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Local Immigrant Activists Denounce Opposition’s Tactics
Strengthening Our Lives (SOL) is conducting a voter registration and get out the vote (GOTV) campaign in Fresno. They have come under attack by The Fresno Bee, the local daily newspaper, who has accused SOL and organized labor of having undue influence in local elections. The Press Conference, featured in the video below, was SOL’s response to the Bee’s criticism.
Local Immigrant Activists Denounce Opposition’s Tactics
By Mike Rhodes
The Fresno Bee, in a front page story last Thursday (May 29, 2008), claimed mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea would “benefit from $750,000" that a “West Hollywood-based pro-labor political action committee” would use to help get him elected. The next day The Bee denounced Perea in an editorial saying “there’s a reason special-interest groups put money into a race - they want something from their investment.” The “special interest” group The Bee is critical of is Strengthening Our Lives (SOL), a statewide group conducting a voter registration and get out the vote campaign in Southeast Fresno. SOL supports current City Council member and Democrat Henry Perea. The Bee supports Republican Ashley Swearengin. In fact, all of the candidates The Bee is supporting - for mayor, City Council, and the Board of Supervisors are Republicans.
Salvador “Chava” Bustamante, Northern California Director of SOL, spoke at a Press Conference today (May 31) and denounced The Bee for their attack on Perea and SOL. Bustamante said “It is a shame that The Fresno Bee who is so interested in talking about this issue is not here today. We denounce the tactics that the opposition is using in this campaign and we also want to set the record straight about who we are and what we do.”
Bustamante says that the local SOL campaign has hired about two dozen workers to do “old-style person to person politics.” He said they have spent something like $50,000 - $60,000 on the campaign, nowhere near the $750,000 claimed by The Bee.
At the Press Conference, Bustamante said “SOL’s campaign is new and unique. It is dedicated to helping regular folks - hard working humble Latino immigrants take part in politics, often for the first time. SOL’s walkers have the opportunity to have their voices heard - increasing voter turnout after years of its steady decline.
Eugenia Melesio, also speaking at the Press Conference, said “on the one hand it is too bad about all of this controversy, but on the other hand it makes me happy because it shows, by their reaction that they are afraid of us and what we are doing.”
Bustamante said that “unlike other PAC’s (Political Action Committees) that use their money to send attack pieces, we use our money to hire hard working people to go into the community and talk to our neighbors about the issues that are important to us. In Fresno, one of the big issues is clean air, we want to have a community where our children can grow and live without having to get sick all the time. We want to live in a city where we have safe streets and more after school programs. That is the kind of community we want and that is what this campaign is about.”
SOL is a partnership of progressive labor, faith and community organizations dedicated to increasing the civic participation of California’s immigrant communities. You can find out more by going to: http://www.sol-california.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/SOLCALI
###
By Mike Rhodes
The Fresno Bee, in a front page story last Thursday (May 29, 2008), claimed mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea would “benefit from $750,000" that a “West Hollywood-based pro-labor political action committee” would use to help get him elected. The next day The Bee denounced Perea in an editorial saying “there’s a reason special-interest groups put money into a race - they want something from their investment.” The “special interest” group The Bee is critical of is Strengthening Our Lives (SOL), a statewide group conducting a voter registration and get out the vote campaign in Southeast Fresno. SOL supports current City Council member and Democrat Henry Perea. The Bee supports Republican Ashley Swearengin. In fact, all of the candidates The Bee is supporting - for mayor, City Council, and the Board of Supervisors are Republicans.
Salvador “Chava” Bustamante, Northern California Director of SOL, spoke at a Press Conference today (May 31) and denounced The Bee for their attack on Perea and SOL. Bustamante said “It is a shame that The Fresno Bee who is so interested in talking about this issue is not here today. We denounce the tactics that the opposition is using in this campaign and we also want to set the record straight about who we are and what we do.”
Bustamante says that the local SOL campaign has hired about two dozen workers to do “old-style person to person politics.” He said they have spent something like $50,000 - $60,000 on the campaign, nowhere near the $750,000 claimed by The Bee.
