So Much For My Candidate
Despite my semi-well-publicized support, Debbie Acker was not elected mayor of Ontario yesterday. The final vote totals:
Mayor, City of Ontario
49/49 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
- SAM CROWE 3,541 41.23%
- PAUL S. LEON 4,993 58.14%
Write-In 54 0.63%
Total 8,588 100.00%
I wonder who the other 53 write-inners voted for. I betcha I wasn't the only one who voted for Acker.
My one worry about this election is that the voters of Ontario have effectively rewarded bad behavior. The San Bernardino County Republicans issued a negative mailing right before the election, and Crowe was right to complain about it:
Despite an early charge that one of the two mayoral candidates had used mailers to distort the truth, observers of a jam-packed debate didn't witness any real fireworks Friday night....
[Sam] Crowe, a former councilman and city attorney, struck with the early barb, charging the Leon camp with creating a divisive campaign and distorting facts in the days leading up to the election.
"This has turned into probably the worst partisan election in the history of the city of Ontario," he said during opening remarks, calling attention to two "hit pieces" distributed in recent weeks.
One mailer accuses Crowe of being a tax-happy Democrat who had donated $2,000 to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer -- a charge he said was false -- and the other falsely implies Leon was endorsed for mayor by the Daily Bulletin, Crowe said....
Leon, a current councilman and pastor, did not respond to the remarks during the debate....
A few points are in order:
- I'm no big fan of Barbara Boxer - let's just say that I hope she doesn't join a bank board of directors after she leaves the Senate - but I don't really see how support for Boxer is such a terrible issue. I'll let the San Bernardino County Republicans in on a little secret - there are a lot of people in California that support Barbara Boxer. And it doesn't necessarily mean that Sam Crowe wants to kill the babies of all preganant women and withdraw our troops from Iraq and put them under French control.
- Paul Leon's job, or Sam Crowe's job, makes no difference to me. While I don't like his election tactics (which he never disavowed, thus implying endorsement), I don't feel that "a pastor should know better," any more than "a lawyer should know better," or "a marketer should know better." Slimeball tactics are slimeball tactics, no matter who executes them.
- I'm no big fan of Crowe either. Public financing of elections? Opposition to Wal-Mart (and the implicit endorsement of Stater Brothers, Albertsons, Vons, Ralphs, and all the other companies that have displaced mom and pop shops in the past)? Please.
By the way, the mayor's seat was open because Gary Ovitt, the former mayor, was elected to another position last November (County Board of Supervisors). Now that Leon has won the election, there's a city council seat that's open. How will they fill it?
Leon's win creates yet another opening on the City Council, which could be filled with either an appointment by council members or with another special election.
Crowe had referenced that point often during the campaign, saying it would be best not to have the council continue to operate at less than full-strength.
Crowe, an attorney whose service in Ontario as a councilman-turned-city-attorney spanned more than 30 years, said late Tuesday night that he will run for Leon's empty council seat if the City Council calls for another special election, but he anticipates the council might simply choose a replacement.
Leon on Tuesday night said that he favored appointing his replacement rather than holding another special election.
If they follow schedule, the City Council will next meet on Tuesday, June 21. Perhaps they'll decide then.
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