in La Sierra Park. One of our council candidates, Anthony Hernandez, will be representing cityhood across the aisle from Dr. Mike Duveneck. This is an open event, but it is also a meeting of the local homeowner's association. If you're settled on the incorporation issue, which you should be after reading this blog, then don't go. But invite your friends, neighbors, relatives, and anyone else you know who is still on the fence.
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More fun stuff coming this week. Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label campaign signs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label campaign signs. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
It's a Time of the Signs
You've seen them by now. Yard signs in the election-standard red, white and blue, proclaiming "No Cityhood" and "Stay Sacramento", along with the Stay Sacramento web site address. I'm not sure how many of these things are in yards around town, but they are in prominent locations, and getting a lot of attention.
I've spoken with several people about incorporation, and they seem to be universally surprised at how many people seem to be opposing incorporation. But after doing a few ride-arounds and taking some straw counts, there really aren't that many signs out, at least that I've found.
But after thinking about the sign issue for a while, I realized the reason they seem so prevalent is that there are no signs for the pro-cityhood view. If you hear one side of an argument over and over, without ever hearing from the other side, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing no one is supporting the opposite view.
After a bit of research I found out why there are no incorporation signs. County election laws limit the time frame for posting signs to 60 days prior to the election. So you won't be seeing any pro-cityhood signs until early September, at the earliest.
Which begs the question: Why is Stay Sacramento illegally posting signs all over town? The answer, as usual, involves Stay Sacramento following the letter, while relieving itself all over the spirit of the law. Their claim is that the signs are not for the election, but just a statement of beliefs, protected under the 1st Amendment. Since they don't mention the election specifically, or contain the word "Vote", they maintain the signs are not related to the election.
Well, my daddy always said that if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then start making the orange sauce. The facts are simple. The signs are expressing a clear opinion about an issue that will be on the ballot in the next general election. There is absolutely no other reason for these signs to exist other than to attempt to influence public opinion about the outcome of the upcoming election.
If this didn't tick me off so much, I'd probably be amused by the irony of Stay Sacramento's non-stop accusations of ethical violations against incorporation proponents, while they dance around the fine points of law to openly violate its intent. The campaign committee members I've spoken with are content to let this ride, waiting until the time is right to start putting out their stuff. But I don't think that's enough.
Please don't go overboard here. Don't go ripping signs out of yards or defacing property. We don't want to be reduced to their level. And don't hold the folks who posted the signs responsible; they probably just did what they were told. They have the right to their own opinions, whether or not the people who told them what to think did so ethically or legally.
If you want to do something, call the county election commissioner's office at (916) 875-6451. Tell them about the signs, and that you feel they violate election laws. Let them know the signs are expressing an opinion about an upcoming ballot measure, and that constitutes an illegal action.
Then come back here and let us know what your find out. It would be good to get some discussion going on this. Plus, I get so lonely when you kids never write!
I've spoken with several people about incorporation, and they seem to be universally surprised at how many people seem to be opposing incorporation. But after doing a few ride-arounds and taking some straw counts, there really aren't that many signs out, at least that I've found.
But after thinking about the sign issue for a while, I realized the reason they seem so prevalent is that there are no signs for the pro-cityhood view. If you hear one side of an argument over and over, without ever hearing from the other side, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing no one is supporting the opposite view.
After a bit of research I found out why there are no incorporation signs. County election laws limit the time frame for posting signs to 60 days prior to the election. So you won't be seeing any pro-cityhood signs until early September, at the earliest.
Which begs the question: Why is Stay Sacramento illegally posting signs all over town? The answer, as usual, involves Stay Sacramento following the letter, while relieving itself all over the spirit of the law. Their claim is that the signs are not for the election, but just a statement of beliefs, protected under the 1st Amendment. Since they don't mention the election specifically, or contain the word "Vote", they maintain the signs are not related to the election.
Well, my daddy always said that if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then start making the orange sauce. The facts are simple. The signs are expressing a clear opinion about an issue that will be on the ballot in the next general election. There is absolutely no other reason for these signs to exist other than to attempt to influence public opinion about the outcome of the upcoming election.
If this didn't tick me off so much, I'd probably be amused by the irony of Stay Sacramento's non-stop accusations of ethical violations against incorporation proponents, while they dance around the fine points of law to openly violate its intent. The campaign committee members I've spoken with are content to let this ride, waiting until the time is right to start putting out their stuff. But I don't think that's enough.
Please don't go overboard here. Don't go ripping signs out of yards or defacing property. We don't want to be reduced to their level. And don't hold the folks who posted the signs responsible; they probably just did what they were told. They have the right to their own opinions, whether or not the people who told them what to think did so ethically or legally.
If you want to do something, call the county election commissioner's office at (916) 875-6451. Tell them about the signs, and that you feel they violate election laws. Let them know the signs are expressing an opinion about an upcoming ballot measure, and that constitutes an illegal action.
Then come back here and let us know what your find out. It would be good to get some discussion going on this. Plus, I get so lonely when you kids never write!
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