At the Press Conference, Bustamante said “SOL’s campaign is new and unique. It is dedicated to helping regular folks - hard working humble Latino immigrants take part in politics, often for the first time. SOL’s walkers have the opportunity to have their voices heard - increasing voter turnout after years of its steady decline.
Eugenia Melesio, also speaking at the Press Conference, said “on the one hand it is too bad about all of this controversy, but on the other hand it makes me happy because it shows, by their reaction that they are afraid of us and what we are doing.”
Bustamante said that “unlike other PAC’s (Political Action Committees) that use their money to send attack pieces, we use our money to hire hard working people to go into the community and talk to our neighbors about the issues that are important to us. In Fresno, one of the big issues is clean air, we want to have a community where our children can grow and live without having to get sick all the time. We want to live in a city where we have safe streets and more after school programs. That is the kind of community we want and that is what this campaign is about.”
SOL is a partnership of progressive labor, faith and community organizations dedicated to increasing the civic participation of California’s immigrant communities. You can find out more by going to: http://www.sol-california.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/SOLCALI
###
For more information:
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home
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The Fresno Bee thinks Henry T Perea is telling a whopper when he says he did not know that a PAC in Southern California was donating a large amount of money to his campaign. It’s not the first time he’s telling a whopper. A year ago when a group of us representing seven organizations approached him regarding support of an Independent Police Auditor for the city of Fresno he adamantly opposed it as he did two previous times, despite the recent strong recommendation of the Fresno County Grand Jury. When we suggested that perhaps his opposition was for political reasons he looked us straight in the eye and said that he was not planning to seek further political office, that he wanted to spend more time with his young family, that he would retire from political office after his council term ended. Then he announced his candidacy for mayor of Fresno. So much for honesty. A non-partisan, objective person, from outside the police department is absolutely necessary to handle complaints against the police department. Virtually every other city in California has this, and we have been struggling for 8 years to get it passed. It should have been in place years ago. Mayor Autry recognized this and put it in the budget three times. With Henry T. Perea as mayor it will never come to pass. Support Tom Boyajian for mayor. He served his district well for two terms and was open and honest with his constituency. He is not controlled by special interests who are showering big bucks on him. He is sensitive to the needs of all the people of Fresno and will work to respond fairly to these needs. He is committed to an independent police auditor for the city of Fresno because it is desperately needed in order to create better understanding and trust between the police and the citizens of Fresno. It is very disappointing that people in progressive organizations are supporting Henry T. Perea when Tom Boyajian has just as strong a commitment to the issues that concern us. The issue of police oversight for our city is a very important one. The Grand Jury Report pointed out that the minority community is heavily impacted by police profiling and abusive treatment. Fresno is more than 50 % minority—39.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 8.4% African-American, only 37.3% white. It is a serious failure on the part of the progressive community, especially the labor movement, to ignore the impact of lack of police oversight on its constituents
Ellie Bluestein
ellieb28@sbcglobal.net
=
[This is my opinion only and does not reflect the position of the CVPPAC, the Community Alliance newspaper, or any other organization I belong to. This is my personal analysis about the June 3 elections - Mike Rhodes]
Henry Perea and Ashley Swearengin, in all probability, are going to receive the most votes in the race for mayor. Neither will get a majority (over 50%) and there will be a run off in November. I predict Henry will get about 25% and Ashley about 20% of the vote. The second tier of candidates, which Tom Boyajian falls into, will get somewhere around 10% of the votes and the 3rd tier candidates (Hunt, Garabay, etc) will get 1% or so each.
Most progressives like Tom Boyajian. I like Tom. I agree with him on most issues, but he is not going to win the race for mayor. Because so many progressives like Tom, the CVPPAC gave a dual endorsement - we supported Tom and Henry T. Perea. The reason many people in the CVPPAC like Henry is because he is a whole lot better than what we have now, he is an effective leader, we agree with him on most issues, and it is possible to get him elected.
