Elk Grove Mayoral Race – Clean Campaign Pledge . . .Will they sign?

By Connie Conley | February 16, 2016 |

Election 2016 is already gearing up whether we like it or not! 

In the Elk Grove mayoral race, whether it be current Mayor Gary Davis, or challengers, Kevin Spease, who has announced, or speculative candidates Lynn Wheat, Mike Monasky or any others who have the democratic right to run for office is that they stick to the important issues that concern most residents of Elk Grove.

We need to hear exactly where the candidate stands on the issues such as public safety, the General Plan, the city’s financial stability, the SEPA, the SOI, projects on the drawing board and how we are going to fund them, drainage fund, growth management, traffic issues, the 100 acres outside the city’s boundaries, maintenance of our roads – yes, people, we need to know where we are going to get the eight to 10 million dollars to fix our city’s roads, Council accountability such as an ethics commission, campaign finance reform and more.

In election 2014, all we heard were three words, “Jobs, jobs, jobs!”  What we didn’t hear was the how?  No more sound bites.  We need to hear actual ideas, actual plans.

The last really ugly campaign here in Elk Grove was in 2010, and we certainly don’t need a repeat of that election cycle.   The ugliness and deception stemmed from the candidates themselves with their mailers.  Elk Grove News reported on many of them.

In watching the Republican debate last weekend, I kept hearing the word “liar” being thrown out.  The American people don’t like liars is what I kept hearing and "we" won’t vote for them.  In my opinion, that is exactly what we had with some of the mailers that went out in 2010, and we must demand that doesn’t happen again.

For example, in one mailer focusing on a top priority, which hits a lot of nerves with voters, is that of public safety, the incumbent stated he “ensured we have the best-trained prosecutors, police officers and firefighters.”

The Elk Grove City Council does not hire prosecutors – we don’t have any – the Sacramento County DA’s office does that.  The Elk Grove City Council does not hire our firefighters – the Cosumnes CSD does that.  There was also a mailer that led the recipient to believe it came from the Catholic Church, and even worse, it was sent to minors.  How did the candidate get addresses of minors who are members of the Catholic Church?

Every single one of those mailers was unethical, and if any are sent out this election cycle, the candidate should immediately be denounced for running a deceitful campaign.

The candidate is ultimately responsible for everything that occurs in their campaign and that most certainly includes their campaign consultant.

And we certainly don’t need any gifts as if our votes are for sale.  No plants!  No pot holders!

What we do deserve are forums and debates whereby all the candidates discuss the issues and whereby residents can ask questions – and not the canned questions which are biased and scripted.  We need to hear exactly where the mayoral candidates stand on the issues and what they believe is best for Elk Grove and its future.

Therefore, I believe we should ask every mayoral candidate to sign a “clean campaign agreement,” which asks candidates to take personal responsibility for the content of mailers or statements they or their authorized committee’s and/or consultant issue.

 Here is a sample of a Fair Campaign Pledge:

''We pledge to conduct our campaigns for public office openly and fairly. We will discuss the issues and participate in fair debate with respect to our views and qualifications. We will not engage in, or permit, defamatory attacks upon the character of our opponents; nor shall we engage in unwarranted invasions of personal privacy unrelated to campaign issues. We also will not use or permit the use of any campaign material or advertisement which misrepresents, distorts, or otherwise falsifies the facts regarding any candidate. Finally, we will publicly repudiate support deriving from any individual or group whose activities would violate this Fair Campaign Pledge.” [End of pledge]

In closing, if any mayoral candidate refuses to sign, let’s ask them why, and then maybe we should think twice about voting for that candidate!

Copyright © 2016 by Connie Conley. All rights reserved.