Twenty-five people or so came out for Chris Crawford’s anti-Bonnie Neely rally at the Humboldt County Courthouse today. The signs were worded sharply: “Bonnie’s Bought & Paid For.” “Had Enough Humboldt County?” “The 4th District Deserves Better.” “Neely and the Political Machine.” “For The People or For The Money?”
There’s no doubt that Supervisor Neely, the Fourth District incumbent and chair of the California Coastal Commission, left herself open for this interesting political maneuver when she held a
rage-making chi chi fundraiser in Sacramento yesterday
. Neely has raised the
bulk of her cash
in very large donations, a good portion of which came from outside the county, and this Sacramento swing doesn’t exactly bulk up her local cred.
Of course, Crawford’s candidate in this race — Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass — has to date raised much more money that Neely, much of it in chunks of $1,000 or more. But since these donations came from local developers and business interests, one might paint them as cleaner than Neely’s non-Humboldt developers and business interests.
Crawford makes the case well, as you can see below. Cannily, he doesn’t just stick it to Neely — he sticks it to leftish Neely supporters, who voted overwhelmingly for the stricken-down campaign finance reform initiative known as Measure T. Where’s your local control now? That’s a tough charge to answer.
Of course, not a lot of well-known Measure T supporters in Crawford’s crew either, so perhaps the irony cuts both ways. But it does seem that Neely and the Neelyites are the ones that will have to answer the question.
This article appears in College In Revolt.
He sounds all well and good. However, I am a little confused. Perhaps those recent earthquakes did more than just shake a few buildings.
Are we now only 200 miles from Sacramento?
That is the wake call I received from this message.
Per Crawford’s proposed campaign finance reform standards, Virginia Bass would be leading Bonnie Neely in total fundraising $75,000+ to around $25,000+.
Sounds like a fair fight, right guys?
Remember, when Measure T was in effect, Mercer-Fraser and O&M Industries, the two companies that sued and invalidated the law, actually violated it when they contributed to Nancy Flemming’s Supe run. These two companies, or at least prominent figures working there, actively support the pro-developing candidates.
Just FYI
Also, any move to regulate campaign contributions is essentially impossible now with the recent Supreme Court ruling, you know, the one where the courts gave free rein for corporations and unions to flood money in elections. The ruling invalidated all laws regulating contributions at all levels, according to my understanding.
So let’s get this straight- Crawford and the rest of the local developer type folks who campaigned against Measure T, and nodoubtetly were in favor of the Supreme Court ruling regarding corporate campaign donations want to place a new local set of rules that solely benefit the candidates they typical endorse.
Way to level the playing field Crawford!
Roberta, your failing to get anything straight. 1st measure T was flawed, it treated different groups, with different rules. 2nd not many people are in favor of the Supreme Court ruling. If you paint with a broad brush, you often get inaccurate results. 3rd how do you come up with 75k to 25k?
Crawford’s proposal was to cap individual contributions at 2000. That would in theory erase over 33000 in cash from Neely’s coffers. Bass would only lose 5G. 707’s numbers appear to be close, although they simply eliminate the large donations rather than capping them at 3K.
For the campaign numbers, see John Osborn’s blog.
http://www.johncosborn.com/?p=858
In terms of campaign fundraising, don’t you think the best situation would be one where all candidates have near equal amounts of cash, and in reasonable amounts? Then the campaigns can focus on the debates, etc. rather than advertising and mudslinging.
It’s just reg’lar workin’ folks what gots two thousand dollars to put into a local race. Shame on Bonnie for takin’ money that her ‘ponent would love to have.
Remember how silent Crawford has been in regards to the attacks ads ran against Chris Kerrigan by a Sacramento lobbying firm when Chris was managing the Bohn campaign.
Crawford is still bitter from his campaign for 1st District Supervisor in 2000 when he outspent the field and lost to Jimmy Smith by a landslide. Jimmy raised half as much money as Crawford in that race.
“A tough charge to answer?” C’mon Hank, only if you buy into Chris Crawford’s fake posturing on campaign funding: that is, reform that only benefits his candidate. If he was real about it, as Kaitlyn pointed out, why didn’t he call over the last four years?
What Chris is really afraid of is having the candidates be judged on their own merits: that is, what have they accomplished in office? Why would they be the best person for the job?
Here are ten concrete examples of the things Bonnie has done:
1) Found $9 million in state funding to build the Main Branch Eureka Library, overlooking the harbor;
2) Helped to create an exemplary system of senior services in Eureka, including the Senior Center, the Alzheimers Center and the Adult Day Health System, which allows Eureka seniors to remain independent and in their own homes;
3) Co-founded the Jazz Festival and Blues By the Bay, which have brought literally millions into Eureka in tourist dollars. The Jazz Fest is 20 years old this year.
4) Saved nearly 200 jobs by helping to negotiate a precedent-setting agreement between the county, the state, and commercial operators to provide for the continuation of the extraction of gravel on the Mad River;
5) Testified before a Congressional Subcommittee to ensure Humboldt received mitigation monies for the loss of the Headwaters Forest from the local economy. As a result, the Headwaters Fund was given a $23 million endowment to help grow county businesses and jobs;
6) After a local court imposed county welfare general relief payments that were the sixth-highest in the state, Bonnie took the lead in a successful appeal of the ruling, saving county taxpayers $600,000;
7) Bonnie helped to create the Step Up program in Humboldt, which provided work experience and summer jobs for youth;
8) Appointed twice to the California Coastal Commission by two different governators, elected and recently, re-elected by her peers to be its chair;
9) Helped negotiate a $2 million dollar offset from CalTrans to the struggling CR agriculture program as mitigation for lost farmland in the Alton Interchange and Mad River Bridge construction projects;
10) Founding member of the Humboldt Library Foundation, which has distributed over $600,000 to help keep Humboldt libraries open.
Frankly, I’m proud of Bonnie’s out-of-county connections. From the above you can see has used them to “bring home the bacon” to Humboldt. Now, really, who’s the best person for the job?
Let’s give Test of Character credit for not only having her/his facts straight, but making it easy for even the slow to follow.
Really, compared to that, don’t frisbee and skate parks sound like loser accomplishments that just don’t cut if for a county needing expertise at this time? Especially when those two are backed by all the big developer money in the county? That’s the best they can do?!?
Bonnie has been supporting Democratic party platform principles for many years already. Virginia, Jeff, c’mon you DINO’s, you changed party registrations for a reason: was it just to ask the HCDCC for an endorsement? You’ve been enjoying plenty of benefits from the rich developers who have been making tons of money with your support for years now. Step up to the plate! Show us you can do something other than suck up to the rich. Is it really about Eureka, or just about you?
Ummm Jeff has been a registered dem for quite some time now,much longer than Bonnie has.It’s been a long time since he was a green party card carrier.
I don’t buy into Chris Crawford’s fake posturing, but those "Ten Concrete Examples" are totally weak sauce. Either she’s got no brains running the show, or she ain’t done much, it appears.