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Local
Elections: Serious, Sexy and Dull It’s Spring! The Easter Bunny brings eggs, the daffodils are blooming, and (like babbling brooks and sap in the trees) candidates for local elections are running. The following items aren’t endorsements; they are simply a consumer’s guide to where the fun is in the upcoming races. Serious race #1 -- District Attorney. If Jim Dremann (former Sierra County DA) hadn’t filed, Mike Ferguson (incumbent) would have run unopposed. There’s a frightening thought! Instead, Ferguson can now run on his record of clumsiness in the Strange trial, failure to charge Shawn Joyce, and unwillingness to deal candidly with the community forums on justice. Serious race #2 -- Sheriff. Local boy makes bad. Sheriff Troy Arbaugh (incumbent) has had four years to show us his style, which, as it turns out, is inept. The Joyce/Minnick shooting, the failed Saunders search and sexual abuse at the Truckee sub-station are three well-earned black eyes for Troy. If opponent Keith Royal (Lt., Sacramento County Sheriff) doesn’t sweep this in the primary, it will show that the Good Ole Moron system is alive and well in Nevada County. Sexy race #1 -- 3rd District Supervisor. Fran Grattan, who never met a subdivision she didn’t like, is running against two people: herself for voting for a pay increase, and Bruce Conklin, who is spending some serious money to defeat her. Bruce Conklin, the liberal puppet of the Rural Quality Coalition and Nuclear Free Zone advocate, is also running against two people: Fran and himself. It’s illogical, but this leaves Gerard Tassone running unopposed, being the only decent candidate. Of course, I’m a little biased, as I’m involved in his campaign. Sexy race #2 -- 4th District Supervisor. Not long ago, Rene Antonson started election posturing by voting to keep the County Clerk elected, dumping his own planning commissioner and killing Title 25 housing, all bad moves for the county. Imagine his relief when Nancy Keil dropped out of the race, leaving an unknown Jeff Ingram. Now Elizabeth “Izzy” Martin (the dumped plain commissioner) has filed as a write-in and that ought to shake things up. I give it to Izzy by 52% in the primary. Sexy race #3 -- Clerk/Recorder. Who would have thought County Clerk would be a hot race? Deni Dax is a long-time veteran of the Elections Department and knows the Clerk/Recorder/Elections job. Jewett-Burdick, Hunyada and Evans don’t. The winner? The one who spends the most on advertising. Sexy race #4 -- Assessor. If it weren’t for Todd Juvinall’s eleventh-hour filing, and Ben Noland’s “now you’re out, now you’re in” petition situation, this race wouldn’t make the sexy list. Flippin and Lasich are also running. Art Green actually works in the Assessor’s office. Wouldn’t it be strange if he won? Sexy race #5 -- Nevada City City Council (2 seats). Who will grab Matson’s seat? Or Stewart’s? Given that the current pack of incumbents can’t deal competently with the pierced-and-purple crowd or decide how many carriage companies the city needs, any replacements would do. I want to see Rainy Blue Cloud Greensfelder as Mayor, with Ruth Poulter as Vice-Mayor. That should give Tobiassen, Balch, and Cottrell pause. Dull races #1 -- Uncontested races. Several incumbents are running unopposed. I predict they will win easy victories with a minimum of campaigning. This includes Chris Dabis, Tax Collector; Terry MacAteer, County Superintendent of Schools; Cathy Wilcox-Barnes, Nevada City City Clerk; and Bruce Bielefelt, Auditor/Controller. Dull races #2 -- Races no one cares about. Sad, but no one except the candidates cares whether Albert Dover (incumbent) or Leland Moglen becomes municipal court judge. The same is true of Gene Downing (incumbent) and Niel Locke running for Nevada City Treasurer. Dull races #3 -- State and national races. These races prove there is a God and that he (or she) is punishing us for some horrible thing we did in the past. Assemblyman Bernie Richter, the old right-wing whacko, has “termed out.” He’s trying to crown a successor in David Reade, a vigorous young right-wing whacko, (coincidentally his son-in-law and “Chief of Staff”). To our peril, we will probably elect him. Congressman Wally Herger, our non-representative, will run the usual “I’m happy, why aren’t you?” campaign, promising nothing and delivering nothing. We’ll get two more years of inattention and bad newsletters. I wish opponent Roberts Braden good luck, as we need the change. Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.
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