SB INDEPENDENT Endorsement
On May 25, 2006, on behalf of The SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT, Editor Maryanne Partridge endorsed candidate Janet Wolf for Second District Supervisor. The parts of the endorsement that are most pertinent to Das' campaign are posted below.
I will add that I think Maryanne and the INDPENDENT have missed the mark, here. This campaign has never really been about things like whether Das should serve out his term on the Santa Barbara City Council or Janet Wolf losing her house in the Painted Cave fire or Joe Guzzardi putting his signs up on public property all through the second district. This campaign has been about development, protection of open space and neighborhood advocacy. Underlying all these has been the question: Assuming no one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary election (June 6), what candidate is most likely to beat Dan Secord in November 2006?
The answer is DAS, not Janet, nor Joe.
M.P. wrote:
"To be a supervisor on the Santa Barbara County board, you can run but can't hide.
That's a lesson the four candidates now running for the 2nd District are fast learning... What is needed is a representative who can best navigate the treacherous terrain that is current county politics - one who will not hide behind a wall of rhetoric or a mask of making nice...
"Wolf cut her political teeth serving three terms on the Goleta School Board. For those who think school boards are a walk in the park, think again...
"We need a supervisor... who can sort out the muddled issues that find environmentalists opposing social activists, and private property rights conflicting with agricultural protections. The board is now controlled by a solid 3-2 propertyrights- minded majority. Whoever is elected must forge meaningful political relationships with members of that majority in order to protect the quality of community life. And to do that, whoever gets elected to the 2nd District must work effectively with Salud Carbajal...
"And though this might seem a minor point, Wolf, if elected, will be the first 2nd District supervisor in decades who actually lives in Goleta. Given that the hottest land use wars are taking place in the Goleta Valley, it is no little thing to have someone on the Board who has lived there for 18 years. True, she does not have a background in land-use planning, but she has proven to be a smart, fast learner.
Living in the district - as a parent, businessowner, and householder - has brought Wolf closer to the issues. She will uniquely be able to weigh the competing values associated with each undeveloped chunk of land. Of all the candidates, we believe Wolf is the most sensitive to the crisis of housing affordability.
"Lastly, we like Wolf because she tries to talk about issues other than land use planning. The highest percentage of uninsured children in California live in this county. Wolf will fight to change that. As a woman who lost her family home in the Painted Cave Fire, you can be sure Wolf will focus on securing funds for fire protection, as well as finding solutions to traffic congestion and proper watershed management.
"The other three candidates all are serious, responsible men.
"Dr. Dan Secord is a seasoned, straight talking politician, but a bit too aligned with the three sitting property rights supervisors. Joe Guzzardi is a likeable, knowledgeable candidate; however he is so commited to no-growth that he would not be an effective supervisor. We endorsed Santa Barbara City Council-member Das Williams when he ran for that office two years ago. A young, charismatic politician, he has shown talent, both as an environmentalist and as a social activist, but he needs to fill out his current term, the first and only elected post he has ever held..."
I will add that I think Maryanne and the INDPENDENT have missed the mark, here. This campaign has never really been about things like whether Das should serve out his term on the Santa Barbara City Council or Janet Wolf losing her house in the Painted Cave fire or Joe Guzzardi putting his signs up on public property all through the second district. This campaign has been about development, protection of open space and neighborhood advocacy. Underlying all these has been the question: Assuming no one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary election (June 6), what candidate is most likely to beat Dan Secord in November 2006?
The answer is DAS, not Janet, nor Joe.
M.P. wrote:
"To be a supervisor on the Santa Barbara County board, you can run but can't hide.
That's a lesson the four candidates now running for the 2nd District are fast learning... What is needed is a representative who can best navigate the treacherous terrain that is current county politics - one who will not hide behind a wall of rhetoric or a mask of making nice...
"Wolf cut her political teeth serving three terms on the Goleta School Board. For those who think school boards are a walk in the park, think again...
"We need a supervisor... who can sort out the muddled issues that find environmentalists opposing social activists, and private property rights conflicting with agricultural protections. The board is now controlled by a solid 3-2 propertyrights- minded majority. Whoever is elected must forge meaningful political relationships with members of that majority in order to protect the quality of community life. And to do that, whoever gets elected to the 2nd District must work effectively with Salud Carbajal...
"And though this might seem a minor point, Wolf, if elected, will be the first 2nd District supervisor in decades who actually lives in Goleta. Given that the hottest land use wars are taking place in the Goleta Valley, it is no little thing to have someone on the Board who has lived there for 18 years. True, she does not have a background in land-use planning, but she has proven to be a smart, fast learner.
Living in the district - as a parent, businessowner, and householder - has brought Wolf closer to the issues. She will uniquely be able to weigh the competing values associated with each undeveloped chunk of land. Of all the candidates, we believe Wolf is the most sensitive to the crisis of housing affordability.
"Lastly, we like Wolf because she tries to talk about issues other than land use planning. The highest percentage of uninsured children in California live in this county. Wolf will fight to change that. As a woman who lost her family home in the Painted Cave Fire, you can be sure Wolf will focus on securing funds for fire protection, as well as finding solutions to traffic congestion and proper watershed management.
"The other three candidates all are serious, responsible men.
"Dr. Dan Secord is a seasoned, straight talking politician, but a bit too aligned with the three sitting property rights supervisors. Joe Guzzardi is a likeable, knowledgeable candidate; however he is so commited to no-growth that he would not be an effective supervisor. We endorsed Santa Barbara City Council-member Das Williams when he ran for that office two years ago. A young, charismatic politician, he has shown talent, both as an environmentalist and as a social activist, but he needs to fill out his current term, the first and only elected post he has ever held..."
Posted by Malcolm on
5/26/2006
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4 Comments
Das needs to attack Wolf or he will lose.
Malcolm,
With all due respect I think you are a bit biased here. Why does Das have the best chance of beating Secord? Clearly many individuals, organizations and newspapers disagree with your perception.
Das claims in todays(saturday) News Press article to have serious momentum for his campaign. Intersting that he would say this in a story on how Janet Wolf is kicking his rear end on fundraising. Considering that Das has no new endorsements (Aside from the Newsletter for San Roque, whatever that is)and no money it is hard to understand what he is talking about.
If the liberal Independent, which endorsed him for City Council, thinks Janet is the better choice, it is hard to see why he thinks he is doing well.
Anonymous:
Well, of course you are right but not for the reason you probably think.
Although Das and his campaign have not made a big deal about it, Das and a good number of his friends conducted a week-long poll back in January to come up with as scientifically accurate sample of the registered voters of the 2nd district as was possible to do in a week's time.
The results of that poll, amongst other things, indicated that out of all the possible candidates that we thought might run (including Janet and Joe), Das was the one who matched up best against Dan Secord going into November 2006.
We were the only ones to research this issue and poll the voters.
This was one of the reasons Das decided to run.
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