Henry’s position on the Independent Police Auditor was discussed, and while we all disagree with him on this issue, there is more to who you elect to office than any one issue. Henry will bring to the mayor’s office a completely different approach to how the city deals with homelessness, he is totally against building a nuclear power plant in West Fresno, he is against privatizing city services, he supports smart growth (more in-fill, better public transportation, etc), he will bring back the Human Relations Commission, and he is very supportive of alternative and renewable energy.
Once the June 3 primary is over, I’m hopeful that progressives will join together in a broad coalition to support Henry T Perea for mayor. In doing so, we will be joining with our brothers and sisters in organized labor that are out walking precincts and phone banking for him right now. The alternative is Ashley Swearengin I think Ashley will be an extremely formidable opponent in the November election. She is very business oriented, she has the backing of a large part of the business sector in Fresno. Ashley is a Republican, she is a member of the Peoples Church, supported by the business elite in Fresno. Ashley represents a continuation of the Jim Patterson & Alan Autry style of government. Henry T Perea, a Democrat, will represent a change of direction - he will support workers rights, smart growth, and renewable/alternative energy.
In a couple of days, the race for mayor will no longer be about whether progressives support Tom or Henry. It will become a race between maintaining the current political direction (right wing, Republican, fundamentalist Christian) or whether we can unite to vote for a change. You might not get Henry to support every issue you feel passionately about, but he will move this city in a much more progressive direction. I can almost guarantee you that he will not take over City Hall and hold a “Celebration of Traditional Marriage,” blocking protestors with a line of police (like Alan Autry did).
With all of that said, I don’t even think that the mayor’s race is the one to watch on Tuesday, because that race is all but over. All of the polls and the pundits know that there will be a runoff and that runoff will be between Perea and Swearengin. What is up for grabs on Tuesday is the Board of Supervisors race in district 2. That race is between Susan Anderson, Brian Calhoun, and Paul Dictos. The question is, can Anderson get 50% of the vote in that race? Nobody knows the answer to that. The reason this race is so important is because if Susan does not win with over 50% of the vote, she will be in a runoff with Calhoun in November. If that happens, a lot of organized labor’s resources, that would have gone into Perea’s mayoral race will be thrown into the district 2 race. And why is the district 2 race so important? It is important because Susan Anderson is often the swing vote on the board and without her, the conservative faction would have complete control of County politics.
Some people have criticized the CVPPAC for endorsing Nathan Magsig for the district 5 Board of Supervisors seat. Let me say first that I can understand why people would object to the CVPPAC endorsing someone who can only be described as a conservative Republican. There were three reasons the CVPPAC endorsed Magsig over Poochigian. Reason 1: Magsig is not as conservative as his opponent. Reason 2: We have a dialog with Magsig and feel we can move him in the correct direction on some issues. Reason 3: We believe that Magsig will, at least some of the time, vote with the more progressive block on the BOS. Our feeling was that Poochigian is a far right conservative ideologue that would not listen to progressive voices and would vote consistently against working and poor peoples interests. This was clearly a case of a group choosing someone because they are the lesser of two evils. If there had been another choice in the race. . .
I’m pretty fatalistic about 2 our of 3 of the Fresno City Council races. I think Lee Brand, Jerry Duncan’s hand picked replacement will win in District 6. I really like Michelle Jorgensen, but I don’t think she has a snow balls chance in hell of winning on Tuesday. Same thing in District 4. I wish Susan Good was going to win, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen either. Larry Westerlund, even though he has been deployed to Iraq, will probably keep his seat. The other city council race - the one Brian Calhoun was termed out of, is the one I’m least sure about. The CVPPAC endorsed Michael Karbassi over Andreas Borgeas. Karbassi certainly seemed to share more progressive values than Borgeas, but this is a Northwest Fresno race that involves two Republican candidates.
What the left really needs to do in this community is to unite around a political strategy to achieve political power. We need to chose candidates to run or support those that share our values. Most progressive political activists in Fresno focus most of their time on single issues and we don’t come together to hammer out a political strategy aimed at achieving political power. The unification of progressive groups around a political strategy to achieve power, at the local level, would benefit us all. I hope to see that happen in my lifetime.
