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