Final Election Results
Nearly a month later, as of 1:40 today, the County is calling this the Official Final Results:
OJAI CITY COUNCIL (VF-3)
6/6 100.00%
Candidate/Vote Count/Percent
NP - STEVE OLSEN/1,789/25.40%
NP - CAROL B. SMITH/1,404/19.93%
NP - JOE DE VITO/1,259/17.87%
NP - LEONARD J. KLAIF/1,183/16.79%
NP - DENNIS LEARY/713/10.12%
NP - PETE LAFOLLETTE/671/9.53%
WRITE-IN/23/0.33%
Total/7,042/99.97%
Check here for official results in other local races.
OJAI CITY COUNCIL (VF-3)
6/6 100.00%
Candidate/Vote Count/Percent
NP - STEVE OLSEN/1,789/25.40%
NP - CAROL B. SMITH/1,404/19.93%
NP - JOE DE VITO/1,259/17.87%
NP - LEONARD J. KLAIF/1,183/16.79%
NP - DENNIS LEARY/713/10.12%
NP - PETE LAFOLLETTE/671/9.53%
WRITE-IN/23/0.33%
Total/7,042/99.97%
Check here for official results in other local races.
posted by Lisa Snider at 2:44 PM
15 Comments:
I have to wonder....
....if so many people had not voided their ballots by voting for 4 candidates instead of 3, and if Pete and Dennis had not diluted the vote the way Ralph Nader did during the Bush/Gore contest of 2000, might Lenny Klaif not have easily beaten Joe Devito, and perhaps even Carol Smith?
Thank you for the opportunity to
remind you what you should already know- the prospect of serving a term of office next to the status quo city council is not that endearing to put it mildly. Also I offered several times to drop out to spare the vote but was refused.
So you might reconsider your sling
before chastising others for what
you hadn't the courage yourself! PL
You're kind of short-tempered, aren't you, Pete? It makes me wonder how well you would have done if you'd had to sit on the Council for four years while allowing people to excoriate you and blame you for everything that was wrong with Ojai.
Seeing how you took a simple -- and moot -- criticism at a barely read blog, one can only imagine how you would take criticism that was public, up close, constant, and personal.
Offering to drop out is merely polite, and carries no meaning in the real world. Actually dropping out to ensure another candidate's win is another matter entirely, and is a selfless act beyond the capabilities of most of the people who would choose to run for office in the first place.
I would stand by my original statement, that being that the egos of the other candidates and the inability of some voters to follow simple instructions probably cost Lenny Klaif a seat on the Council.
Rememberone avatar of peace and light who came to Earth, but was born in stable because traveling parents were told no room at the inn. On Peasants with Pitchforks editorial,Bret Bradigan has always been balanced but his
repeated editorials on peasants w/pitchforms is below the
belt and beneith his intergrity level. Care to
discuss it in public setting anonymous? Divisive political
tactics like this and recent Horganisms are not
something to expect to go unaswered.
Sincerely,
Pete L
Pete, you never respond to anything that anyone says on a point-by-point basis, and it makes talking with you almost pointless.
You accuse others of doing something that you do more than anyone else who writes or speaks publicly in Ojai -- you smear and insult people.
I see no constructive criticism coming from you. You offer no concrete solutions to any problem. You just attack others, and then accuse them of being the attackers.
Why would anyone want to debate you, or discuss anthing with you, publicly or otherwise?
Pete - I still can't figure out what it is you are objecting to in Bret's column.
As I responded at The Ojai Post:
The "peasants with pitchforks" theme is a widely used political and literary phrase. Are you objecting to the words exactly or the analogy behind it? I didn't react in the same way - am I missing something here? I must admit I personally have always found Bret's columns to be very balanced and insightful (and nothing along the lines of Ms. Horgan's foot-in-the-mouth blunders).
Pete is coming across like a sore loser.
Thanks anyway anonymous, but I would suppose anyone posting as
an alias would not be in the positon to debate publicly on
most subjects- do I smear and insult or is it my reaction to that
which bothers you? I may be guilty of taking issues personally, but in a broader sense it is the direction of Ojai that matters most.I did my best to critisize postively during the forums- where were you and your ideas? A peon with a rotten peach is a fair description of my idea of political progress.PL
A peon with a rotten peach, Pete? What a preciously innocent image you have of yourself. What an undeserved image of innocence.
Whoever called you a festering open sore?
You're in a class with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and other right-wing smear-meisters.