Henry Perea and Ashley Swearengin, in all probability, are going to receive the most votes in the race for mayor. Neither will get a majority (over 50%) and there will be a run off in November. I predict Henry will get about 25% and Ashley about 20% of the vote. The second tier of candidates, which Tom Boyajian falls into, will get somewhere around 10% of the votes and the 3rd tier candidates (Hunt, Garabay, etc) will get 1% or so each.
Most progressives like Tom Boyajian. I like Tom. I agree with him on most issues, but he is not going to win the race for mayor. Because so many progressives like Tom, the CVPPAC gave a dual endorsement - we supported Tom and Henry T. Perea. The reason many people in the CVPPAC like Henry is because he is a whole lot better than what we have now, he is an effective leader, we agree with him on most issues, and it is possible to get him elected.
Henry’s position on the Independent Police Auditor was discussed, and while we all disagree with him on this issue, there is more to who you elect to office than any one issue. Henry will bring to the mayor’s office a completely different approach to how the city deals with homelessness, he is totally against building a nuclear power plant in West Fresno, he is against privatizing city services, he supports smart growth (more in-fill, better public transportation, etc), he will bring back the Human Relations Commission, and he is very supportive of alternative and renewable energy.
Once the June 3 primary is over, I’m hopeful that progressives will join together in a broad coalition to support Henry T Perea for mayor. In doing so, we will be joining with our brothers and sisters in organized labor that are out walking precincts and phone banking for him right now. The alternative is Ashley Swearengin I think Ashley will be an extremely formidable opponent in the November election. She is very business oriented, she has the backing of a large part of the business sector in Fresno. Ashley is a Republican, she is a member of the Peoples Church, supported by the business elite in Fresno. Ashley represents a continuation of the Jim Patterson & Alan Autry style of government. Henry T Perea, a Democrat, will represent a change of direction - he will support workers rights, smart growth, and renewable/alternative energy.
In a couple of days, the race for mayor will no longer be about whether progressives support Tom or Henry. It will become a race between maintaining the current political direction (right wing, Republican, fundamentalist Christian) or whether we can unite to vote for a change. You might not get Henry to support every issue you feel passionately about, but he will move this city in a much more progressive direction. I can almost guarantee you that he will not take over City Hall and hold a “Celebration of Traditional Marriage,” blocking protestors with a line of police (like Alan Autry did).
With all of that said, I don’t even think that the mayor’s race is the one to watch on Tuesday, because that race is all but over. All of the polls and the pundits know that there will be a runoff and that runoff will be between Perea and Swearengin. What is up for grabs on Tuesday is the Board of Supervisors race in district 2. That race is between Susan Anderson, Brian Calhoun, and Paul Dictos. The question is, can Anderson get 50% of the vote in that race? Nobody knows the answer to that. The reason this race is so important is because if Susan does not win with over 50% of the vote, she will be in a runoff with Calhoun in November. If that happens, a lot of organized labor’s resources, that would have gone into Perea’s mayoral race will be thrown into the district 2 race. And why is the district 2 race so important? It is important because Susan Anderson is often the swing vote on the board and without her, the conservative faction would have complete control of County politics.
Some people have criticized the CVPPAC for endorsing Nathan Magsig for the district 5 Board of Supervisors seat. Let me say first that I can understand why people would object to the CVPPAC endorsing someone who can only be described as a conservative Republican. There were three reasons the CVPPAC endorsed Magsig over Poochigian. Reason 1: Magsig is not as conservative as his opponent. Reason 2: We have a dialog with Magsig and feel we can move him in the correct direction on some issues. Reason 3: We believe that Magsig will, at least some of the time, vote with the more progressive block on the BOS. Our feeling was that Poochigian is a far right conservative ideologue that would not listen to progressive voices and would vote consistently against working and poor peoples interests. This was clearly a case of a group choosing someone because they are the lesser of two evils. If there had been another choice in the race. . .
