Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Here’s a press release that combines “San Francisco values” with “Nevada County values” — to coin an old campaign phrase — when it comes to sustainability.

Tonight at Matteo’s, from 5 – 9:30 p.m., 15 percent of all proceeds will go toward this excursion to San Francisco (by carpool). Details of the June 17 meeting to team up on sustainability are below:

“Nevada City is gearing up for the New Gold Rush and San Francisco has taken notice! For the last several months, a committee commissioned by the Nevada City City Council, called the Nevada City Sustainability Team, has been meeting twice a month. In each meeting they have focused on extracting critical information obtained from two recent sustainability workshops held by Darin Dinsmore and Associates. Attendees at the two half-day workshops identified over 60 current sustainable projects and more than 40 possible future projects in Nevada City alone. The Nevada City Sustainability Team has prioritized and identified job and industry opportunities as well as the best ways to build a strong, local economy while simultaneously building community resiliency.

“Nevada City Mayor, Reinette Senum, has been spearheading the committee and working closely with some of the best sustainable leaders of San Francisco. Former Craig’s List Foundation Executive Director, Darian Rodrigues Heyman, approached Mayor Senum with the concept of organizing an ad hoc group of San Francisco’s most sustainably-minded leaders to assist Nevada City in its sustainable vision. This ad hoc group includes names representing organization such as Earth Island Institute, 350.org, Global Exchange, City of San Francisco. Their overall objective? To take San Francisco’s wealth of experience and apply it to Nevada City: a small 3,000 person city that spans only a mile. The concept behind this is that though Nevada City is making great strides, it has encountered many hurdles thus stalling some of its progress. But by bringing in a set fresh of minds to concentrate their expertise on a small contained area, such as Nevada City, the collective effort will garner large results in a relatively short amount of time.

“Focusing this collaborative effort on Nevada City will ultimately serve San Francisco. Nevada City is at the very top of the big city’s watershed. What happens up in the foothills of the Sierra ultimately impacts the city by the bay. This was evident in 1884 when the first environmental regulation was enacted with the Sawyer decision ultimately halting Nevada County’s hydraulic mining that was dumping tons of debris into the rivers and streams decimating valley farmers, the delta and ultimately the San Francisco bay. Today, there has been a reversal of fortune: Nevada City has some of the worst ozone in the country due to the central valley and San Francisco’s air pollution. The lesson? Everything is connected to everything else.

“The ultimate goal is to make Nevada City THE sustainable and scalable. This meeting of Nevada City and San Francisco minds is set for Thursday, June 17th, scheduled in San Francisco.

“Tonight, at Matteo’s, from 5-9:30pm, 15% of all proceeds will go towards this excursion to San Francisco. Party with a Purpose. Bring the family down to Matteo’s for dinner, come for drinks, bring friends.
And, yes, the Sustainability Team will be carpooling to San Francisco.”

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I was “out of pocket” on Wednesday, but here’s the press release emailed from the Elections Office on the latest estimate of ballots to be counted:

“The following numbers are the most up-to date estimate of the number of ballots that remain to be counted:

Vote-by-Mail Ballots: 6061
Provisional Ballots: 565
Ballots to Remake (damaged ballots): 899

Please note that these numbers are approximate, not an exact total.”

Earlier, the Elections told me about 6,800 ballots remained to be counted.

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Tom McClintock’s own primary victory — widely expected with no serious opposition — was about the only thing he had going for him on Tuesday.

•In state senate district 4, Doug LaMalfa beat Rick Keene, whom McClintock had endorsed. This is a big blow to the McClintock “machine,” inherited from Doolittle.

•Prop. 14 won, though McClintock had said vote “no.” Prop. 16 also lost, though Tom voted “yes.”

•Steve Poizner — McClintock’s guy — lost handily to Meg Whitman for Governor.

•Sam Aanestad — also McClintock’s guy — lost handily to Abel Maldonado for Lieutenant Governor.

In local races, McClintock endorsed Barry Pruett for county clerk-recorder, and Barry lost handily. Tom’s lone victory here: Sue Horne, whom he endorsed, won.

