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Archives for March 2011

Comment

March 24, 2011 by Greg

New Challenge to solving the County Budget Deficit

“Bad Decisions that Have to be Made” David Rabbitt

The March 17 Petaluma Argus Courier article, “Rabbitt weighs in on county budget shortfall” exposes a new challenge to solving the county’s budget deficit: David Rabbitt.

Rabbitt tells the Argus that he found the budget learning curve to be “pretty steep.” This should come as no surprise for a person who, mind with well over a hundred errors in his campaign finance statements, showed that he cannot do basic math. Appears that the addition and subtraction learning curves are a bit too steep for Mr. Rabbit. Not a good sign for someone interested in fixing our budget.

His next quote is a frightening characterization of the quality of the decisions he sees himself making.  He states, “The decisions to be made are not good.  They are all bad decisions that have to be made.”  If you have ever listened to Rabbitt’s ramblings you might want to give him the benefit of the doubt – that what he meant to say was that none of the alternatives are good and the decisions will be difficult. But, it is equally likely that he does not know what he said, or, maybe he is planning on playing to his strength – bad decision making.

A few quotes later Rabbitt suggests that the Board of Sups shares fairly close ideological backgrounds and feelings, then says, “Here I’m considered a moderate, but I’m a lifelong Democrat.”  There are a lot, perhaps too many, ‘moderates’ calling themselves Democrats so it is difficult to understand what he means by the statement: “but I’m a lifelong Democrat.”  Rabbitt is no champion of the Democratic Party, was not endorsed by them, campaigned with Republicans and found no reason to complain when racism was used on his behalf – hardly what the Democratic Party stands for these days.  Rabbitt added the comment that “people make more out of (ideological differences) politically.”  Sorry to disappoint you Mr. Rabbitt – informed voters are concerned about ideology, especially when you call yourself a Democrat but act out an ideology of a corporatist Republican.

Back to the budget.  With all of the originality and uniqueness of a Big Box shopping development, Rabbitt is focused on “pension reform” as a key solution.   Speaking of what he sees as needed changes he says, “It’s a leadership thing.” He then dismisses raising revenues/taxes (especially ones on businesses) as ‘not being popular.’  So much for that “leadership thing”.  Sounds like he did mean bad decisions, not difficult ones.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

2010 Petaluma Campaign Expenditures – The Cost of Your Vote

March 17, 2011 by Greg

Almost $200, Spent on 2010 Petaluma Mayor and Council Elections

Based on a review by Petaluma Tomorrow, a total of $194, 677 was spent to elect two Council members and the Mayor in the November election.*  Of this, $148,709 was spent by and for Council candidates with the remaining $45,968 on the race for Mayor.  Most of the monies spent, 96%, came directly from candidate campaigns.  The remaining 4%, $8,239, was spent by two PACs on behalf of candidates.

Of note:

  • Jeff Mayne spent over twice that of David Glass in his unsuccessful bid for Mayor.  Mayne’s votes “cost” $3.31 each versus a cost per vote of $1.44 for Glass;
  • Expenditures for Council candidate Harris were an exceptional $60,712. This spending represented over 40% of what was spent by all eight candidates combined.  His cost per vote was $5.65;
  • At the other end of the spectrum, the cost per vote for candidate Kearney was $0.48 – an irony given that Kearney was ultimately appointed to the vacant council seat;
  • The most for the least was spent on behalf of Council candidate Johnson.  His cost per vote was $4.14 versus a cost per vote of $2.20 for winning candidate Barrett.

Based on the outcome of the 2010 election there is no apparent direct relationship between dollars spent and votes.  However, there appears to be a necessary but not sufficient amount between $15,000 and $20,000 that must be spent in order to win.   Fortunately other variables – track record, message, name recognition and the quality of one’s campaign – not just money, are still critical factors.

The complete review is available as part of PT’s Election Watch activities and can be viewed by clicking 2010 Expenditures.

*Total expenditures and votes and those presented for the Mayor and Council races are based on the top two candidates for Mayor, Glass and Mayne, and on eight Council candidates.  Expenditures and votes for write-ins, Council candidate Bellefeuille, and Mayoral candidates Kilgore and Lickter are excluded.


 

Filed Under: News and Updates, Uncategorized

Congratulations Gabe Kearney!

March 4, 2011 by Greg

The City Council voted Monday to appoint Gabe Kearney to the vacant seventh seat. Congratulations to Gabe. We appreciate your willingness to take on the challenge.

Filed Under: News and Updates, Uncategorized

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