Commission Impossible

Is this seriously all this man has to say 4 days before the election??

As an original member of the HOA Steering Committee, I'd be personally offended by Scott's ridiculous accusations if they weren't clearly a last minute attempt to slam the supporters of his opponents. However, seeing them for what they are, and seeing how low Scott is willing to stoop to win, it hardly seems worth the effort to be annoyed.

His original claim that the HOA was a "developer PAC" didn't have legs, so I guess his new attempt to label us as "homophobes" shouldn't be a big surprise. (Did I spell homophobe correctly? I almost never use that word, so I'm not quite sure.)

The funny thing is, I don't know very many people who give a hoot about Scott's sexual orientation, until he attempts to morph it into a campaign soapbox. Then it just becomes bizarrely sad.

It seems that Scott is so out of touch with the majority of people he represents that he doesn't understand most folks look at a rainbow, and just see a rainbow. (I'd better tell my neighbor to take down his rainbow windchime. I bet he'll be really surprised to find out that the Mayor finds it offensive. I know I was!)

Thanks for the detour through your imagination Scott. Now, can we get back on track and talk about issues?

How in the world can the color of a kite offend anybody ??? Hard to believe that such nonsense can become part of Chico's political landscape.... it's an embarasment to our community.... sooner people get back to real issues the better.....

Whacko Whacko Whacko

I see a young boy, a kite, fenced off public property and a NO TRESPASSING sign saying how much trouble the kid would be in if he dared to tread on the sacred ground of Bidwell Ranch.

I see a list of concerns about the Liberal Council's leadership, like spending millions of Tax Payer dollars to keep land in Bidwell Ranch and other areas designated for planned growth from being planned..

Being "empowered" by their new political clout, the idea of giving the voters a chance to weigh in on Bidwell Ranch offends them... Homebuilders offend them. Rainbow kites offend them....

None of that stuff offends me.... so I'm off to HomeDepot to by wood to finish my home, then to Bird In Hand to buy a rainbow kite if the have any left. Then I'll fly my rainbow kite in Bidwell Ranch... and when I get out of jail on Nov 7th, I'm going VOTE to keep these whackos out of public office so they won't be offended anymore.

Magicians use two tools to create the magical tricks that make up their act; illusion and misdirection. Illusion is used to make you believe you are seeing something that, in reality, isn’t actually as the magician makes it appear. Misdirection is used to redirect the audience’s attention to something that appears to be important, such as a flourish of one hand, while the hand out of the viewer’s attention sets up the trick.

This “anti-gay� mailer accusation is a rather unskillful attempt by Scott Gruendl to “pull the wool� over the voter’s eyes. First he creates the illusion that a little boy’s kite is an anti-gay message. Then he uses that illusion as a misdirection tool to shift the mailers focus away from the true message of the mailer. Don’t be fooled. Look at the mailer. Read the text. Understand the message. What is it that Mr. Gruendl doesn’t want you to see?

I attended all of the Hooker Oak Alliance media committee meetings related to the mailer in question. The kite was nothing more than a tool to convey the message that a little boy wanted to play on public land but was not allowed to do so. In fact, the discussion included the possibility of using a ball instead of a kite. At no time did anyone discuss Scott Gruendl’s sexuality. At no time did anyone bring up the idea of “hidden messages�. The discussion was about text content, text color and font size. The only person I have heard this “anti-gay mailer� nonsense from is Scott Gruendl. Ask you self, why is he creating this issue? The answer is very clear; he doesn’t want you to be focused on the real issues in this election. He wants to scare you into voting for him. Don’t be fooled!

This behavior is not new for Mr. Gruendl. Early in the election he sent out a letter to his supporters seeking donations for his campaign. He warned of a group he called “ultra conservatives� called the Hooker Oak Alliance that were controlled by developers bent on taking over Chico. It was definitely a “scare piece�. We asked Mr. Gruendl about this mailer when we interviewed him as part of our candidate endorsement process. He apologized for the comments made in the letter and indicated they were based on some assumptions he made about the Hooker Oak Alliance. He indicated that the comments were probably an over reaction. He then made a comment I will never forget. I’m paraphrasing, but he shrugged his shoulders and then said something like “but, the mailer did generate a lot of donations�. Mr. Gruendl, lies are never acceptable. Not even if they get you the results you wanted!

