by Jack Lee
The following persons are the current known candidates for the Chico City Council in the upcoming General Election. They are in no particular order:
Andy Holcombe – Qualified – Incumbent
Ali Sarsour –
Ann Schwab – Qualified – Incumbent
Mark Sorensen –
Joe Valente – Qualified
Cynthia Van Auken – Qualified
Jim Walker – Qualified
Larry Wahl – Qualified – Incumbent
Currently there are four either self-declared or known conservatives running and they are Sorensen, Van Auken, Valente and Wahl. Wahl we know and Van Auken was active in the Republican Central Committee severals ago, Sorensen and Valente are somewhat new to the scene. All 4 are local business people.
Here is a quick run down (right v left leanings) on the current field of candidates and the sitting members of the
council members. Mayor Andy Holcombe is thought by many of us to be far to the left. Vice Mayor Ann Schwab is considered a left leaning moderate. Tom Nickell is our newest incumbent and he is a retired CHP Officer. My sources say he votes with Holcombe and Schwab. Same goes for Mary Flynn, another incumbent. Then there is Scott Gruendl, the former Mayor, he also votes with the above, but he is considered to be the most approachable of the liberal members. And last, but certainly not least, we have incumbent Councilman Larry Wahl. Larry is a local businessman and a Navy vet; he is also an unabashed, die-hard conservative and has steadfastly voted against the liberal members on almost all the issues concerning fiscal responsibility. He and Mayor Holcombe are like polar opposites! Coupled that fact to the very wide political divide with the rest of result of the liberal council members and Wahl is the odd man out here.
Here is the irony and this must surely come under the heading of “no good deed ever goes unpunished”. First the good deed part. Had the council followed the lead of outgoing Councilman Bertagna and current councilman Larry Wahl, the City of Chico would be far better off financially. They would almost certainly not have its current level of deficit, they would not be forced to cut programs and sell off vehicles to pay down debt and the most embarrassing and wasteful cost to taxpayers would have been avoided; the City would not be forced to pay out millions of dollars over a settlement to a real estate developer the City tried to shaft. So for his reward (punishment) the word on the street is, Wahl is a target for removal from office by a certain liberal political action committee and their allies.
The City Council is a non-partisan office and the Council Members are supposed to vote solely on what is best for the citizens, but it’s never worked out that way. The past and a few current liberal council members have embraced some pretty wacky far left issues like a resolution to prevent global warming and they’ve weighed in on criticizing the war in Iraq. These are of course purely symbolic issues (liberal grandstanding) which have absolutely nothing to do with running the City, but it has everything to do with pandering to the liberal special interest groups that so often come out of Chico State.
If Wahl somehow manages to survive the election and Sorensen and Valente both make it that would be incredible since there are only 3 seats available, A clean sweep would make an impact, however that will still leave 4 liberals in control of the City and that may not bode well for your taxpayer dollar.