Good morning all,
I’m pretty sure that most of us aren’t feeling very optimistic following the results of the local elections. After spending most of the early hours today wondering where to go from here, and whether it was worth it to keep trying, I remembered the saying posted above and decided it’s definitely worth it to keep trying.
"Failure doesn't come from falling down. Failure comes from not getting up"
First and foremost I want to thank and congratulate the brave challengers of the status quo: Susan Kirsch, Kevin Haroff and Al Dugan. They deserve our support and gratitude for trying to make a difference. In fact, even though they did not win, they did indeed make a difference.
The numbers were on the side of the two incumbents, but Susan Kirsch did very well in District 3, garnering 5,096 votes to Sears’ 6,792. Kate Sears can certainly not declare a landslide. The entry of Frank Egger into the race in District 2 split that vote between the two challengers, but it appears that Katie Rice would have prevailed anyway. District 4 simply had too many challengers vying for that office, and two West Marin candidates prevailed.
CSPP interviewed those two West Marin candidates, Dennis Rodoni and Dominic Grossi, prior to endorsing Al Dugan. They both indicated a concern for the unfunded pension debt our county has amassed. We will pursue the issue with them.
There will be much discussion and analysis about what went wrong, but the truth is that the system works against challengers. Special interest groups put enormous sums of money into defeating “change” candidates, even in small Marin County. There is too much riding on keeping the status quo intact.
To be honest, I did not expect pension reform to carry the day. It is far too complex an issue to easily grasp and the forces working against it are too financially powerful. I did, however, believe that the anti-high density issues would resonate with Marin homeowners and prevail. I am both surprised and concerned that they did not.
So, rather than staying “down”, I intend to get up and keep fighting the fight. I hope you will, too.
Regards,
Jody
CSPP