The "Consensus Candidate"
Promises and challenges in filling the empty city council seat
‘Scuse us for being a little skeptical. By taking this issue out of the hands of the voters and placing it with those who won their seats by shockingly narrow margins, the council majority is planting seeds of doubt. It doesn’t help that the issue was moved to the end of the Tuesday night meeting, causing difficulty for those in attendance to offer comments they came to make.
New mayor Virginia Bass is promising “the spirit of cooperation” and we certainly hope she is being sincere. Otherwise, the verbal barbs and jabs aimed at her and the “consensus candidate” will be terribly predictable for the next few years.
David Cobb is calling on Bass to refrain from breaking any tie votes regarding the “consensus candidate” between the four sitting council members, and she would be wise to agree. Such a decision would be a great way to show that Bass means what she says. Failing to follow through on lofty promises would sour voters on her sincerity in the future.
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The Humboldt Herald 
NOT break any tie votes?? Cobb you knucklehead! That’s her friggin job as MAYOR!
http://blessed.cf.huffingtonpost.com/
awww that nipper is SOOOOOOOO cute!
a real chip off the ol’ Dick
is nick bravo a retard or just a mouth breather?
Shut up cobbite!
is it true that virginia bass…. jackson…. owen…. (etc etc etc)
is the manager at OH’s Townhouse???
anybody got the skinny on that?
It makes sense.
OH’s is a real meat-eating republicUNT hangout.
no really…. I noticed that this nick bravo guy speaks with all sorts of moisture in his mouth and adenoids and all that…
so is he just a mouth-breathing nerd or an officially recognized retard?
Cobbs attempt to cajole Bass into doing what he wants will set a precedent in which he will think he can get her to do whatever he wants. In essence he knows his political career is dead and he is desperately trying to run things from behind the scenes.
(no offense to the retards)
I notice you can’t refute my reasoning so thus you immediately move to insults. Challenge my ideas with rational discourse or remain ignorant and hiding in the shadows like the cowards you are.
Why is it whenever someone challenges David Cobb’s behavior the place becomes overrun with belligerent cobbite pod people?
Cobbs attempt to cajole Bass into doing what he wants
Perhaps he is encouraging her to do what she said she would do. Bass is talking about consensus and cooperation in order to avoid a special election. Is it just talk? We shall see.
Sorry, but after watching Cobb single-handedly destroy the local Green party I don’t put anything past him or his goon squad.
David Cobb has no character. Case in point, he (like many local politicians) continuously behaves like a democrat and yet labels himself a Green. Let’s look for example at what happened in the Arcata election. The Green party only endorsed one candidate despite the fact that there were two seats. They refused to even consider nominating Quillman or Winkler (both die hard Greens) yet they endorsed a lame duck candidate like Meserve whose political career was obviously at an end. Obvious to everyone except cobb and his cronies that he stacked into the Arcata Greens and the Humboldt Greens.
So what your saying is that Cobb befriends his enemies in order to gain their trust and then in essence destroy them?
Brilliant!
Nick are you talking about the Arcata election in which Meserve kicked your ass? Or the other election in which you got your ass handed to you by the voters of Arcata? Btw, Winkler is a Dem, get your facts straight.
Anon 11:07 Quillman did not run in the ’04 election, rather in the ’06 election.
Please work on your reading comprehension.
From what I understand, Bass is going to try to appoint somebody who will draw a unanimous vote, which means she will consult Glass and Kerrigan. If she has to break a tie, she will have obviously failed. It’s going to require that everybody focus on what they can live with rather than what is ideal to them.
Bass knows that her “side” kept the majority in a squeaker, and she knows that fortunes can turn on a dime. And she saw what happened to Bohn in 04. She has plenty of incentive to push for consensus.
And Glass and Kerrigan also know that they can’t accomplish anything by refusing to compromise.
So we’re looking at appointment of a swing vote.
Hey Nick Bravo, I heard hollywood is doing a remake of the 80’s television show “Life Goes On”. Theyre doing auditions for the character of ‘Corky Thatcher’ Remember him?? You’re perfect! Well anyways, this may be your big chance in Hollywood, and I think you should take it!
Leonard and Jones will also have to compromise. There are a few questions besides the obvious ones these councilpersons should ask their applicants:
1. What is your decision making style?
A. Shoot from the hip/wing it.
B. Go with your first guess and never back down.
C. Study the issues thoroughly- asking staff’s opinion.. and others,
while sifting through public comment.
2. Have you ever taken a political leanings test ie. the one available on politicalcompass.org?
(We could use a centrist)
3. Can you sit through long and tedious meetings giving attention to speakers from every point of view?
4. How would you be accessible to constituents and still be able to set boundaries for your personal time?
My impression of this thread is:
Heraldo’s comments are right On the Mark. And Eric’s comments above mine are also perceptive, sensible, another good analysis of the situation.
As to Nick Bravo’s comments above, Is it possible that someone other than Bravo has highjacked his identity in order to post all these abnormally-clumsy attempts at discourse? The Nick Bravo with whom I have become acquainted through these many local blogs is generally more coherent than the one who has been leaving comments here today.
By the way, 65 years ago, when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on “a day which will live in infamy,” some little children in Humboldt County, you may be interested to know, were terrified that their homes might soon be invaded by Japanese soldiers.
Those were days in which the word “Terror” was not a campaign slogan, but an awful nightmare for kids and adults all along the Pacific Coast of our country.
I know this to be true because my mother, ten years old at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and living in a little Humboldt County town, told me about it almost fifteen years later.
