I have known renters who were forbidden in their leases to post any political signs, but the conservative landlords used his rental properties to post signs of his own liking.

The world is not fair!

The Greens had been meeting for less than six months and our second guest speakers were from the Electrical Bureau, giving the pros and cons of deregulation, which municipal utilities were able to opt out of. It seemed pretty clear at the time that we should opt OUT. At least it was clear that deregulation was a scam from early on. Things only got more interesting as the electrical “crisis” created by Enron and other hucksters got under way.

Funny connection on Len and the Greens which is a total aside. He had gone to Harvard on the GI bill after two volunteer tours in Nam with special forces. He knew Audie Bock from that period and was all gung-ho to get her elected at the expense of the local Democratic machine, and it worked. Len was part of ( ring leader of?) an Alameda County conservative group who all seemed like right wing cranks to me.

“The existing Charter requires two-thirds voter approval before the City or the Board may engage in a new utility business, including any communications utility business.”

Fascinating story with connections that can be made to Alameda’s lawn signs.

A barrage of signs may intimidate the opposition into silence.

Also, since only car owners (or in Alameda’s case, property owners)can display the signs, opinion is skewed to those who own a bumper (or a lawn).

This is what I mean by lockstep. I too voted for the Bureau of Electricity to be allowed to get into the Telecom business. The argument back then was that deregulation of electricity was going to undermine BoE and that they needed to get into Telecom to keep alive.

The Johnson block is really no saner than the Roberts block. (For want of a better description of those two blocks.) Being cranky and grumpy does not mean that one is incorrect.

Perhaps I should invest in a lawn sign that reads, “Here lives a grumpy old crank.”

Unfortunately, some of the main opponents were cranks, which made their arguments easier to dismiss, even if they were correct.

People who are strident about global warming can easily be demeaned as fuzzy wuzzy tree huggers, but the bottom line is the bottom line.

ANT, there was an NPR segment on bumper stickers yesterday which I heard while working so I didn’t get it all. The gist was that bumpers stickers serve more as a statement of political identity for the bumper owner than they do as an effective political tool for persuading votes.

Your previous comments about lock step liberals in Alameda is simply an over simplification. You, or Jack R. or I, all defy overly simple categorizations. I couldn’t vote the slate but was never in favor of the garage and at best was neutral on the cineplex.

I happen to agree that the current sign campaign has a mixed effect, but I still went around the neighborhood trying to get people to post them. Driving up Park Street on “garbage can day” protest, I had the distinct impression that if I hadn’t known the issue I would have had an accident trying to read the detailed signage.

But AEF is a non-profit and not part of AUSD. I laud the effort being made there and I am very impressed by Brooke, the new head of AEF. I can’t dismiss an effort because it has flaws, when the stakes are as high as they are. The signs are wordy, but I like yellow.

Here is the result.

MEASURES
A (w) Alameda Public Utilities Board
38 of 38 precincts reporting
YES 9,604 NO 9,081
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/11/05/MN44379.DTL&type=chart

Alameda Predicting Cable Service in Year
Just enough vote to change charter
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/11/05/MN32709.DTL&hw=alameda+measure&sn=001&sc=1000