In an earlier posting, I introduced the general purpose of the Republican Central Committee. But I'd like to do a quick run-down of the accomplishments of the current committee and the remaining objectives for this term. The current membership of this committee has done more to get involved in local elections than in recent history, and has built opportunities for the next committees to build upon.
Shortly after being sworn in at the December 2006 RPLAC meeting, we quickly got involved in the Signal Hill city council elections, particularly the campaign to elect Nancy Long, a Signal Hill activist working to get more transparancy from the current council. Thanks to efforts by this committee in both phone banking & walking precincts, we helped Nancy quickly become more competitive; Nancy was actually leading by 23 votes for the final seat prior to provisional ballot counts. Of course, this margin never holds for a Republican candidate like it does for a Democratic one. By the time the provisionals were done, Nancy had fallen short of election. After consulting with my San-Pedran raised friend Steve Baric, president of the CA Republican Lawyers Association, Nancy decided not to pursue a lengthy recount or lawsuit, and will instead hopefully run for one of the three open seats in 2009. I've saved my yard sign from her campaign, and look forward to working as soon as she files to add a Republican to the Signal Hill City Council.
In February, I had to make a decision to work with a local friend & conservative Democrat Richard (Dick) Vladovic in his election bid for the local LAUSD seat. No Republican filed for this seat, but two far-left Democrats, UTLA activist Jesus Escandon & Progressive (aka Cindy Sheehan) Neal Kleiner, had filed to challenge Vladovic. I made the decision that it was more important for Republicans to step up and have an effect on every local election, rather than have Republicans stay home & hope that local Democrats will choose the most conservative candidate. Dick Vladovic won election in May, and has been a great leader for the community. Because I worked closely to help him win election, we now have a connection that will help us in future elections. This is the "big picture" in furthering our principles and values.
In August 2007, this committee stepped up its commitment to the state party's mission of getting more involved in local races by supporting four Palos Verdes Republicans in the November elections for Rancho Palos Verdes City Council & the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, my former hometown & high school district, respectively. A critical mistake we made was underestimating the influence of the local teacher's union (PVFA) & the Democrat incumbents. While Republican RPV City Councilmember Steve Wolowicz received the most votes of any candidate, our Republican challenger for the 2nd seat, RPV Traffic Commissioner Paul Wright came 80 votes short of the third and final seat. Paul ran a great campaign, and has already been encouraged by many, including myself, to run in 2009. In the PVPUSD race, we were unsuccessful in defending incumbent Dave Tomblin's seat and electing challenger Paul Neights. Both candidates were ironically painted as "union candidates" by the local union activists themselves, and unlike the City of Los Angeles, Palos Verdes residents do not exactly endorse the "union label". I learned a lot by participating in these races, and am still proud to have supported all four. I am already looking forward to the opportunities for both RPV City Council and the PVPUSD board for 2009.
For Tuesday's election, I have personally been working with San Pedro activists to fight Propositions S & 93, including ironically the local Democratic club. Most of their members also see the problems with these measures and worked with my local neighborhood council to hold a local information forum on Proposition S, the communications tax "preservation" measure. The forum was great for our side, and we recruited about 40 volunteers who walked their neighborhhods this past weekend to encourage voters to vote "NO". San Pedro is a great town, and has a lot of conservative Democrats that know "when to say when" to higher taxes.
We are currently engaged in the Long Beach Unified School District elections by encouraging Republicans to get involved in the campaigns for both incumbents Jon Meyer & Felton Williams. We'll continue to do so through their April re-election. We also support the recall effort of LBUSD Board member and TALB loyalist Michael Ellis, and will continue gathering signatures.
For the remainder of this year, once the Long Beach local elections are completed, our primary focus will be on winning the Assembly seat currently held by termed-out Assemblywoman Betty Karnette. We need to ensure our strongest candidate emerges to take on the strong Democratic candidate, likely LB City Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal. Bonnie is going to have a "machine" similar in structure to the Clinton one, and our nominee will need to be ready to spend and do what it takes to win. Bonnie will be a full-time candidate, so our nominee must be as well. This is primarily why I am asking ALL Republicans to get behind two-term PVPUSD Board Member Gabriella Holt, who has dedicated herself full-time to building the strongest campaign now to take on the Democrat nominee.
I'll go into a more detailed analysis of Gabriella Holt in a future posting.
For now, I encourage everyone to learn more about this committee and how to get involved in local elections, including Gabriella Holt's. 2008 offers numeroud opportunities for Republicans to make a difference; I hope we all find at least one and get involved.
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2 comments:
Hi Jim, Your blog has an interesting read. I am a San Pedro Republican and, since you supported him, I would like to know your opinion on Dr. Vladovic's support of a 810-1,215 high school to be built on the Angel's Gate area between 30th and 36th Streets, east of Alma. This new high school, which is to be used to alleviate overcrowding at SPHS will force the current continuation school to be knocked down, as well as a developmental preschool, Mommy & Me center and many classrooms already in use. Dr. Vladovic's was a prior Principal for the continuation high school. LAUSD neglected to notify local residents and people are still finding out when their neighbors go door to door to tell them about the project. The entrance of the school is drawn to be on narrow Alma Street, South of 30th, and no on campus student parking is being allowed for. Dr. V's office representatives have said that there is no money to add more buildings and make this a true 1,215 seat school, but I am wondering when was the last time a school bond measure in California was NOT passed. I would like to know your opinion about this situation and the candidate you supported. The surrounding neighbors are up in arms.
Thank you, Mr. Anonymous, for reading and getting involved in San Pedro. I agree there are problems with the current situation, and was borderline-militant about the 2,000+ seat school that LAUSD proposed for the Ponte Vista site. Because neither Neal Kleiner nor Jesus Escandon came out in opposition to that, Vladovic seized the opportunity and likely solidified support from most of the NWSPNC area & Eastview.
If I were on the LAUSD board, I'd be more concerned about the downward trend in student enrollment. At the 2nd, 5th & 8th grade levels, enrollment has dropped steadily, despite LAUSD's enrollment of illegal immigrant kids. The need created by Lansing to push another high-school down our throats is an artificial one, in my opinion.
I would find it very hard to find a candidate that you're going to agree with 100%, especially after they get elected. It's a gamble, and you should be doing everything possible to reduce the amount of disagreement to a manageable level. Do I think the Angel's Gate plan is a solid one? NO. Do I think Dr. Vladovic's office is doing more to collect input from as many locals as possible than the other two candidates would have? Absolutely! The other two candidates were ultra-left union loyalists who could have cared less about what conservative San Pedrans like you & I thought. Kleiner is a member of the Progressive Democrats Club (aka Cindy Sheehan) and Jesus Escandon is a UTLA activist leader, per his candidate registration.
Remember, even Reagan made mistakes. We're still paying for the 1986 amnesty. I've always been told that if you want thye perfect candidate for your concerns, run for office. That's why I did. Let me know via e-mail if you're interested in doing the same.
John
stammiam@yahoo.com
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