Say what you will -- everything you say or do merely reinforces my original impression of you; a very unhappy man who needs to spread his misery to all who might hear or listen.
You.
Have.
No.
Solutions.
Period.
Sorry to belabor this anonymous
but you apparently are reading
challenged- and also the festering
sore metaphor names a process not
a person. My no solution campaign
went as follows:
Ojai would do well to follow a building ordinance adopted by Santa Barbara recently limiting the size of remodels to a certain square footage preventing dimensions that block surrounding views and overshadow modest pre-existing structures. The big buildout of Ojai deminishes charm and liveability and comes with side effects of unsustainable growth - crime, unhealthy air, traffic congestion and general threats to public safety and the quality of life. Oversized homes and commercial buildings subtract from the charm and diversity bringing tourist revenue to a small town that is not yet another suburb. The downtown arcade area is designed for pedestrians with a central plaza business district, not a gateway to decentralized commercial buildings producing traffic congestion.
Also as important is providing for the culture-youth, arts, music and creative pursuits, as well as acknowledging the many rich and varied spiritual communities we have for a town this size. It is good to see young people walking and relating to a small town they grew up in and still feel a part of.
I like small neighborhood encounters with safe streets for bicycles and walkers and kids and the occasional wayward dog wandering down what it believes is a quiet lane, not a busy thoroughfare. My vision of the quality of life here compliments but not resists a finite valley supporting healthy clean natural resources which have potential for benign clean energies and renewables - solar, wind, and bicycle and electric transportation. PETE L
Whatever you may believe, Pete, I think that there are at least 1789 people in Ojai who disagree with you, or who at least disagree with your approach.
As for Len Klaif, I am sorry that he did not win a seat. Len has some ideas I do not agree with and he can be abrasive, but I also believe that he would have made a good Council member. He has the ability to admit when he is wrong, and everything I know about you makes me feel that you are exceptionally challenged in that area. People who can never admit when they are wrong are dangerous, in my opinion, and should not be in positions of leadership.
I hope that Len runs again someday, and I hope that he wins. At this point in time, I cannot hope the same thing about you.
Maybe we will talk again someday, but this is my last comment in this thread. If you want the last word, it's yours.
Pete: perhaps you could save the "last word" to answer my two queries about what you find so offensive about Bret's column(s). I know it's beating a dead horse at this point, but you did afterall publically attack the integrity of the editor and at this point I am quite curious if you think things through before posting. Or do you (a la Dennis Leary) just get an inkling or "feeling" of a perceived injustice (read: anything that is contrary to what you believe) and then automatically go on the attack? Many things are not always black and white; what I find extremely dangerous are those who are colorblind to all the varying shades of gray. Rambling on ad nauseum (again - Mr. Leary) is one thing, but attacking the professional integrity of someone most of this town respects is quite another. So please clue me in as to Bret's editorial faux pas...
LTOR
OK but I have little use for the "last word" because it resembles a peeing match and I don't need to go that badly. Peasants with Pitchforks reminded
me of thoughtless labels like fringe elementa and crackpots. All
discrimination is harmful, but Bret
tells me that one has common useage
to categorize certain sectors-
I was unaware of that useage. TY
Yes, I did explain my usage to Mr. LaFollette, and I certainly do appreciate Long Time Ojai Resident's kind words. One of a small but discerning group.
The peasants with pitchforks theme got me thinking about where that phrase started, so I wrote a column going into the issue a little deeper, even though its broader theme was about how there is no contradiction between a hard head and a soft heart. It will appear in Friday's paper.
When I was a schoolboy in an area with a large and vigorous Polish population, Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a revered hero, and he led a peasant army into battle against the Russians. They fought well and won several battles armed with nothing but pitchforks and sickles and scythes, but were no match against a well-trained cavalry that a dozen years later chased Napoleon's army back across the frozen steppes.
Another probably better known image that comes to mind is the mob that chases Dr. Frankenstein's monster.
But either way, the phrase has a long and distinguished history. Having unsuccessfully lobbied for the city to preserve the visitors center, I have proudly entered the lists as a peasant with pitchfork myself a time or two.
Pete: Thanks for responding and for the clarification.
And Bret: Yes, those of us who have had the good fortune to live here a while and who have read your columns for years pretty much know where your sensibilities lie and we have had the benefit of (gleefully) watching you "fight the good fight" every now and then.
As always - I look forward to reading more.
LTOR
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