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May 02, 2008
Six
The E-R reported that six people have filed to run for Chico City Council – Councilor Larry Wahl, Mayor Andy Holcombe, Vice-Mayor Ann Schwab, Park Commissioner Jim Walker, Mark Sorensen, and Ali Sarsour.
The E-R failed to report a seventh candidate - Tom Gascoyne. I hear Gascoyne plans to change his name to DNA for this year's election. Okay, there's no declared seventh candidate so far.
City Councilor Steve Bertagna, however, has been lobbied strongly by his supporters to run for re-election for a fourth term, but he’ll likely step away from the public limelight.
If this is Bertagna’s last year on the City Council, he deserves thanks for his years in public service.
He’s certainly felt the highs and lows of public service. He’s mostly handled his public service with humor and respect for other points of view - two qualities important to maintain sanity in the middle of ongoing contentious issues.
Interestingly, as Bertagna likely faces no re-election pressures, he’s lately cast votes with a 6-1 majority on some important issues like Meriam Park development and several development impact fee increases. This has left Wahl as the lone dissenting vote on many key issues.
With four Council seats open, we’ll likely see at least eight candidates, if not more.
Presidential election years tend to draw more candidates so I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing 10 or more candidates by this fall.
If I were to handicap the current six candidates, I’d bet on Holcombe and Schwab getting re-elected, along with Walker and Sorensen.
During his past two elections, Wahl has only been the fourth highest vote-getter, which basically means he’s been on the edge of winning or losing in two election cycles.
Wahl has his base of supporters, but even they don’t seem to be enthusiastic about him. And he definitely has not expanded his base of support over the past eight years.
Sorensen wasn't helped running as a "slate" with former Councilor Dan Herbert, who lost his re-election bid but is likely a happier man now.
I suspect Sorensen will do everything he can to avoid running as a "slate" with Wahl. For example, I doubt we'll see Sorensen holding a press conference with Wahl to officially announce their bids. And I don't anticipate any photos of Sorensen hugging Wahl like John McCain and George Bush.
Of course, a lot can change in terms of election dynamics between now and November so I would never consider any of these six declared candidates a guaranteed winner or loser.
Walker and Sorensen are both strong candidates. Sorensen came close to winning two years ago and he’s continued to remain active in the community, particularly with the Chamber of Commerce.
Walker has served on the Park Commission for many years and was previously an elected member of the CARD Board.
Sarsour has also been very visible in the community through the Interfaith Council and many other community initiatives. If you’ve ever shopped at Radio Shack, you’ve likely met Sarsour who is a long-time employee.
Who else is contemplating running? Maybe a college student steps up who is inspired by the Presidential election. Maybe another local realtor or banker.
Maybe even a few mean people with an ax to grind might run for office, or perhaps they’ll sit out and direct their ranting energies towards N&R editor Evan Tuchinsky.
I’ve got a hunch on a few other potential candidates, but I’ll leave my speculation for another blog.
Today's Scrabble word is sward, or to cover with turf.
Posted by dan_nt at May 2, 2008 12:00 AM
Comments
No wonder; DNA is easier to spell. And he is almost assured The Chico Beat endorsement. Didn't that paper back the three winners in the last city council election?
Posted by: Rod Flannigan at May 2, 2008 08:26 AM
The Chico Beat endorsed the three winning City Council candidates in the last election cycle. The E-R, in contrast, promoted the losing slate.
And the N&R endorsed Sorensen over Tom Nickell, but Nickell still pulled out a razor thin win despite also not getting the E-R endorsement too.
Posted by: dan_nt at May 2, 2008 09:27 AM
Given that three current councilmembers have filed to run again for office, why did the E-R mention only Wahl in its headline "Wahl, Sarsour to run for Chico City Council"?
Posted by: Chuckles at May 2, 2008 09:41 AM
Dan,
The Chico Beat is sounding more conservative these days when they talk about local budget issues (see article link below). Is it possible they'll endorse some smarter candidates this time around who won't run the city into the ground financially?
Posted by: Dane Langston at May 5, 2008 10:33 AM
Dane,
Given the logic you're using, then voters should not support Councilor Larry Wahl since he's the longest serving member of the Chico City Council running for re-election who has voted for every City annual budget for the past eight years.
I guess, Dane, you could argue that Wahl, more than any sitting Councilor running for re-election, has "run the City into the ground financially" as a member of the Finance Committee for eight years by voting for every annual budget and approving the most union contracts.
Posted by: dan_nt at May 5, 2008 11:00 AM
Dan,
That wasn't really my point, and I'm sorry if I offended you as I did actually forget you were once on the council as well.
The fact remains that right now the city of chico is being poorly run financially, much in the same way that the CUSD has been run. What is surprising is to see a liberal publication like the Beat suddenly come out against fiscal mismanagement - they sounded like conservatives!
However, you can probably rest easy. Come election time the Chico Beat will still roll out their endorsements for those who accept the status quo without looking to see if the emperor/administrators are wearing any clothes or not.
But from your comment on Wahl, are you now suggesting we should take an approach of throwing all the bums out?
Posted by: Dane Langston at May 6, 2008 05:00 PM
Dane,
You didn't offend me.
I was under the impression that you were trying to cast 100% blame on the "liberals" on the City Council for the current budget challenges.
This is the same argument made during the last election cycle by some. I am not suggesting anything besides taking a broader view of the budget challenges and how the City arrived at the current situation.
I was merely pointing out that if anyone wants to blame all the budget woes on elected officials endorsed by The Chico Beat (i.e. the more "liberal" Councilors), then they need to look at the voting records of the "conservatives" who supported past annual General Fund budgets and union contracts.
Posted by: dan_nt at May 6, 2008 05:15 PM