What Those "No on Recall" Signs are REALLY Saying!

Have you seen the new "No on Recall" signs?  Red on Black.  They look just like those signs people post that say "No Trespassing" or "Beware of Dog" or "Keep Out."  And I think that's very appropriate.  Because, after all, these guys have been running their little fiefdom on their own for the past 30 years, and they're not ready to share.

 

This is their last chance.  They're trying to tell the current generation of Rosemead residents that they are not welcome in city hall.  They're literally posting hundreds of signs that are figuratively saying, "Keep Out.  New ideas are not welcome here."

 

We need to work our hardest to show these guys that they're wrong.  They don't own city hall.  City hall needs to start serving the interests of all Rosemead residents.

 

Reminds me of a line from an old Woody Gutherie song.  Its from some of the later verses in "This Land is Your Land."  It's the part of the song that folks don't sing so much any more:

 

"As I was walking, I saw a sign post

And on that sign it said, 'No Tresspassing.'

But on the other side, it didn't say nothing

That side was made for you and me."

 

So, September 19, let's turn those "No Tresspassing" signs on their head.  Let's make city hall a place where everyone is welcome and everyone is listened to.  Let's bring Rosemead into the 21st Century.

You know what else I've been thinking?

In the recall election, there are effectively five candidates vying for two Rosemead City Council seats (the two incumbents, plus three challengers).  Here's what I've noticed about their signs:

 

1.  The incumbents' names don't even appear on their own yard signs.  Are the No on Recall folks that embarrassed about their own candidates?  After thirty years on the city council, you'd think that their names would by now be associated by all Rosemead voters with a whole slew of accomplishments.  Their very name should be synonymous with Rosemead, and all that is good about the city.  So why aren't their names on the signs?  Obviously, their own polling (read:  polling, paid for by Wal-Mart) has shown that Rosemead voters are unimpressed with the incuments' "record" of "success."

 

2.  One of the challenger's signs appear pretty much only on empty lots.  It looks like he's got about six actual households that support him.  Beyond that, it appears it's just one man, creeping stealthily through the night, posting his signs on empty lots when no one is looking.  Which would sort of make sense.  On his FPPC form, filed in January, he showed he had $50,050 in his campaign treasury.  $50,000 of that was a loan from himself.  That's not much depth of support, is it?

 

3.  We've been a little slow getting our own signs back up.  Of course, if we had the resources of Wal-Mart, we could call everyone in the city several times to identify our supporters, then use paid employees to deliver our signs.  If we had their deep pockets, we could also afford to pay for ridiculous billboard-sized eyesores on the front and/or back yards of virtually all of our supporters, too.  And we could afford to waste five or more double-sided signs on select houses.  By contrast, many of our supporters have been forced to make due with those old, weather-beaten "Yes on Recall" signs from last April.

Isn't that amazing?  After over a year of campaigning, and after the election was first voted away from us by a self-interested city council majority, then suspended as a result of a self-interested lawsuit by a mayor against his own city, our supporters remained steadfast.  Those old signs are still on fences and in yards.  The really dead signs have been cut in half and posted indoors, in windows.  And that's because we could not afford to replace our signs three and four times (as our opponents could) because we didn't have the money to pay for such largess.

 

The bad news is that our opponents still have more signs up than we do.  The good news is that their lawns with signs represent pretty much the only people who are going to vote for them.  Many of our supporters, meanwhile, are trying to keep under the radar.  A lot of them fear retribution from the current city council majority.  Some of them have even told us privately that of course they'll vote "YES" on Recall, even while they give lip service and window space to the signs supporting the current city council majority.

 

So, two things:  1--Don't worry if they have more signs up than we do.  We know we've got more supporters, and we just need to make sure they turn out on election day; 2--If you DO want a new yard sign, contact SOC.  There's a post on this forum that includes directions on how to get one.