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As I Was
Saying… Publisher
| Steve Penna
And we have a City Council race.
Incumbents beware, you have two
or more potential challengers who
are hoping to fill your seats after
the November election.
Let’s start here: Incumbents Alicia Aguirre,
Ian Bain, Rosanne Foust and Barbara Pierce
are all up for re-election and are running. All have
taken out nomination papers and will file them by
the Aug. 12 deadline.
Stating, “I can’t say I expect to win,” Brett
Garrett has been the first one to officially turn in
his candidacy papers, complete with nominating
signatures. Qualifying signatures are “only a
person who is a registered qualified voter at the
time he/she signs the Nomination Petition.” There
appears to have been a slight problem with the
initial signatures he submitted, so he has until the
deadline to correct the problem.
“I’m the dark horse candidate, but I will do my
best to represent those who oppose the Saltworks
project,” Garrett stated. OK, so he is obviously
running on the platform that the Saltworks project
on the Cargill property should not be reviewed
or an EIR done to see if it is a good fit for our
community. That is what most of the extreme
environmentalists who have weighed in are saying.
On his website, Garrett states, “Stop Saltworks:
Run for City Council! The City Council of Redwood
City should include voices in favor of preserving
the remaining San Francisco Bay wetlands. If you
would like to be one of those voices, now is the
time to step up to the plate.” He goes on to state
that he “would gladly form a coalition or lend my
support to others who share these goals.”
I wonder if that support includes sharing his
money as well. The self-employed website-hosting
executive has contributed substantially ($500 or
more) to the campaigns of Obama for America in
2008, Kucinich for President 2008, Winograd for
Congress in 2010 and the political action website
MoveOn.org. He also endorsed April Vargas in
her run for county supervisor last year.
The council should include different voices
that favor different ideologies. But to suggest,
as Garrett does, that one should include an anti-
Cargill stance is not valid. The voices that should
be on the council are what the majority of the
voters want and not just because one favors the
preservation of wetlands. Although the Saltworks
project is an important one for our community,
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
other issues of more importance are facing our
community right now.
I have seen candidates who are single-issueoriented
and they are seldom elected. I have also
seen candidates run on a platform — let’s say on
fiscal responsibility — and once elected do little or
nothing to reduce overhead, or vote against their
colleagues to make a statement. So I guess it is possible.
There are incumbents who are running and are
vulnerable. But to unseat one, there would have to
be a candidate running who has the funding and
support to get their message out to voters. Another
method would be a strong grassroots campaign.
That takes serious organization over funding, and
I have seen candidates use it effectively. So it will
be interesting to see how Garrett campaigns and
if the speakers at the council meetings and letter
writers against the Saltworks project deserve a
voice on the council.
As we were going to press and I had to finish
my column, another potential candidate, Paul
McCarthy, took out papers to run. Until he files, I
think I will just let it be. Oh, wrong Paul.
.…
In other races related to Redwood City voters, all three
incumbents on the San Mateo County Community
College District board of trustees — Dave
Mandelkern, Patricia Miljanich and Karen
Schwarz — have now filed to run for re-election.
Only one challenger, Jamie Diaz, has filed to run.
Sequoia Union High School District trustees
Lorraine Rumley and Olivia Martinez have filed
to run for re-election. One seat is up for grabs,
since Don Gibson doesn’t plan to run for a third
term. So far, Menlo Park resident Allen Weiner,
East Palo Alto resident Larry James Moody
and Carrie Du Bois, San Carlos School District
trustee, have filed.
Please note that the candidates for these and all
races will most likely change, as the deadline to
file is Aug. 12, which is after we go to press. But I
will make sure you have all the latest and in-depth
coverage next month.
.…
By the time this column is out on the streets,
the recruitment process for a new police chief
will have begun and prospective candidates will
have started applying. I am expecting that a new
chief will be chosen soon after the November
City Council election. To make the selection
before then would potentially cause a campaign
issue with incumbents running, so it is a safe
expectation.
Wanting to include their voice in the process,
the Redwood City Police Officers Association
(POA) board and the Chief of Police (C.O.P.) selection
committee recently sent out a survey to the POA
membership, wanting to understand how they feel
about the process to select the new police chief.
According to POA President Mike Reynolds,
the “completely anonymous” survey sent out to all
members was labeled an “opportunity to have a
voice in the very critical C.O.P. selection process,
which will impact all of us one way or another.”
The survey generally asked its members questions
like: a) Should they consider only the internal
candidates or allow any qualified candidate to
apply? b) What is the biggest problem facing the
department today? c) What types of qualities,
virtues or traits should our next chief of police possess?
The survey then went on to ask the members
which interim police chief (Chris Cesena or Ed
Hernandez) they preferred to work under. The
two are sharing duties as chief until a replacement
is made. The survey also asked members whether,
should either interim chief be chosen, the
department would: a) move ahead, b) fall behind,
c) stay the same, d) I don’t know. In other words,
they were polling their membership to see who the
preferred choice is.
OK, I am thinking the same thing you are.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all pick our bosses?
But unfortunately that is not reality. Well, that is
unless you are self-employed, and even then one
does not always like their boss. Regardless, in most
cases that is not a reality, and that includes this instance.
I know that the survey was designed to give
the POA membership a voice. But does it really
work out that way? It seems like a double-edged
sword. We all know the selection process ends
with a decision by City Manager Bob Bell. I
can only assume that when presented with the
survey results, one evaluating them would either
take it as fact and support for one of the interims
or read into that the least favorable one is the
one that holds them accountable and has higher
expectations for the department. Thus, what are
the real effects of the survey results?
I guess only time will tell.
.…
(continues on page 19)