Fresno Famous

oops

"i'm not naive, and think that it didn't play a part,"

sorry, that should say, "i'm not naive and don't think that didn't play a part,"

and yes, i like my repeated usage of negative in that sentence. so good i confused myself while writing it.

Leo, if you mean that she's

Leo, if you mean that she's taken time to talk to business owners downtown, I suppose that's fair, but I'm pretty certain Henry T spends time downtown. I had lunch with him downtown last month (he set the place).
Anything else I could have said here has been covered in ed's comments.
Hunt for Mayor!

Regarding Downtown

I can speak for our own Coffee House, and have spoken to a couple other business owners in Downtown.

Ashley has been the only one to take time to spend time Downtown. Even if just to go over some documents or what have you.

Should the words of either candidate be just words about downtown, you can bet some business owners of downtown will be sure to remind what words were said and by whom with regards to downtown.

Right now they are both on the hook, and right now I can say only one of them has made an effort to frequent some downtown establishments that I know of.

Diablo

the rest

so, i've got 15 minutes, i'll briefly scratch out my answers to your points.

"2nd of all, Perea is part of the old boy network, supported by the Chamber of Commerce & law enforcement & unions"

-it seems we differ on exactly who is in the network. although unions and law enforcement have played a role in fresno, i haven't considered them to be the good old boys here.

"3rd, Henry T. is part of the Perea political machine, in case you didn't notice, he would never have gotten this far on his own unless "Pappa Perea" hadn't been nearby making sure that people endorsed his son"

i don't recall saying that perea was some sort of outsider to the political process, although i'm not sure i would say he is part of the machine. while you feel that he has only gotten to where he is due to familial connections, i disagree. i'm not naive, and think that it didn't play a part, but henry t. has been endorsed by many people along the way, and not just his father or friends of his father.

"4th, what exactly has Henry T done on his own? theres no way that he could have helped Razi Assemi in fixing DT (which he regularly takes credit for), because Razi is a scion of the Granville/Pyramid family & if he can't cut red-tape on his own, will he failed in the family business, 2 marks against him"

what have any of us done on our own. it is a myth that any one is self-made. perea has worked very well within the sytems of this city and world. it takes collaboration to lead, and henry has worked with his fellow council members to balance the budget, to spur downtown redevelopment, to help rebirth the cultural arts district, and so on while he has been on the council. he has worked with developers like reza assemi and william dyke in the process. he has worked with people like adam longhetti (not sure if i speeled that right) to start creative fresno. he has worked in the process of many things, along with many people to accomplish great things for fresno. are we to believe that candidate swearengin worked all alone @ her job, that she created it by herself, that it wasn't a joint effort between business and the state college? also, i'm not really sure how reza is a failure, as he has successfully done 4 redevelopment projects downtown.

"5th, Creative Fresno is Henry T's only plus, but I don't think that he did that on his own, I think it was a group effort"

so, group efforts are bad?

"6th, Ashley's been doing collaborative work here in Fresno for 20 years, skills needed with people that she will be working with in politics, business, academia, if she becomes mayor"

wait, so you criticise perea for working in a group effort, and praise swearengin for that? or are you just praising her because of her 20 years as opposed to his 10 or so?

"7th, Scharton endorsed her; is he a RW, GOBN, LC'er?"

not to my knowledge. but, i never said she was only supported by those groups. nor does the support of a few people (my words/thoughts) on the other side mean that she is the candidate that best represents those groups. let me give a similar example: john mccain has been supported and endorsed by joe liebermann. does that mean mccain is liberal or any of the things that the republican party smeared liebermann with during the 2000 presidential election? does it mean that liebermann is the same as mccain?

to once again only reply to a part

i didn't comment on your points because i didn't care to. this neither validates nor invalidates them, just means that i'm not taking the time to.

again, it's just my opinion of the situation, and who is supporting her. yes, she is supported by others as well. as a matter of fact, i'm pretty sure andy hansen-smith, frequent commenter, was supporting her, and from my interaction with him (here & the one time i met him) i wouldn't say he's a part of the good old boy network, but i don't want to speak for him. quite the contrary, but that's just my opinion of him.

i think you also misunderstood one of my statements, "just like you could be young and still be a part." i'm not addressing you, orcaoid, at all with that statement. i am addressing the nature of the network.

npr debate

where are talking heads? i can't make up my mind without political commentary.

