References to Neil Young notwithstanding, that’s where I’ll be the next few days. Even given the generous alms Jon pays for my insights, I still deserve some time off.
Dreaded Disclosure Weekend… Vacation pending, and the worst thing in the world is to have one’s real work locked up so as to actually relax while away, yet still be facing the filing of 460s and the like. As many political hacks know, the FPPC filing period ending June 30 means campaign statements are due in two short days. Whether they admit it or not, there’s a slew of candidates, officeholders, treasurers, software providers and/or other cottage industry types sweating it this weekend to get their on-line and hard copy docs filed by the July 31 deadline, having waited (again!) ’til the last moment.
My personal worst case involved my November 1994 city council re-election campaign. The final disclosure statement — thru 12/31/94 — was due the last day of January 1995 (by FPPC tradition). However, I got married on January 28 that year, the Chargers were in the Super Bowl the next day (who could’ve planned for that?!) while we were doing a family gift opening, and then Colleen and I left on our honeymoon January 30. You gotta have your priorities straight. I finished the Form 460 while eying Mount Bachelor’s slopes awaiting in the distance, and mailed the paperwork from Sun River, Oregon.
Let’s just say that Colleen is very understanding.
Gwynn for Congress… Time off and politics aside, there is nothing more important going on for many 
San Diegans today (or the last several days) than Tony Gwynn’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Union-Trib rolls out a special section this morning as a tribute to Mr. Padre. And, for the collector, check this out.
If Tony ever runs for office, the consultants would be climbing over each other to get a piece of the action.
All Quiet on the Sanders Front… Speaking of folks climbing over each other, NOT, I saw a fundraising event solicitation for Mayor Sanders yesterday, but any other takers seem to be as yet undecided … or perhaps smart.
An Emerald in the Rough… Increasing questions (see my prior post) as to whether 10 News TV reporter Marti Emerald is running for city council were heightened the last several days after she hosted VoiceofSanDiego’s Cafe blog yet didn’t respond to any reader comments. VoSD’s Scott Lewis provides an explanation from her in his column, while also coming to a concluson:
Emerald said she didn’t like the tone of some of the comments to her blog and she didn’t think it would be productive to get into it with them. Combined with the pain in her back, she decided to pass on responding to them.
That’s fair. Not all Café hosts live up to expectations. Some exceed my expectations. But I find it odd that she’ll act very political sometimes and then claims she can’t or won’t talk about politics because she’s not a candidate.
It appears she’s actively encouraging people to think of her as a candidate for office but at the same time trying to maintain the status and independent credibility that comes with being a journalist.
That’s actually a good political strategy. You get to build up all this tension about whether you’re running or not. Then you make a dramatic announcement. And you keep your current job while building support for the campaign.
So let’s burst the bubble. Marti Emerald is quite clearly running for office. If she doesn’t, I’ll run through the city’s Civic Center Plaza wearing a Scooby-Doo costume.
Read it all here. Then, read the many resulting comments posted at Red County SD.
Have a great week!
July 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Barry:
Tony Gwynn’s speech at Cooperstown largely consisted of him thanking, by name,
every coach, player, friend and family member who had helped him along the way.
I was floored when he gave the names of his Little League coaches!
This is the Tony Gwynn we in San Diego have grown to know. He has never
forgotten who he is, or where he came from.