Angels in Our Community - The Spectrum Magazine

As I Was
Saying… Publisher
| Steve Penna
Let’s get right to the results of my predictions
for the races that were of concern to Redwood
City voters in the Nov. 8 election. Out of the 17
predictions I made, I was correct in 13 of them.
Usually I am over 90 percent correct, but I went
out on a limb on a few races, thinking voters
would actually read all the information given
and then come out to vote. Obviously voters did
not come out to vote, given that the winner of the
Redwood City council race got only a little more
than 5,000 votes. But I was still really accurate.
In that City Council race, where there were
four incumbents — Alicia Aguirre, Ian Bain,
Rosanne Foust and Barbara Pierce — facing
off against political newcomer Paul McCarthy, I
predicted the incumbents would all be re-elected
and they were.
Aguirre was the top vote-getter and ran the
most aggressive campaign of all the candidates,
and she deserved to place first. McCarthy got
2,870 votes, which could be accounted for by the
anti-incumbent vote and the minimal support
he had, considering he did not run the active
campaign the others ran. He has announced
he plans to look at another run in 2013. It will
be interesting to watch his involvement in our
community leading up to that run and whether
he plans to work within the system to gather the
experience and knowledge needed to serve on
the council. He is an attractive candidate for so
many reasons, and doing so would just bolster his
credibility and name recognition.
.…
In the Sequoia Union High School District race,
trustees Lorraine Rumley and Olivia Martinez
faced competitors Allen Weiner, Larry James
Moody and Carrie Du Bois. I predicted that both
incumbents would win as well as Du Bois. Well,
I was a little off there. Du Bois was the top votegetter,
followed by Weiner. For the final spot, the
two incumbents battled it out until the final results
were announced more than a week later. If you
do not think your vote counts, consider that on
election night Rumley was winning, but when the
final results were tallied, Martinez won the final
seat by 77 votes. The teachers union campaigned
hard against the incumbents and, considering the
outcome, voters listened to them.
I hope Rumley stays involved in our community
as she is a valuable asset and over the years has
proven to be a detailed thinker and decisionmaker.
Her contributions have been valuable to
the students and community she serves. There is
another place for her and I hope she finds it.
.…
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
In the Redwood City School District race,
incumbents Alisa Greene MacAvoy, Shelly Masur
and Dennis McBride faced competition from
parent volunteer Lea Cuniberti-Duran. I predicted
all three incumbents would win and they did.
But just like in the Sequoia district, there
seemed to be an undertone of discontent as the
challenger Cuniberti-Duran got some 3,021 votes
without attending campaign forums or spending
virtually any money. Hope the district status quo
are listening as they plan to ask voters for an
additional tax next November.
.…
All three incumbents on the San Mateo County
Community College District board — Dave
Mandelkern, Patricia Miljanich and Karen
Schwarz — ran for re-election and were challenged
by Jaime Diaz, Joe Ross and Michael Stogner. I
went way out on a limb and predicted Ross would
unseat one of the incumbents. That was incorrect,
as all incumbents won. Despite an impressive
campaign waged by Ross, it is hard to overcome
the advantage that incumbents have in such a large
voting district, and he fell more than 8,000 votes short.
.…
Measure H had the San Mateo County Community
College District asking us to pass a $564 million
bond. I predicted it should and would fail, and it
did. Now it is time for the district board that we
just re-elected to start representing the taxpayers
of their district and not all the “special interests”
they have been in the past. They have to make
some hard but much-needed cuts to balance their
budgets, and not at the expense of the students or
the community.
.…
Measures I and M asked Redwood City voters
to increase the city’s hotel and business taxes.
I predicted the business license tax increase,
Measure M, would fail (it passed) and the hotel
tax, Measure I, would pass (it did).
What is interesting about those results is comparing
the votes each measure got. Measure I passed
with 6,061 votes and Measure M with only 4,554
votes, with 3,082 voting no on the business tax.
You can mark that victory up to the Redwood City
firefighters who walked door to door handing out
literature in support of the measure, and some of
the council candidates.
I also thought it was interesting that the
Redwood City Residents to Protect City Services
group — which ran the campaigns — used
vendors that are all outside of Redwood City to
support the campaign with design services, etc.
Now that is the “Shop Local” spirit!
I also predicted that Measure K, a charter
amendment regarding the sale and purchase of
property, would pass and it did.
.…
Now the big question. Who will be Redwood City’s
next mayor and lead our community for the next
two years? If you are a council watcher, this is not
a hard call at all. Aguirre will get the position. She
is next in line on the rotation (council members choose
the mayor every two years, and even though it
does not always go that way, it will this year).
She has worked really hard the past two years
as vice mayor to prove to her colleagues and to
our community that she is ready to lead us and
deserves to lead us. She has done both.
Although the normal rotation would have Bain
appointed vice mayor, I don’t think that will happen.
Pierce might be considered, considering that
she is in her last term due to term limits and could
serve as vice mayor and end her term on the council
in four years as mayor. I don’t think that will
happen either. Councilman John Seybert will not
be considered, and current Mayor Jeff Ira could serve
as vice mayor or mayor, but that won’t happen.
So that leaves Jeff Gee. He will get the nod
because he has jumped right into his position on
the council (elected two years ago) and has shown
he is knowledgeable about the issues facing our
community and also willing to listen to community
members while making decisions. He comes from
a family of Redwood City–based involvement and
is the only representative on the council from the
Redwood Shores neighborhood. He is also wellliked
by his colleagues on the council.
.…
On another note, Aguirre hosted an election
night party at her home for all of the incumbents,
including those from the Redwood City School
District. Noticeably, no invitations went out
to the challengers in those races, which is
too bad, considering that one of the goals of
our community is to unite regardless of our
differences. The challengers should have been
included and given support from the “status quo”
for standing up with some new ideas. They just
might have one that would be good. Instead they
are ignored for having the audacity to challenge
an incumbent — not good.
Within the status-quo clique there are several
who do not support or agree with others, but
they are not left out. I for one like it better when
candidates stand on their own, at least on election
night, and thank family, friends and supporters
individually with their own events. It gives
(continues on page 25)