Whole New Ballgame

I just hope that Ms. Self puts more thought into her actions from this point forward so as not to make idiotic comments like "dishonorable win"...

Get a clue... no "High Rise" buildings can be built already, thanks to the patience and planning of Pearl Chase.

Measure B was unnecessary to begin with.

Playing hardball on setbacks and proper aesthetics and architecture is where the city has fallen down - Get it Together!

Uh, Ms. Schneider, two of the four candidates supported by VanW won. And how is his spending any different from your Dem party machine spending?

Some of these new Councilmembers will be especially... uh, interesting to watch....

Yes, two of the four won - coming in third and fourth place while losing all of the other "important" races. And trying to spin the election results as some kind of victory is... well, it involves a huge level of denial that's probably common amongst the Cushman/Francisco supporters. If spending that kind of money for such a poor result is considered a success by the self-described "fiscal conservatives", it's for the best that we keep the city's budget as far away from them as possible.

I agree with Pritchett (whom I thought was one of the most informed candidates). Many candidates are known quantities by the time they get to the city council. They may have served previously on a commission or in some other public/govt position where the public can observe them for signs of thoughtful deliberation, good communications skills, a grasp of the issues, etc. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Hotchkiss has much prior public exposure. And all I can recall about Self is her indignant rants in front of the council against traffic-calming devices (I see her as a single-issue wildcard). Contrast this with Bendy White who, although cut from very different cloth, has been in front of the public for ages.

So it will be interesting to see how Hotchkiss and Self do. Will we get lots of contentious 4-3 votes? Or will the Francisco/Hotckiss/Self block end up moderating their positions to win a swing vote? And who will that swing vote be (a la Sandra Day O'Connor)?

The precinct data for Measure B was interesting. Difficult to make any sweeping generalizations, but a few things can be noted.

Measure B won only 5 out of the 27 city precincts. That includes the tiny precinct at the end of Northridge Rd that produced only one (1) vote! But Measure B also won the Samarkand/San Roque precinct that produced by far the largest number of votes (10.9% of all votes on Measure B).

Measure B opponents won all the other 22 precincts. Most of those were won by narrow margins of 2% to 6%. But there were 7 precincts that clobbered Measure B by margins of around 20% (60% vs 40%). These precincts all have lower-income demographics (e.g. the westside precincts near San Andreas, the precinct surrounding Franklin School, precincts bordered by the freeway north of Castillo). But when combined, those 7 small precincts produced more votes than even the single largest precinct (again, that''s Samarkand/San Roque).

In contrast, higher-income precincts (as noted by the FAIR data) don't seem to reveal any significant patterns although some of these precincts are tricky because they have both high and low income constituents.

If I had to draw a conclusion, I'd guess lower-income voters saw Measure B as a threat to affordable housing.

Bendy will play the new Iya as the most moderate Dem on Council. As such, he will have the power and responsibility to bridge the gap and be the deciding vote on many issues.

The real "wildcard" is the event of Das being elected to the Assembly and having a 3-3 vote on an appointed term for his remainding 10 or so months. I think in that event we'll see a moderate Dem appointed; one thing is for certain - it wont be Cushman!

Perhaps the People will have a bit of a voice with the new Council members on board. Then Council members who have left needed to realize that it wasn’t about themselves and their own political legacy.

'scuse me, Eat the Rich, but adding two moderates to a far left council is indeed some kind of victory for some of us. Spin is when Schneider claims that only 2 of 4 being elected is proof that vanW had no impact. Love your posting name, by the way - indicates that you're driven by rage and envy. Remember, the Rich are the ones paying most of the taxes that the Left loves to spend. Might want to recall that old 'biting the hand' thing...

John-

Again, if you feel that spending $500,000 to come in third and fourth place is a victory, then, by all means, wallow in your crapulence. Please forgive us more reasoned folk for pointing and laughing.

But you're somewhat right about my envy and rage. I rage at the complete and total ignorance that drives your enviable bliss.

$500,00 to get two seats on the Council is a bargain in my book. Third and fourth place doesn't count when the Council votes on issues. What do you suppose the Dems spent overall on their candidates? And BTW, what "important" races are you referring to? Your insults and arrogance are breathtaking, but not suprising since you apparently have little of intelligence to offer.

More alarming than the money spent by Wolfswinkle is the type of slime he slung . Throwing poo on the wall to see what sticks may be acceptable in Atwater/ Rove engineered campaigns , but better kept out of our small town arena where folks will remember these slimy tactics. How many gullible low infomation voters bit on the b.s. about one candidates supposed tax problems? Or how about the "From Russia with love " hammer & cycle hatchet job ? Lectures about insults and arrogance ring hollow from those who would approve of the dirty campaign tactics employed by Wolfswinkle .

"Whole new ballgame" is more appropriate than Schneider thinks. No longer will the so-called "progressives" be able to ram through every stupid idea they have (like city employee raises we can't afford, driver-enraging bicyclist-endangering devices we don't want, etc.). All hail democracy (little D).