UPDATE: Albin’s Facebook page seems to have disappeared:
Original post:
In less than a month, Eureka Mayor Frank Jager will select one of three candidates who have thrown their names in the hat, hoping to replace 5th Ward representative Lance Madsen on the Eureka City Council. Yesterday we showed you the applications each candidate submitted to the city.
Next, let’s see what the candidates reveal about themselves on Facebook, shall we?
Proceeding alphabetically by last name, we’ll start with retired insurance broker and property manager Chester “Chet” Albin.
One quick note: Albin just re-registered six weeks ago under a new address. Until then he was registered in Eureka’s 2nd Ward. His new address, conveniently, puts him in the 5th.
Albin is one of two registered Democrats in the running, as noted yesterday in a blog post by the spousal consort of Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass, “Not that this matters as our local races are non-partisan,” Bass’s husband added.
Still, judging by Albin’s Facebook persona, politics seem to be very important to him. Voter records show that Albin switched from Republican to Democrat in July 2012, and his Facebook “likes” show him to be a man who’s not afraid to go against the grain of his new party.
Chet Albin’s Facebook likes include:
“Being Conservative”
The Tea Party
The Republican National Committee
Fox News
George W. Bush
Glenn Beck
Mitt Romney
Karl Rove
Michelle Bachmann
Ted Cruz
Conservative Daily
“Obama is the Worst President in US History”
Perusing Albin’s timeline we see many “shared” messages from the Tea Party, including the one below created by the Capitalism Institute and posted by Albin last Sunday:
On the same day Albin posted this heartwarming reminder to respect Native American traditions, also from the Tea Party. (That is what it means, right?):
And the Tea Party trilogy began with the following query:
Check back tomorrow for another installment of “Meet Your Next Eureka Councilmember via Facebook.”
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This article appears in Weed Killers.
“Not that this matters as our local races are non-partisan…”
But for some reason, it’s important to this “Democrat.”
The prospect of Chet Albin on the council makes me glad I no longer live in Eureka. What a maroon.
You all are having as much fun with this as I am. It is so great to see this on display so brilliantly and clearly. I heart Chester Albin. May he please please be selected. (But I do say that with a bit a dread as it seems dangerous – kinda like hoping that Ted Cruz would get the Republican nomination, but then the Democratic candidate has a “Monkey Business” yacht moment or something).
As an aside – how great is politics. I just remembered that. The boat was literally named “Monkey Business”. Amazing.
And Chet Albin. Amazing. And that’s the first I heard of his new home. Much love and home-warming thoughts for Chet too. OMG the mazes these rascals have to run through to play at democracy. You just have to sit back and really appreciate these moments.
All the while remembering that it is important to make sure the electorate understands the dark aspect of this too, all joking aside. Because ultimately these types of games are about running roughshod over the democratic process – and it really does need to stop. How? For one by good reporting like was done today – THANK YOU JOEL and NCJ!
40 years ago I could only find one property manager/rental agent to locate a house to rent while I was at HSU. Today, every other Realtor in this county is also a property manager!
“Chet” is a beneficiary of a generation of public divestment in affordable housing that turned property management into another lucrative predator industry thanks to the speculators and developers. The development community’s economic dominance directly translates to political dominance over nearly every elected and appointed seat in Humboldt that has successfully maintained huge deficits in affordable infill housing for decades, while building several cities and this county into moratoriums.
Since only one journalist and one newspaper have the guts to occasionally remind us of this, (thank you NCJ/Ryan), buffoons like “Chet” face little threat of meaningful media inquiry, follow-up, or context.
What kind of city tolerates representation by 2 appointees chosen by its mayor? Has the public cost of the mayor’s prayer breakfasts exceeded the costs of a special election yet?
And where are all of those angry loudmouths who were accusing Larry Glass of carpetbagging?
Another fake Democrat, a strategic DINO, cynically positioned to hoodwink a low-information and torpid Eureka electorate. A specialty of Matthew Owen, who gets help from Hank to define himself as a moderate.