Say it ain’t so

So…

There have been rumors circulating about endorsements for the School Board and City Council.  I’ve heard a lot of variations from different sources about what actually went down, but the best I can piece it out is this way.

I’ll start first by saying, I know that the initial reaction will be to point fingers at the two easiest targets in this tale, but I’ve been contemplating how everything shakes out and honestly, for me, the biggest issue here is one of integrity on the parts of the candidates who weighed the political math and determined it was worthwhile to either pull an endorsement or not endorse at all in order to reap the rewards of a more “valuable” endorsement.

You asked, they answered: Stewart Chen, City Council candidate

1. What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make in your professional life?

The hardest decision that I have had to make, so far, is my decision to run for Alameda City Council and, potentially, leave the Hospital Board. I really care about improving the state of health care in Alameda and I believe that I have helped bring about some of the improvements, such as maintaining labor peace at the hospital in spite of having four different labor unions in the workforce; helping to initiate several programs like the Kate Creedon Center for Advanced Wound Care and Orthopedic Spinal Surgery Department; and helping to balance the hospital budget with a projected surplus. I have also gotten to know my colleagues on the board, as well as the staff and volunteers at the hospital, and I have developed a rapport with them. That’s why I was very reluctant when numerous community members approached me and asked me to run for city council. I felt that I have to, at least, finish my first term and there were still a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish for our hospital but I was finally convinced that I could make a more significant contribution to the welfare of our community as a member of the city council.

Almost final City Council questionnaire

So a couple of weeks ago I asked folks to help crowdsource a questionnaire for City Council candidate. Ooh, speaking of City Council candidates, yesterday I received some info that one of the City Council candidates might be out of the running:

Word is that Beverly Johnson may be dropping out of #Alameda City Council race

— Lauren Do (@laurendo) August 27, 2012

That’s right, it’s not official official yet (aka there have been no press releases out of the campaign yet) but it appears that — from the rumors around town — that Beverly Johnson is dropping out of the race.   So, if true, it could be that she simply realized that she was done with the City Council.   Early rumors had reported that she was no longer interested in serving.   But now with the wrench thrown in with her appointment to the Office of Administrative Law, perhaps it has something to do with that.  I mean, the commute would be pretty hellacious.

Anyway, back to the crowdsourced questions.