Hotcha Papa!

Starkewolf: Naughty

Just in from the Sac Bee’s Capitol Alert!

Breathy GOP robo-call says Thompson’s been a ‘bad boy’

Voters across California’s first congressional district picked up the phone this weekend to hear a breathy woman intone that “Mike Thompson’s been a bad boy.”

With a seductive voice more suited to an escort service than political outreach, the woman suggestively urges listeners to “vote ‘yesssss’ for Zane,” the Republican challenger to Thompson, a Democratic congressman…

Zane, of course, being Zane Starkewolf, Thompson’s DOA Republican challenger. Or is that “Green-Republican”? Anyway, it’s nice to see him put in an effort!

Read the whole thing at the Capitol Report. Includes smoking hot audio! “Vote — uunnggh! Yes! — For Zane!”

You gotta register, but just go ahead and do that. Well worth it!

UPDATE: What, you want substance? The robocall “spanks” Thompson over his votes on the bailout bill and the Patriot Act.

UPDATE 2: Young Master Starkewolf explains himself at his own Web site. And posts audio!

UPDATE 3, Wednesday, Oct 29.:

Alright already. The story makes it to The Stump and Sacto TV news…

 

Arcata Pre-Election Poll

When we hazarded a guess on who might take a seat in the Arcata City Council election, it was admittedly based solely on guesswork. Now, thanks to Prof. Mark Larson from Humboldt State University’s Journalism & Mass Communication Dept. some polling has been done.

Here are the results:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

A recent poll of 422 registered “likely” voters in Arcata asking whom they would vote for in the Nov. 4 Arcata City Council election shows Michael Winkler with a lead at 42.7 percent, and a statistical tie, given the error margin, among Susan Ornelas at 29.4 percent; Shane Brinton at 25.8 percent, and Michael Machi at 22.8 percent. About one-third of the sample (33.2 percent) weren’t sure whom they would vote for in the city council election.

Results for other city council candidates include: Jason Grow, 9.7 percent; and, Geronimo Garcia, 5.0 percent.

The survey also found 68.5 percent in favor of Measure F, the initiative proposing to enact the ordinance to prohibit military recruitment of persons under the age of 18, with 24.4 percent opposed.  Another 7.1 percent said they didn’t know how they would vote on Measure F.

Respondents favored Measure G as well, with 66.6 percent saying they would vote to support the proposed three-quarter cent sales tax for governmental purposes within the City of Arcata. About one fourth (25.4 percent) said they opposed Measure G and 8.0 percent said they didn’t know how they would vote on Measure G.

“This is a lower level of undecided voters for the city council race with only one incumbent running, compared to prior pre-election polls we’ve conducted in Arcata,” said Mark Larson, journalism professor at Humboldt State University, who sponsored the poll. Larson and students in his research class have previously conducted polls on Arcata’s city council election and ballot measures from 1976 to 2000 and again in 2006.

The error margin for a random sample of 422 is plus or minus 4.9 percent, with a confidence level of 95 percent.

 

caption correction

Not sure how it happened, but the caption on the photo in the Journal this week illustrating the piece on the Arcata City Council race had the names in the wrong order with Jason Grow incorrectly identified as Gernonimo Garcia. To alleviate any confusion, here’s who’s who:

Jason Grow

Geronimo Garcia

 

Debate preview

 

Can you hear me now?

Neighbors of Eureka church protest planned cell tower

A couple dozen picket sign-packing protesters lined the 200 block of Harris St. Friday, expressing their civic outrage over a proposed cell phone tower set to rise from the grounds of the Apostolic Faith Church that occupies the block. The church pastor allegedly requested the tower from Verizon to compensate for measly tithing. “We’re the neighbors, and we’re mad,” said Henderson Center resident Thao Le Khac. “There are all kinds of unknown health hazards. Plus, the aesthetics hurt our resale values. And we don’t even need it!” Le Khac said.

She and other church neighbors claim they were not given proper notice of the proposed 60 ft. communication beacon, which would be disguised as a bell tower. Eureka City Council candidate George Clark was on hand, showing sympathy and concern. “I heard only five people were notified,” Clark told one protester as passing motorists offered honks of support. “The city council doesn’t have an ordinance to regulate cell towers. It needs one. We have to make sure there’s a thorough notification process,” he said.

Oh, but there is, said Eureka Director of Community Development Kevin Hamblin. Speaking from his office Friday, Hamblin said “the notification requirement is that notice be mailed (to every resident) within 300 feet.” And it was. To prove as much to incredulous residents at a recent city council meeting, the planning staff produced a photocopied list of the mailed address labels and a printout from the department’s postage meter.

“The city council determined that the notification was correct and that it did meet the City’s code,” Hamblin said. “But you can’t always guarantee that someone will take notice of the notice.” Protesters say, bottom line, if none of them heard about it, not enough notice was given. They plan to return to church grounds every Friday at 1 p.m. until they are appeased.

 

Who would Jesus vote for?

Is this what Jesus looked like?

The guys in Everclear don’t actually say who they think Jesus would vote for, but their new song is called “Jesus Was a Democrat,” and they say, “he wouldn’t vote for John McCain.”

