He’s Baa-ack… The saga of the sitting school board member that failed to qualify for re-election – and the resulting fallout – continues. Whether his political career continues remains to be seen. (We broke the initial news and posted a follow-up on these pages.)
The nutshell is that San Diego Unified Schools Trustee Luis Acle, a Republican, didn’t-couldn’t (whatever) garner 200 signatures to defend his own seat, leaving the lone anticipated challenger in a free-ride-gimme. Or so it was thought.
Now Acle will run as a write-in. That is, as long as he can collect 200 signatures, something – by the way – he has failed to do twice before. That third time thing, apparently.
Here’s the Union-Trib story on the latest development.
But, you may ask (because I did)…”I thought that if an incumbent doesn’t qualify, it provides others a five day extension to run for the office, not including the incumbent?” Yup, that’s right…however, in this particular case, unless the incumbent mounts a write-in campaign. Huh?
Emily Alpert of Voice of SD ‘splains that weirdness.
That out of the way, some say that given his significant problems with the SD Ethics Commission, as well as his difficulty in qualifying to run, Acle doesn’t deserve re-election…or support by the GOP. Yet, others are concerned that the sole ballot alternative is labor organizer Richard Barrera, so the Republican Party needs to bite the bullet and back Acle. The balance of power is in play for one of California’s largest school districts, the argument goes.
As Acle has been a friend over the years, I’ll largely keep my nose out of that one, other than to say – friend or not – that the GOP’s limited resources shouldn’t be viewed as a bail-out safety net for those who can’t help themselves. Uhhh, okay, maybe I didn’t keep my nose out of it.
Perhaps Acle’s quote in the U-T about his problems speaks loads: “I am a decent public servant, but I’m not a particularly good candidate.”
Okay, moving on then…
Joel Anderson “Gets It"… Steve Frank of CA Political News says he does, in commenting on a recent opinion piece by the 77th AD assemblyman about the State’s fiscal crisis. An excerpt from Anderson:
As lawmakers consider the tough choices needed to get the state out of its $16 billion budget hole that has been dug by years of Democrat overspending, our first step is an easy one – stop digging.
Read the entire commentary, including Frank’s lead-in remarks.
Hedgecock Takes Some Luster off the Emerald… Republican April Boling’s candidacy for the open 7th district seat on the SD City Council wouldn’t be considered such an uphill battle if not for opponent Marti Emerald’s long tenure as a TV news consumer affairs reporter. The 7th district is a longtime Republican strong-hold, with Emerald a Democrat, but partisanship in a supposedly non-partisan race is further diminished when many folks know one of the candidates as the "Troubleshooter."
However, Emerald is finding it increasingly difficult to be on the opposite side of the microphone. Last week on the Roger Hedgecock radio show, Marti answered a series of questions, only to have Roger more than once play recordings of seemingly contradictory answers dished up by the candidate only a few days prior. The resulting political theatre is AAA-rated.
The irony, of course, is that if the interviewee doling out the contradictions were to have Emerald’s microphone in his face at the time, absolutely no quarter would be given. In this instance, however, Marti called Hedgecock’s recordings "carefully edited."
Listen to the Roger podcast (the interview starts about half-way thru the recording).
Here’s April Boling’s press release on the matter, posted at Red County SD.
On Friday, Scott Lewis of Voice of SD upped the ante on the situation, by analyzing some other issues that came up during the Hedgecock interview, including Emerald’s consulting work for convict William "Kickback" Lerach’s predatory former law firm. Read the in-depth Lewis piece.
San Diego’s SEC Fun… One of the biggest news stories of the week was the Securities & Exchange Commission leveling charges in the City of San Diego pension debacle. If you missed it, here’s my Tuesday recap post with various opinions and stories from around San Diego.
The Union-Trib also weighs in on the subject this morning, SEC flexing its muscle in San Diego case.
Goldsmith and Aguirre in Two-Horse Race… If you missed it, FR was the first with the Friday news on the latest GOP poll in the SD city attorney race.
Hopping Over Global Warming… Chuck Muth in the conservative Muth’s Truths finally gets the seriousness of the issue. It’s about time:
I have to admit, I’ve been in the camp which hasn’t taken the threat of global warming seriously, but this story from FoodWeek Online has forced me to change my position.
"Beer production in Australia and New Zealand could be cut by climate change within 25 years, a scientist has warned. Climate expert Dr Jim Salinger, of the NZ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says that climate change could cause a decline in malting barley production in both countries. ‘It will mean either there will be pubs without beer or the cost of beer will go up,’ Dr Salinger said."
When the only effect of global warming was the melting of polar ice caps, thereby displacing a few bears, what’s the big deal? But if it could affect the beer supply, well, that IS a crisis. Get Al Gore on the phone!
Have a great week!
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