I'm pretty sure the stations

I'm pretty sure the stations have to offer candidates their lowest available rate.
pido (too lazy to sign in)

perea needs to get moving if he wants to win

what i want to know is why hasn't henry reserved any television time yet. Doesn't he know in fresno the market sells out quickly and the prices sky-rocket?

really, just because you're a woman doesn't mean you can't be a

you could only comment on 1 point?? thats weak support

could you provide proof that Ashley is controlled, owned by or part of, the GOBN????

so, I take it my points 2 thru 7 must hold true, since you couldn't comment??

as to me being GOBN, I don't get invited to either party, since I'm DRSG, w/ a touch of anarchist

& being broke half the time won't endear me to the mucky-mucks, so I doubt I'll be invited any of their shin-digs any time soon

"it ain't over, til it's over", Yogi Berra

Let's remember please that

Let's remember please that Ashley is the one who almost single-handedly organized the March on the Mall which got lots of people thinking and talking again about its potential.

I know Ashley to be fully committed to a vibrant downtown and I know she has the proven leadership skills to actually get results. Contrast this with the other candidate who has held office at Fresno City Hall for the past 5+ years (and whose father occupied a seat in that same building for 8 years prior) yet our downtown still lacks the spark of innovation or excitement it needs.

feel free

resent away. but, it's still my opinion that an autry endorsement would cement in my mind that she is those things.

and really, just because you're a woman doesn't mean you can't be a part of a good old boy network. just like you could be young, and still be a part.

right wing fresno, the lincoln club, and and the good old boy ne

I resent that remark

1st of all, Ashley is a woman, in case you didn't notice, so how exactly is she an "old boy" or attached to that "network"?

2nd of all, Perea is part of the old boy network, supported by the Chamber of Commerce & law enforcement & unions

3rd, Henry T. is part of the Perea political machine, in case you didn't notice, he would never have gotten this far on his own unless "Pappa Perea" hadn't been nearby making sure that people endorsed his son

4th, what exactly has Henry T done on his own? theres no way that he could have helped Razi Assemi in fixing DT (which he regularly takes credit for), because Razi is a scion of the Granville/Pyramid family & if he can't cut red-tape on his own, will he failed in the family business, 2 marks against him

5th, Creative Fresno is Henry T's only plus, but I don't think that he did that on his own, I think it was a group effort

6th, Ashley's been doing collaborative work here in Fresno for 20 years, skills needed with people that she will be working with in politics, business, academia, if she becomes mayor

7th, Scharton endorsed her; is he a RW, GOBN, LC'er?

I'm voting for Ashley because I'm sure she can do the job, do it well & make Fresno a better place for all of us

"it ain't over, til it's over", Yogi Berra

The Mayor of Fresno has

The Mayor of Fresno has never been bi-partisan or non-political. From the extremely partisan Autry and Patterson all the way back to Selland and Stephens the mayor has always been very political. I cringe whenever I hear someone say the mayor's office is not political. It's usually a conservative Republican that takes that false position to try to make the far right politician seem more like an average Joe Sixpack.

downtown and ashley

Ashley will focus on downtown, she seems very independent and is going to do what she wants to do, and one of those things is downtown, the democrat/republican things isn't a big deal, the mayor is bi-partisian.

Is it just me or does it

Is it just me or does it look like Swearingen
has lost a lot of weight since the campaign has started?

Autry hasn't changed my vote but its time to end the hate.

Its time to end the hate in politics and for people running to be honest about who they are.
Open the Aluminum Closet Door!

I agree with everyone else.

I agree with everyone else. Endorsing her isn't going to take any votes away from anyone voting for Henry T or undecided I wouldn't think.

How many people's votes is Autry going to change?

We all know Autry is a moderate conservative, just like Ashley, so it's hard to figure how many minds are going to be made up by his endorsement. Besides, lots of conservatives see his two terms as a mixed bag, in that he wasn't conservative enough! Even so, all the hyperventilating Lincoln-clubbing far-righters on the Jerry Duncan side of the coin will be voting for Ashley no matter what.

That's what makes me want to vote for Henry T...nothing against fiscal conservatives, but my own view is that Downtown *HAS* to be a priority for the next mayor, and can't just be paid lip service anymore. Other cities' downtowns are rising from the dead while downtown Fresno's rigor mortis shows but a few signs of turnaround. Henry has ALREADY been working with downtown people and has been involved in the idea stages of what to do with it, with the people who want to make it happen. As much as Ashley might genuinely want to work on downtown, she hasn't been involved with anything related to it, and her supporters absolutely will not let her get to work on it until THEIR payback for electing her comes through. If she gets elected by a slim margin, and if she starts paying too much attention to downtown, the conservatives are going to wag their finger in her face, grab her by the shoulders and turn her away from downtown so she's facing north again, reminding them of who put her over the top in the election...when of course, their support of a republican against a democrat was never a question in the first place. She's going to have to "dance with them what brung her", and they're not going to let her attention wander to the happenings just outside City Hall too often.

wow

if autry endorsed swearengin, that would cement me not voting for her. just kidding, that was already true.

but, it would really cement in my mind that she is the candidate of right wing fresno, the lincoln club, and and the good old boy network. that's just my opinion.