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Californians approved Prop. 14, the open primary measure, that will drastically change how voters choose candidates in elections.

“This sends a clear message that Californians are tired of partisan gridlock and dysfunction and want a system where representatives put what’s best for California ahead of extreme partisan doctrine,” the governor said in a statement.

Republicans and our Congressman Tom McClintock had urged a “no” vote for the proposition.

In addition, a closely watched. PG&E-backed initiative to limit the ability of local governments to enter the electricity business lost. Details are here.

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Terry Lamphier is beating John Spencer for the District 3 Supervisor race, shaking Grass Valley to its political core. The background is here.

The results show Lamphier with 1,862 votes (51.1 percent) and Spencer with 1,785 votes (48.9 percent), with 11 of 11 precincts reporting.

About 6,800 ballot countywide remain remain to be counted during the 28-day canvass period, however, including vote by mail ballots that were dropped off on election day and provisional ballots, Gail Smith of the Elections Office told me. This is normal in any election, she said.

Lamphier ran a “grassroots” campaign, walking to 3,000 homes in District 3, as this blog reported the other day. “Time for a new Supervisor — one that listens to its citizens,” was his slogan.

Spencer, by contrast, ran a lackluster campaign. He did not go door-to-door much and ran an anemic (and late) social-networking campaign. Spencer — considered the most conservative of an all-conservative board — was seeking a third term.

The city’s longtime “powers that be,” including Mayor Lisa Swarthout and the county Contractors Association, had supported Spencer. Lisa donated $100 to Spencer’s campaign through her downtown Grass Valley business. Spencer’s spouse, Patti Ingram, sits on the planning commission, as does Daniel Swartzendruber, who Tweeted for John.

The Union’s management has long aligned itself with the Swarthout/NCCA/Ingram-Spencer group as well. Some of them are personal friends with the editor/publisher. He has sharply criticized Lamphier in the past.

The Union’s columnist, George Rebane, and the Former Union Columnist Russ Steele vocally endorsed Spencer — though they don’t live in District 3. Rebane and Steele also were vocal supporters of Barry Pruett, who lost as well for clerk-recorder. Their lone victory: An endorsement of Sue Horne, who became county assessor.

Over in Grass Valley, former Grass Valley council members Steve Enos and Mark Johnson were among the people who were instrumental in running Lamphier’s campaign, right down to the placements of signs in neighborhoods, as well as helping to arrange meetings with core voting blocks, such as mobile home owners.

They also helped recruit him to run when Chauncey Poston and others decided against getting into the race, partly because of the political “mudslinging” that goes on.

The county’s Democratic party also endorsed Lamphier in the race. They are the same group that helped Charlie Brown beat Tom McClintock in the county.

But in the end, Terry’s personality, message of “change” and one-on-one approach helped him win over the voters. You can also bet he’s more skeptical of reopening the Idaho-Maryland Mine that Spencer.

I ran into Terry at the Sierra Festival of the Arts two weekends ago, and he was looking dapper, with a campaign button and relaxed style. This was in contrast to the past, when he was more combative during the “no growth” initiative days.

In the other races, Dai Meagher won for treasurer/tax collector — though there will be a runoff with Tina Vernon in November, and Greg Diaz won for clerk-recorder and Sue Horne won for Assessor. as previously reported. The full results are here.

The other results are:

Assessor

Sue Horne: 12,352 votes – 60.8 percent
Rolf Kleinhans: 7,979 votes – 39.2 percent

Clerk-Recorder

Gregory J. Diaz: 13,632 votes – 69.0 percent
Barry W. Pruett: 6,119 votes – 31.0 percent

Treasurer/Tax Collector

Dai Meagher: 5,648 votes – 30.3 percent
Tina M. Vernon: 4,986 votes – 26.7 percent
Rick Nolle: 4,361 votes – 23.4 percent
Darlene Woo: 3,667 votes – 19.6 percent

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The Union has gone “nighty night” this election day, shutting down its real-time “reporting” (the biggest faux pas was reporting that Keene was “smoking” LaMalfa, when it was the other way around).

Meanwhile, the rest of us hacks are just getting our second wind, with late-night TV and some popcorn. Except for Sue Horne’s decisive win over Rolf Kleinhans, our county’s “good old boy” politics took it on the chin.