I’m pretty fatalistic about 2 our of 3 of the Fresno City Council races. I think Lee Brand, Jerry Duncan’s hand picked replacement will win in District 6. I really like Michelle Jorgensen, but I don’t think she has a snow balls chance in hell of winning on Tuesday. Same thing in District 4. I wish Susan Good was going to win, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen either. Larry Westerlund, even though he has been deployed to Iraq, will probably keep his seat. The other city council race - the one Brian Calhoun was termed out of, is the one I’m least sure about. The CVPPAC endorsed Michael Karbassi over Andreas Borgeas. Karbassi certainly seemed to share more progressive values than Borgeas, but this is a Northwest Fresno race that involves two Republican candidates.
What the left really needs to do in this community is to unite around a political strategy to achieve political power. We need to chose candidates to run or support those that share our values. Most progressive political activists in Fresno focus most of their time on single issues and we don’t come together to hammer out a political strategy aimed at achieving political power. The unification of progressive groups around a political strategy to achieve power, at the local level, would benefit us all. I hope to see that happen in my lifetime.
What the left really needs to do in this community is to unite around a political strategy to achieve political power."
Gloria and Ellie and others (including me) believe that a political strategy for the left must include police oversight. The supporters of Henry T. Perea do not believe police oversight is a necessary component of that strategy.
A left strategy that fails to consider the needs of a segment of the population for the sake of political expedience is not a left strategy at all.
Gloria and Ellie and others (including me) believe that a political strategy for the left must include police oversight. The supporters of Henry T. Perea do not believe police oversight is a necessary component of that strategy.
A left strategy that fails to consider the needs of a segment of the population for the sake of political expedience is not a left strategy at all.
Many in the queer community won't support Henry T. because he has refused to meet with us to discuss how the community and the City can work together. A break-through occurred recently when he signed onto a proclamation acknowledging the upcoming Pride celebration in the Tower District (the first time he's done that since being elected to the Council).
It now appears that Mike Dages is trying to "link" Henry T. to queers because of the PAC money. Dages started airing a TV ad last weekend emphasizing the WeHo connection and how he embraces "traditional values." If that wasn't an attempt to smear Henry....
What concerns me is that Henry may retreat, away from Fresno's queer community, again because of Dages' smear. Of course, he might retreat anyway, after the November election. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
It now appears that Mike Dages is trying to "link" Henry T. to queers because of the PAC money. Dages started airing a TV ad last weekend emphasizing the WeHo connection and how he embraces "traditional values." If that wasn't an attempt to smear Henry....
What concerns me is that Henry may retreat, away from Fresno's queer community, again because of Dages' smear. Of course, he might retreat anyway, after the November election. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
John wrote: The supporters of Henry T. Perea do not believe police oversight is a necessary component of that strategy.
My response to John is that what he says is not true. Police accountability is an important issue and establishing an Independent Police Auditor (or some other mechanism to have civilian control over the police) is essential. How we reach our goal of police accountability is not clear. If it was as simple as getting the mayor to support the concept, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Republican mayor Alan Autry supports an IPA. Hell, even the police chief Jerry Dyer says he supports the concept. So, it is not enough to have a mayor that supports an IPA. Actually the Central California Criminal Justice Committee (CCCJC), who Ellie, John, and Gloria are a part, opposed the version of the IPA that the mayor supported. The mayor wanted the IPA to report to the City Manager and it was felt by the CCCJC that would not be independent enough. They wanted a version of the IPA that reported to the City Council.
The fact that Henry Perea is opposed to an IPA sucks. Those of us that support Henry have lobbied him on this issue, but we have not moved him to take a better position, yet. The IPA was almost, but not a complete deal breaker for many people who support him for mayor. I, and others will continue to press him to change his position, and hopefully he will, in the future, support an IPA that will hold the police accountable.
The reality is that Tom Boyajian is not going to win the race for mayor. That is too bad. I think he would make a good mayor. But, he is not going to win. What is going to happen is that no candidate will get a majority in Tuesday’s election. There will be a runoff. Henry Perea and Ashley Swearengin will probably face off in November.