As I stated above, everyone concerned about Mr. Gruendl’s accusation should look at the mailer. Read the text. The message is clear. As for the kite, (to customize a quote often miss-attributed to Sigmund Freud) sometimes a kite is just a kite!

It is silly. It is just a kid’s kite. Laugh him off and let it go.

Why do you want to give Gruendl free media the last weekend of the election?

Don’t let it become a when did you stop beating your wife issue. If you argue members of the Hooker Oak Alliance are not homophobic. You will have lost the engagement.

Chill out, no one was going to vote for the hooker oaks anyway.

Misdirection From Wikipedia,
"Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another."

I've revised this post a bit.

I was pretty upset over the homophobia accusation. I have a close family member that is gay. I also worked in my parents florist shop in the bay area during the AIDS epidemic. Many of our suppliers were gay, and the industry was decimated during that time.

I took that accusation too personal. In the end it was a silly accusation, that deserves a less aggressive response.

Lon, I've cooled down a bit since this all started too. Really, if the citizens are a amazed by Scott's remarks as I am the way to answer them is at the voting booth tomorrow. Everyone vote for Herbert, Sorensen and Dailey. If the community is to end this tendency to go negative the last week of the campaign we have to show the politicians it doesn't work. Tell you freinds and anyone else that will listen, vote for Herbert, Sorensen and Dailey.

"If the community is to end this tendency to go negative the last week of the campaign we have to show the politicians it doesn't work."

Rainbow kite aside, it *was* a negative mailer, a poorly designed hit piece, but a hit piece none the less.

Be glad it wasn’t a pink triangle kite. You don’t even want to think about what that would mean.

BTW, the hooker oaks’ email said that they were going to run a page 4 ad in the E-R on this issue. Did they? I hope not because that would mean they were trying to put legs under this “non issue�.

>a hit piece none the less

Rubbish. Contrasting policy priorities is the grist of political rhetoric. The mailer did not attack anyone, call names, characterize candidates nor indulge in ad hominem argument. It ciriticized the council majority for its lamentable decisions, and offers a clear choice for more responsible government. Yet another example of just how reliably mistaken you are. You're batting 1.000.

Here is the negative mailer in question. http://www.hookeroakalliance.org/hoa/downloads/kite.pdf

Note that it is titled “the cost of bad leadership�. Then it accuses the council majority of being “out of touch�, “out of control�, and “out to lunch�. Those are all negative comments.

It falsely states that the alleged “bad decisions result in a projected $40,000,000 deficit�. Everyone knows that the 10-year budget projections always show a deficit. The budgets always include a long list of projects only part of which can be funded. The city manager prepares the budget in this way on purpose so the council can make the decisions on which projects are a priority and which are to be deferred.

If inflates the price of the chessboards. Forgets to mention that the incumbent candidate that they are supporting voted for this project. If fact the spending for all but one of the “unused or unending studies� was approved by a seven to zero vote, as was every single annexation of “thousands of county residents�.

“But where are the parks for our kids�? How about Hancock Park, Peterson Park, and breaking ground on Baroni Park and DeGarmo Park?

To have “bad leadership� you necessary are talking about bad leaders, so who are the bad leaders? Is Mayor Gruendl not part of and leader of “Chico’s City Council majority� that according to the hooker’s mailer is “out of touch�, “out of control�, and “out to lunch�? Out to lunch? Ouch, that seems a bit personal.

Rubbish is producing and defending this “bad leadership� hit piece then [Chamberlain] going on these blogs saying, “I have always had a great deal of respect for his [Gruendl] leadership�

Then what can be expected from a poster that cannot refrain from resorting to cheep personal attacks when faced with criticism?