By the way, they’re giving the song away for free.

“Jesus Was a Democrat”

Jesus Christ didn’t have blue eyes or blond hair
He looked just like all those people that you want to kill
Spin your hell into a heaven you can sell
Make it look like California with a bible belt
Jesus didn’t look like the boy next door
Unless you live in Palestine
I wonder what you mean by the golden rule
I think it is a scary play on words
I wonder what they taught you back in Sunday school

I bet you think of him
As a nice clean long haired Republican, nah
He would be all locked up in Guantanamo Bay
If he were alive today
He would have been a revolutionary
Wanted by the CIA

I picture him in all the wrong places
Finding diamonds in the dirt
A star of David tattoo
And a Che t-shirt
Jesus Christ was a left wing radical Jew
Murdered by people like you

 

Promise to vote and get a free song

My friend Russ forwarded an e-mail he received today from the band Wilco. They’re offering a free song download in exchange for a simple promise — that you will vote on Nov. 4. They don’t say who you should vote for, but I have my suspicions about who the guys in the band support.

Here’s the skinny:

Greetings all,

Such tumultuous times. And in the spirit of giveaways that seem to be sweeping the nation, we’ve got something free for you. No it’s not a pile of cash (sorry) but rather an audio postcard of sorts from a summer’s night in Oregon with our friends the Fleet Foxes & a lovely Bob Dylan tune. All we ask is you go to http://wilcoworld.net/vote/ and  click the “I pledge to vote in the 2008 Election” button. If you can spare it, we also encourage you to consider a donation to Feeding America  http://www.feedingamerica.org/ .

Happy listening (and please feel free to pass this offer along to friends, family members, etc.).

The Wilco HQ Distribution Dept. – Wilco World

backstage at a Wilco concert

 

Fed Judge Issues Injunction against Measure T

This just in from Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights:

SAN FRANCISCO – Federal Court judge Susan Illston ruled against the people of Humboldt County in yesterday’s hearing on Measure T, the local law passed in 2006 by citizen’s initiative. Measure T bans non-local corporate contributions in local elections.

The Pacific Legal Foundation sought a preliminary injunction against Measure T, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment rights of corporations. The judge granted the injunction, allowing corporate money back into local elections.

The proponents of the Measure were disappointed by the ruling, but unfazed. “The court is wrong – and this isn’t the first time,” said Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, spokesperson for the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights (HCCR). “Measure T follows in the footsteps of the suffragists, the abolitionists and Civil Rights activists who fought against Supreme Court decisions that upheld unjust laws. The majority of Humboldt citizens believe corporations have too much power in our society, especially in elections. Our democracy is deteriorating. We have an obligation to stand up for what’s right, even if the courts are not currently with us.”

“This ruling proves how undemocratic it is to allow a corporation to claim to be a person with constitutional rights,” said Megan Wade Antieau of Democracy Unlimited, an organizer of the event. “Apparently the judge believes upholding corporate influence in elections is more important than the rights of the people of Humboldt County.”

“We don’t need to depend on the courts to tell us the difference between right and wrong. We have candidates running for office in November who should respect the will of the voters,” said Wade Antieau.

Democracy Unlimited, one of the member organizations of HCCR, is holding a community meeting this Wednesday (Sept. 24) to invite residents to get involved in defending Measure T.

The meeting will be at the Labor Temple in Eureka (840 E Street) from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Light dinner will be served. Carpooling is available from Arcata. For more information contact Democracy Unlimited: 269-0984.

Download Judge Illston’s Ruling here.

 

In the Spirit of the North Pole

Via TNR.

 

Arcata Sesquicentennial

Eleven Arcata Mayors

Ten of Arcata’s former mayors joined Mayor Mark Wheetley (on right in top hat) on the Arcata Plaza today to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary. Those who spoke uniformly had trouble pronouncing sesquicentennial (seskwisenˈtenēəl). Perhaps to mark the occasion, someone had decorated the statue of William McKinley with a brassiere. No one made any attempt to remove it.

 

Today in Wiggins

The P-D lands the first post-”bullshit” interview with the senator. I’m bumping it up here into a new post because it’s a frightening, must-read piece.

It’s absolutely clear that Wiggins is not well, and is in desperate need of the medical attention that her friends and associates insist she is not receiving. Instead, they’re propping the woman up and saying everything is just cool. It’s more than a little grotesque.

Cindy Thomas, a Petaluma nurse and Wiggins supporter, said Wednesday at the Capitol that she took the senator’s remarks to the pastor as a sign of strength.

“It’s a perfect example of how she goes to bat for people. She’s a no-holds-barred person,” said Thomas, who was in Sacramento on Wednesday with United Health Workers of America to lobby legislators.

“She doesn’t bull—- us,” Thomas said. “She talks in terms everyday people can understand, and not in Sacramento-ese.”

Again — if someone taking this line could please identify the “bullshit arguments” in Pastor Jones’ address, I’d be much obliged.