Progressives in Fresno, including the CCCJC members who have been a part of this dialog, will then have to make a decision. Will they support Henry Perea, who is good on most, but not all issues, support the Republican pro-business candidate, or will they opt out? I’m hoping that progressive political activists will unite to elect a mayor who will take this city out of the vice-grip lock of successive hard core Republican administrations.
In my opinion, it is not the progressive political activists who are supporting Perea that are the obstacle to getting an IPA and police accountability in this community. It is our inability to unite as a political force, with a strategy for achieving political power that is the problem. It is our inability to articulate a clear vision that will build a political movement in support of a progressive agenda. In addition to an IPA, that movement needs to support immigrant rights, a living wage for all workers, and environmental justice. Just electing one person (any person) as mayor is not enough! If we don’t build a movement that gets them elected AND holds them accountable, we are wasting our time.
I would like to encourage everyone reading this to come to the next Central Valley Progressive PAC meeting to discuss political strategy. Here are the details of that meeting:
Saturday, June 14
3:30 - 5 PM
Central Valley Progressive PAC meeting to discuss the results of the June 3rd election and to plan our strategy for the November 4, 2008 election, including the referendum to overturn the right to same-sex marriage in California. Meeting open to members and guests. For more information, visit http://www.cvppac.org or call 559-435-7360.
My response to John is that what he says is not true. Police accountability is an important issue and establishing an Independent Police Auditor (or some other mechanism to have civilian control over the police) is essential. How we reach our goal of police accountability is not clear. If it was as simple as getting the mayor to support the concept, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Republican mayor Alan Autry supports an IPA. Hell, even the police chief Jerry Dyer says he supports the concept. So, it is not enough to have a mayor that supports an IPA. Actually the Central California Criminal Justice Committee (CCCJC), who Ellie, John, and Gloria are a part, opposed the version of the IPA that the mayor supported. The mayor wanted the IPA to report to the City Manager and it was felt by the CCCJC that would not be independent enough. They wanted a version of the IPA that reported to the City Council.
The fact that Henry Perea is opposed to an IPA sucks. Those of us that support Henry have lobbied him on this issue, but we have not moved him to take a better position, yet. The IPA was almost, but not a complete deal breaker for many people who support him for mayor. I, and others will continue to press him to change his position, and hopefully he will, in the future, support an IPA that will hold the police accountable.
The reality is that Tom Boyajian is not going to win the race for mayor. That is too bad. I think he would make a good mayor. But, he is not going to win. What is going to happen is that no candidate will get a majority in Tuesday’s election. There will be a runoff. Henry Perea and Ashley Swearengin will probably face off in November.
Progressives in Fresno, including the CCCJC members who have been a part of this dialog, will then have to make a decision. Will they support Henry Perea, who is good on most, but not all issues, support the Republican pro-business candidate, or will they opt out? I’m hoping that progressive political activists will unite to elect a mayor who will take this city out of the vice-grip lock of successive hard core Republican administrations.
In my opinion, it is not the progressive political activists who are supporting Perea that are the obstacle to getting an IPA and police accountability in this community. It is our inability to unite as a political force, with a strategy for achieving political power that is the problem. It is our inability to articulate a clear vision that will build a political movement in support of a progressive agenda. In addition to an IPA, that movement needs to support immigrant rights, a living wage for all workers, and environmental justice. Just electing one person (any person) as mayor is not enough! If we don’t build a movement that gets them elected AND holds them accountable, we are wasting our time.
I would like to encourage everyone reading this to come to the next Central Valley Progressive PAC meeting to discuss political strategy. Here are the details of that meeting:
Saturday, June 14
3:30 - 5 PM
Central Valley Progressive PAC meeting to discuss the results of the June 3rd election and to plan our strategy for the November 4, 2008 election, including the referendum to overturn the right to same-sex marriage in California. Meeting open to members and guests. For more information, visit http://www.cvppac.org or call 559-435-7360.