She went to bed for a long time not knowing whether, when she awoke, her home might be burning and her parents dead from enemy attack.
No one floats paper boats for the terrorized American children of 1941.
This note is my memorial to their courage in the face of their fears.
The quote that scares me in the paper today is this one:
“I want to find out if the citizens of Eureka have a right at any point o have a special election to fill that seat if the council can’t find a consensus candidate,” Kerrigan said.
So, it sounds like the leftie’s plan is to convince Bass to go public saying she will not vote to break a tie and will find a candidate that can get a 3-1 or 4-0 vote. Then, Kerrigan and Glass vote against everyone she brings, thus, “forcing” the election.
So much for cooperation and consensus. Here we go with more time-consuming, divisive politics.
I’m going to post something about Pearl Harbor soon.
Thanks, Eric.
The city and the council are divided. The only smart thing to do would be to have a special election, to not have one would be the divisive thing.
The only way Bass will find a consensus candidate is if she finds a personal friend of Glass or Kerrigan who is politically conservative.
11:59 I agree and I think you posted on Buhne they should pick a woman-I agree with that too.
It would be nice if the council interviews could be public so we could gauge for ourselves how cooperative our council is or is not.
1:00:44 makes a good point that Chris needs to be believable is he doesn’t agree to any of the applicants and Virgina would be wise not to promise anything. But if it comes down that way Virginia–call it what it is! The mayor’s job is to break ties. The voters knew this when they picked her and a majority is a majority however slim.
Virginia is a moderate and from what I saw respects everyone’s opinion even if she can’t possibly agree with all of them. She’s going to be a Great mayor.
She can’t make promises. But she can make unanimous consent a stated goal. It puts the ball in their court.
If they can’t find a qualified swing vote candidate, or none exists, then we’re back where we started and she’ll just have to appoint somebody she thinks is fair and weather the storm.
You can also interpret the split vote as a mandate for cooperation.
breaking news, EPD has another barricaded person.
Where did you learn that, Halitosis?
driving thru. The whole place is blocked off.
Howdy folks,
I rarely comment on local blogs because the discourse seems so often mean-spirited and ugly. But I do want to offer the thoughts….
The City Charter is clear: the vacany can be made either by (a) a special election or (b) an appointment approved by a majority the Council. (Although there is real ambiguity about whether Mayor Bass can legally cast a tiebreaker vote in this context).
Many of us expressed our belief that an election is a more democratic (and therefore preferable) option.
Councilmembers Jones and Leonard voted against an election. I disagree with that position, but I respect their right to cast that vote.
After voting with Jones and Leonard against a special election, Mayor Bass herself assured the citizens of Eureka that she will appoint a consensus candidate. I take her at her word.
If she appoints a true consensus candidate, that would mean that all four members of the Council would agree with the appointment. She wouldn’t need to cast a vote anyway.
My request that she make a pledge not to cast a tiebreaker vote is not game-playing, it is an honest effort to make her promise of a consensus candidate tangible.
After all, bridge-building means reaching out to those who disagree.
Respectfully,
David Cobb
david@duhc.org
Yeah, like reaching out to all the people you had purged from the Green Party so you and your hand-picked cronies could assume dictatorial powers without the trouble of having to hear from your critics. Your actions speak for themselves David Cobb, democracy is only useful to you until you get in power, then watch out!
6:48PM- You just made David’s reasoning why he does not normally respond on the blogs come to fruition. In less than one hour after his post, hate is spewed anonymously. I like to hear Cobb’s take on local issues, even when I do not agree. I hate it when people take shots at people who post publically. Guess it will be awhile before David does that again. Yee!
Agreed Richard. It almost makes me believe in original sin.
Actually, we’re just asking that you treat him with basic respect – to which every human being is entitled.
There’s nothing wrong with the 6:48 comment, Eric and Richard. It’s not “hate spewed” or like “orginal sin.” Your exaggerations are completely absurd. You’re both reading your own subjectivity into it.
You two want to neuter people’s free speech and hold them to some mild, impotent, milketoast standard that you can feel comfortable with. Sorry, ain’t gonna happen.
Erik, if every human being is entitled to basic respect, perhaps you should talk to your comrade Heraldo about his complete lack of respect for law enforcement human beings.
Have a nice day.
David Cobb doesn’t believe in democracy when it comes to his own organization, Democracy Unlimited, where the membership has no authority to vote on anything, ever. This is the very definition of hypocrisy and makes his hew and cry for perfect democracy from Bass all the more hollow.
So there’s no democracy in “Democracy Unlimited”? What do you say to that, Mr. Cobb? Would you consider changing the name to Hypocrisy Unlimited?
If Cobb were the DECIDER things would be very different. Like his blind in faith cronies from EPIC their would be rightous desplays of their political superority in winnig any election. The “people” would have spoken silly as they appointed whom ever in the hell they would want— to hell with anyone who dared to disagree. I’ve seen it to long now not just from a Cobb but all the so called progresives that pratice dEMOCRACY their way. If you do it the right way,like we were all taught before we got out of 1st grade, we would like all the moderate and traditional folks do day in and out. Open,straight foreward,and honest. We always compromise and try to do the balanced thing. Mayor Bass is just one in a long line of solid working class people always willing to do the right thing. All the sceaming,whinning and threats come from the phonies with their hands out for undeserved grants or self serving law suites, and a desire to weild power any way they can. Cris Kerrigan has been seduced by this destructive sector. We hope above hope that he will turn from this non-productive sector and find a new path. Mayor Bass is a fine example for him to look towards.