Candidates for the City Council filed their second report for the April election and the big news (and it is BIG news) is Dave Gauny’s rasing of $15K and “loaning” (probably personal money) of another $15K to his campaign to rack up the highest total in cumulative fundraising for this cycle; much higher than the current incumbents and other serious contender, TimBen Boydston. Contrast this with Frank Ferry’s anemic amount of less than $1,000 during the reporting period and “emergency” fundraising email late in February, and one can see serious cracks in the base of the wall of incumbency.
But perhaps the most shocking news comes when one compares the fundraising totals with the totals just two years ago in the 2008 election when Laurie Ender came first and incumbent Bob Kellar came second. Laurie Ender from HER OWN CAMPAIGN (independent expenditures aside) raised and spent just under $80K and Bob Kellar raised and spent just under $90K according to the public finance disclosures. My calculations show that at the current velocity of fundraising any successful candidate in the current cycle will probably raise and spend about half those amounts equating to a 30% annual DE-flation in the cost of running a local campaign, and even if Frank Ferry can execute on his heroic fundraising effort he will only achieve a cumulative number of about 70% of those amounts from just two years ago.
These big drops in support can only mean one thing: Real estate prices and commercial rents are not the only thing that burst after the piercing of a bubble. One can surmise that people just don’t have the money or want to spend the money they did just two years ago on political campaigns which changes the whole calculus of the election.
I have always touted the impregnability of incumbency in City Council Elections due to history, and such history has tended to repeat itself over and over again. The incumbents, already with what name recognition can be sucked from our apathetic town, monopolize endorsements and money to sail back into office, but the challengers have outmaneuvered them this time to thwart not just one but two of the three legs of the stool of incumbent impregnability.
For what its worth, my Nebraska bride has convinced me to give one of my three votes to TimBen Boydston. Sorry Johnny Pride!
For what it’s worth Tim, you should seriously consider voting for David Gauny. I have read all of your postings here so I am aware of your position regarding David. Personal biases aside, if the real goal is genuine and positive change on our City Council, you should take another look at candidate David Gauny, in my humble opinion.
Does anyone have a paper towel?
I’m need to wipe off the coffee that Myers spewed from his Northbridge perch after reading BGH’s comment.
Are you declaring the City Council race wide open?
Who are your other two votes going to?
I think I’m either bulleting David, or going for David & TimBen. I would really like to see the two of them serve. As long as Frank is gone, I don’t care which other council member takes the third seat.
ND: Happy to bring a smile…
BGH:
No thanks!
Michelle:
Harrison Katz because he is 19 and earnest and realizes there is a City Council election.
Frank Ferry because of the 1997 Spirit Award prank.
Jeff:
Let’s put it this way. If they incumbents win incumbency IS like Kryptonite.
So Tim, are you still embarrassed by the amount of money raised by city council candidate David Gauny?
Did you notice the Santa Clarita Valley California Republican Assembly endorsing only David Gauny out of 11 candidates?
By the way, who and where is candidate David Galvan? No appearances, no statements, no fundraising, no nothing!!! A bit fishy to me…
Tim, I remember that you were “offended” and thoroughly disgusted that the two main challengers in this race raised so little money last time. How is it that you now let the incumbents off the hook so easily? Especially Ferry who raised only $900! They enjoy the excuse of economics while the challengers suffer only name-calling?
I’m sure that anyone who has followed your posts over the past few months will not expect an apology from you, let alone an outward acknowledgement that you were COMPLETELY WRONG. But your bias is evident. Votes for Pride, Katz, and Ferry were always intended to downplay the significance of those who continue to prove your fallacies.
I am betting on David Gauny to be the winning horse in this race. As the candidates jockey for position, David will pull ahead of the pack and finish in first place at the polls. Whinny….
Are you listening Timmy?
Tim,
Please thank your Nebraska bride
She is one smart lady!
Sarah Proof,
To add Katz into the pile with Pride and Ferry is grossly unfair. He seems to be a very serious candidate with some very good ideas for Santa Clarita. He is also running an impressive campaign at the local colleges. I fear that this Pride incident will hurt him more than we can imagine, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a real candidate.
Jboyyyyyy
You are absolutely right!
There was some unusual behavior Katz exhibited earlier in this campaign began which had me questioning what’s going on with him in ways I would not have even thought to do. His speech at the Canyon Country forum sounded more like a college writing assignment. I have yet to hear anything particularly novel in his ideas for SC.
Let’s go for a trifecta to get rid of all the incumbents. Boydston, Gauny, and Katz. This would have been thought impossible a month ago, but now……….?
Jim:
Boydston and Gauny have just entered the realm of the “possible” because the incumbents have for whatever reason been very lazy about their re-election. (Maybe they had no choice because their support is actually waning. But let’s not go completely crazy.
Don’t think for a minute Frank & troupes are not going to pull out all of stops in the next two weeks.
Know your City Council!
No Incumbents!
Tim, I still don’t understand why you cannot be honest. The laziness of these incumbents steps perfectly in hand with your lazy assurances of the outcome of this election.
Jboyyyyy, I did not mean to add Katz to the pile of Pride and Ferry. I merely reiterated that Timothy’s loud vote had always gone to these candidates.
The reasoning IIRC, was that Katz had no tattoos, Ferry pulled a nifty prank some years ago, and Pride is a sassy reality TV star.
Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone listens to Tim and his blathering. Perhaps everyone should vote for anyone Tim Meyers is against.
Petz would lay down a vote for Berta is she were on the ballot-solid Conservative.
She might not agree with that.
Petz2: Thanks for your “vote”. If I were running for anything, that would make three counting myself…
I have many more detractors than supporters. Perhaps because I say aloud what I really believe instead of worrying who agrees with me or not or whom might endorse me. I am not sure if I fit any classification. I always thought of myself as a moderate but it really depends on the issue. Although registered as a Democrat, I find myself disagreeing with the politicos of both parties on many issues but primarily with the Democrats these days. I may have to change to “decline to state” for future elections.