As to Mike stating that Tom is a second tier candidate that doesn't stand a chance to win. The same thing was said about Matt Gonzales (Green Party candidate) when he ran for the SF Board of Sups. Matt and his supporters worked their asses off and he won. A few years latter Matt ran for Mayor of SF. When the polls showed he was likely to win the Dems pulled out all the stops. They poured a few million into Gavin Newsomes campaign. They had several Democratic big wigs come to town to campaign for Newsome including Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton. In the end Newsome barely won the race. Even with charges of fraud, Ballots found floating in the Bay, Polling places in Newsome strongholds staying open later than usual, etc. He barely won the race. The difference is progressives in SF will fight the good fight and not choose the less evil candidate.
Maybe Fresno and the CVPPAC should follow suit.
Maybe Fresno and the CVPPAC should follow suit.
Tom Boyajian is not a Green Party member. Ironically, he ran against Green Party member Lloyd Carter in his first run for the Fresno City Council. Tom is a Democrat.
I never said Tom is a Green. I'm not a party hack for the green party. If Dems. Peace and Freedom, and heaven forbid a Rep., etc. run a progressive candidate that is better then a Green I'd vote for her/him. The point I was making is if progressives would fully support a Good 'Liberal' we might actualy win an election every decade or so.
The race for mayor here turned out as I predicted (see above), but one thing that was remarkable, from looking at where Swearengin and Perea got their votes is that it was a straight North/South split. In other words, the poorer more working class neighborhoods in South Fresno voted for the Democrat Perea and the more affluent neighborhoods in North Fresno voted for Swearengin, the Republican. The biggest factor, in the November runoff, will be how successful organized labor and progressive grassroots groups are in getting out the vote in South Fresno.
The Nov election will be the first time that organized labor, primarily SEIU-UHW, plays a significant role in a mayoral election in Fresno. Up until now, the developers and builders have played the tune and politicians have danced for them, because they (the builders and developers) have provided the overwhelming majority of money in local campaigns. SEIU-UHW changes that balance of power and levels the playing field. It will be an exciting race in November.
A side note: It is worth noting that mayor Alan Autry ran 8 years ago on a theme to end “The Tale of Two Cities.” I think the results of last nights election gives us an indication about how successful Autry was as mayor.
Mike Rhodes
Editor
Community Alliance newspaper
P.O. Box 5077
Fresno Ca 93755
(559) 978-4502 (cell)
(559) 226-3962 (fax)
AllianceEditor [at] comcast.net
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/
The Nov election will be the first time that organized labor, primarily SEIU-UHW, plays a significant role in a mayoral election in Fresno. Up until now, the developers and builders have played the tune and politicians have danced for them, because they (the builders and developers) have provided the overwhelming majority of money in local campaigns. SEIU-UHW changes that balance of power and levels the playing field. It will be an exciting race in November.
A side note: It is worth noting that mayor Alan Autry ran 8 years ago on a theme to end “The Tale of Two Cities.” I think the results of last nights election gives us an indication about how successful Autry was as mayor.
Mike Rhodes
Editor
Community Alliance newspaper
P.O. Box 5077
Fresno Ca 93755
(559) 978-4502 (cell)
(559) 226-3962 (fax)
AllianceEditor [at] comcast.net
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/
This will certainly be a costly runoff election. Supporters for each candidate will likely spend a lot of money and resources between now and November - costs that wouldn't be necessary if we had Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). It is also possible that an IRV election in this case may have resulted in a clearer (or even different) outcome.
For more information:
http://cver.org/
in where the majority of Swearingen's votes (N of Shaw) came from and where Perea's (S of Shaw) came from. Mike, I agree that Bubba's "Tale of Two Cities" strategy failed miserably--Fresno is still split economically and racially.
What the run-off in November may also turn into is a referendum on whether "born-again Christians" will continue to control the Mayor's office. Swearingen finally admitted, last week, that she is a part of the Peoples' Church. That church has tried for years to politically control this community.
What the run-off in November may also turn into is a referendum on whether "born-again Christians" will continue to control the Mayor's office. Swearingen finally admitted, last week, that she is a part of the Peoples' Church. That church has tried for years to politically control this community.
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