City races offer pretty clear choices

7 Sep 2006 // Seldom does a local election present a truly stark contrast to voters, especially non-partisan contests where there are several offices being contested. Local elections are usually more mundane affairs.

But this November the Eureka elections will be a true bellwether political moment. That reality was underscored at the annual Labor Day picnic. In attendance to celebrate with organized labor were County Supervisor Bonnie Neely, Eureka Mayor Peter LaVallee, and City Council hopefuls Nancy Abrams, Ron Kuhnel and Larry Glass. Let's call this group broadly the progressive “Working People's Slate.”

Conspicuously noticeable by their absence were their challengers -- Nancy Flemming, Virginia Bass, Mike Jones, Jeff Leonard and Mary Beth Wolford. In the spirit of honesty in politics let's acknowledge that this is the “right-wing Corporate Slate.”

Lest you think I am drawing too hasty a conclusion, consider these facts:

* The entire right-wing slate was at Bass' campaign kickoff Tuesday. Joining them were Cherie Arkley and Randy Gans of Security National Corp. (we assume to make certain that their big box project stays at the center of their respective campaigns).

* Virginia Bass and Mike Jones are both prominent local Republican Party members, as are Arkley and Gans. Of course, Bonnie Neely is also a Republican, but her challenger Nancy Flemming is a true “George Bush Republican” who served as the local campaign chair for the Bush campaign in 2000.

* The Arkley family is one of the largest donors to the Republican Party in the country, funneling huge amounts of money to George Bush, the Republican National Committee, and arch right-wing conservatives like U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (a vocal gay-bashing anti-choice from Pennsylvania), J. Kenneth Blackwell (secretary of state from Ohio who administered the deeply flawed 2004 Ohio election), and U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (named as one of the 10 most corrupt members of the House of Representatives by Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics).

* Ms. Bass and the rest of the right-wing slate all voted to kill the public process that was already under way to develop a community-driven master plan for how to best develop the Eureka Waterfront. (Going so far as rejecting money that had already been earmarked from the Headwaters Fund).

* So it was especially ironic to learn of Ms. Bass' concern for the divided nature of this community. It was humorously reminiscent of George Bush's campaign pledge to be a “uniter not a divider.” Of course, he immediately embarked upon disastrous polices that have plunged the country into polarization, culminating with a disastrous war in Iraq while ignoring global warming or the shrinking middle class.

In addition to Ms. Bass' vote to kill the Waterfront Master Plan, she also voted to provide Calpine with an exclusive Right to Negotiate for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant on Humboldt Bay, even as the vast majority of her constituents opposed the project. (Folks still talk about the amazing speed and energy with which opposition mounted to that proposed boondoggle).

So the electoral battle lines are certainly being drawn. From my perspective, it looks like we'll have labor, environmentalists, Democrats and Greens on one side. On the other side we'll have the big-money corporate interests, the Humboldt Business Council and the Republican Party.

To my way of thinking, this election really will offer voters a pretty clear choice.