Tom McClintock’s favorites, ranging from Steve Poizner and Sam Aanestad to Casey Tanner (in Placer) and Barry Pruett, got beat soundly. Tom also endorsed Keene, not LaMalfa.

Nowhere did the local “machine” get more ground down than in Grass Valley, where John Spencer — the most conservative supervisor — held an eight vote lead over challenger Terry Lamphier. If Chauncey Poston had run instead, Spencer would have lost handily.

“Lamphier makes surprise showing in GV race,” The Union reports in its print edition for Wednesday, pointing to a razor thin margin for the latest results.

Surprise to whom? As this blog reported the other day, Lamphier walked to 3,000 homes in the District 3 Supervisor campaign. The guy has been running a very savvy campaign: low to the ground, with lots of face time with voters.

Spencer, by contrast, ran a lackluster campaign. His cheerleaders were “far right” bloggers Russ Steele and George Rebane, who didn’t even live in the district.

Daniel Swartzendruber, who told me on Aaron Klein’s website the other day that the Contractors Association representing our western county does not have a Republican agenda, went out of his way to Tweet on John’s behalf on election day.

“I just voted for @SpencerforSUPV you should too!” he said eagerly. It was one of many such posts.

Thanks Daniel for confirming my point. The Contractor’s Association also held a fundraiser for John, as reported here.

No matter what the outcome, the close race shows how the winds of political change are blowing through Grass Valley.

It long has been a stronghold of the Contractor’s Association and conservative candidates, fully supported by The Union’s editor/publisher, who is personal friends with many of the elected candidates and supporters. Trouble is, this does not reflect the rank-and-file residents of the city, however, who include many renters and less affluent people.

I’m glad the “anti-growth” initiatives were defeated in Grass Valley just prior to the recession. But I never thought the politics on the city council and county adequately represented the electorate. In fact, the “in your face” political approach by some of them only inflamed the situation — and led to the vigilance of Terry’s campaign.

Now the proverbial worm has turned. This is just a warm up for the still-simmering plan to reopen the Idaho-Maryland mine.

It’s time for Grass Valley to become more introspective about its politics. Who will lead the change?

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Tony Waters, who attended the Diaz campaign party at the National Hotel, sent along this email for posting. I was glad to see his daughter participating in the political process; AP government students at Nevada Union High also worked on some of the local campaigns. Some of the ones who worked on the Terry Lamphier campaign reported being shouted at while waiving signs in Grass Valley. BTW, St. Olaf College is an excellent school; one of my high-school buddies went there. Thanks Tony.

Hi Jeff:
My daughter is a newly declared Political Science major at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and wanted to re-enter Grass Valley by getting a sense of local politics. We looked around for a place to go. The Democratic Party was to be at the Briar Patch Co-op, and the Republicans were at the Grey Goose Bistro in Alta Sierra. Granola and Steak. How predictable. How Nevada County.
As a compromise, we decided to try the Greg Diaz event up at the National Hotel in Nevada City. I endorsed Greg early in the campaign, and I half hoped to meet some of the contributors to this blog who I’ve never seen in person.
We arrived at about 8:30, and things were very hushed among the 10 or 12 campaign workers. They had been promised results from the Rood Center by this time, but they were not forthcoming. They kept hitting the refresh button on the laptop, but no results. Not from the County (i.e. Diaz’ own office), The Union, or anyone else. More nervousness, as friends drifted in. Finally at 9:21, news arrived the old-fashioned way, by courier from the Rood Center. Diaz had a major lead in his race with Pruett. The whole room sighed with relief. A math professor did some quick calculations in her head based on the numbers delivered, and concluded that Diaz’ lead was insurmountable.
As for meeting people from this blog, I did see a familiar face with a big moustache. I wasn’t sure whether he was at the bar, or with the Diaz campaign, but it turned out indeed to be self-described “Village Idiot,” Bob Crabb who I’ve exchanged words with through this blog. We agreed that this medium is a great way to keep you honest and upright, if nothing else, and I wish all a happy election night.

Tony

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