 

The Evolving Wiggins Mystery

The Press Democrat comes through with a telling update. Santa Rosans close to the senator tell tales very similar to the ones that Humboldters tell in this week’s “Town Dandy,” which will go live right here at the stroke of midnight. P-D reporters Derek J. Moore and Mike McCoy provide a lot more detail, though:

One local official said she was astounded by what she witnessed in Wiggins’ office around three months ago when, in a meeting with a half-dozen officials from two counties to discuss the state budget crisis, the senator “flew off the handle and jumped out of her chair” to angrily berate a staffer over a minor issue.

“I had been warned going in,” the official said about Wiggins’ behavior.

Wiggins started over from the beginning of a prepared script each time a new official entered the meeting. By the time it was over, the local council member said, “I was shocked.”

“I’ve known Pat for a long time. I walked for her when she ran for City Council and supported her when she ran for the Assembly and Senate. This is totally, totally out of character for her,” the council member said.

“I was wondering how much longer they can keep this under cover. I didn’t want to be the one to blow the whistle,” the council member added.

Amazingly, other friends and colleagues continue to insist that everything is just okie dokie with Pat. Another variation on “Oh, that’s just Pat!” For all this and more, read the full P-D piece. It’s fascinating.

Quick side note: Gotta pay respect to Bruce Anderson at the Anderson Valley Advertiser. He noted a couple of weeks ago that the senator had come unhinged lately. Who would have guessed that he would have been so quickly proven so spectacularly right? His piece isn’t online or I’d link it.

UPDATE: Just one more thought. It seems more and more certain that, despite her friends’ objections, Sen. Wiggins is not well. If so, we will probably find out the specific malady soon enough.

Hats off, then, to two class acts. First of all, I’d like to note that I called Wiggins’ competitor in the 2006 election, Republican Lawrence Wiesner, also of Santa Rosa. Unlike some of Republican comrades, Wiesner refused to speak to the incident, saying only that he came to know Wiggins in the election and he wished her no ill.

Most of all, though, one has to admire Pastor Robert Jones, the target of Wiggins’ YouTubed outburst. He’s being urged to make more hay of the matter every which way, and he indicated early on to the Sacramento Bee that there would be further actions forthcoming. Since then he has evidently had a change of heart. He’s not returning reporters’ phone calls, including the Journal‘s. He appears inclined to let the matter drop.

Perhaps he possesses that rare quantity one hears so much of but rarely encounters in the actual world — simple Christian charity.

 

Wigged

That’s tellin’ ‘em, California State Senator Pat Wiggins! Let them eat cake!

And give me two of whatever you just had!

Via the Sac Bee‘s Capitol Alert.

 

The Lipizzaner Backlash

As always, we are gratified when one of our hard-hitting news stories busts out of the page and acquires a life of its own. And such has been the case with Heidi Walters’ pretend expose of the city of Arcata’s attempt to quash the “World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions.”

In the real world, we understand that Arcata City Councilmember Mark Wheetley addressed the issue at this week’s council meeting. It seems that the Eureka Reporter will publish a story tomorrow that will seek to disprove our reportage.

Meanwhile, yours truly appeared on KHUM this morning to explain myself to deejay Cliff Berkowitz:

 

Such As…

When the Arcata City Council met tonight to consider putting a 3/4 cent sales tax on the November ballot, they shifted gears considerably from the tax they’d previously been discussing.

A new plan, put forward by Mayor Mark Wheetley and Vice Mayor Alex Stillman (and news to some on the council) changed what had been a specifically ear-marked sales tax that would have put 1/2 cent towards public works (road repairs and such) and 1/4 cent to help pay for increased police staffing. Instead they proposed a “general” tax, which would put the money collected into the general fund.

The big difference is in the majority required for passage.  While a 2/3 “super” majority is required to pass a special use tax (the one they’d been talking about), a general tax only requires a simple majority: 50 percent plus 1. They did not come right out and say it, but Alex seemed to be hinting that results of a recent survey commissioned by the council show that the special tax may not get the votes to pass.

The trick here, if you want to call it that, is wording in the measure that specifies “such as” this and that. Where the special use tax is specific, the language in the general tax measure will include a number of “such as” items that basically boil down to police and potholes.

Councilmember Harmony Groves took a minority position, pointing out several things: that the original purpose was to cover a $14 million shortfall in public works and that police services were added later, that by its nature, a sales tax in a regressive tax, and that the proposed term of the tax, 20 years, means the money collected will be controlled by a number of different councils down the line, who might have a different idea on how to spend the taxpayers’ money.

Councilmember Michael Machi made a good point noting, “Obviously there are people who will be unhappy with any tax.” (Fred, would you care to chime in here?)

Harmony was the sole nay vote on the various changes put forward.

The shift in the tax means that language in the motion has to be rewritten. City Attorney Nancy Diamond will be up either late or early to do so, since the council will be meeting to vote on the final motion tomorrow morning (Thursday, July 3) at 9 a.m. They have to have the whole thing done by noon tomorrow to met an elections office deadline, so time is of the essence.

Incidentally, a little later in the meeting Harmony dropped a bombshell by announcing that she will not be running for council again. She encouraged anyone who wants to serve the community to step forward. Any takers?