I don't think a Vogler candidacy, which as you politely referred to as having campaign management issues, puts the fear of God in anyone.

I have never met her and I am sure she is a nice, decent woman. But her campaign was horrid. From the actual management of voter contact to Registrar of Voters contact. The campaign filing issues were embarrassing.

Additionally, given the rhetoric I have heard and her decision to float the idea of running for another office before the corpse on this campaign has even reached room temperature, she appears to be running against something and not running for something.

Amateur night once again. "Regardless, Rita could prove to be a viable candidate if the cards play out right." Are you serious? Rita would need more than her cards played right... "Mailers in that district are absolutely necessary to be able to reach the entire constituency." Direct mail is always necessary and there is no need to reach the entire constituency... only your targeted voter.

“I would say at this point, there is no vacancy, and for a candidate who was just rejected by 80 percent of the voters, it’s a bit foolish at this point to be plotting a next move after such a crushing defeat in her own constituency,” Lehrer said.
-well said Mr. Lehrer!!

This story has been edited, Mentok.

While I understand Rita may have won her seat on the City Council by impressive numbers... that doesn't hold true for the Supervisorial race. I am sure that Rita is a nice, decent woman- but these antics are starting to seem more like power plays...

Perhaps it is is in the best interest of her constituents for her to stay focused on her current job: serving the residents of Hesperia.

I'm just curious. What is the point of editing another writer's post? It wasn't as though the post was offensive, contained four-letter words or slandered someone.

For the past week or so it seems there are posts added and then deleted and then moved around and revised. It would appear there is a battle of egos going on here. If there is going to be more than one contributor to this blog, shouldn't each be allowed to write from their own perspective? I guess I don't get it.

I might add this has nothing to do with my connection to the Vogler campaign. My opinion of the latest story might surprise you.

In regards to your comments, anyone on the blog pen can post whatever they'd like as long as it is one thing: factual. I actually think I am going to post some rules and regulations here soon to keep everybody on the same page. I don't mind what anyone writes as long as it is truthful... and they don't continue on talking to themselves in the comments under different names.

Sharon, what is your opinion of the latest story, anyways? Just curious. I read your blog and know that you were supporting her... but not my boss :(

Well, at least you lost one and won the other- right?

Jessica,

I didn't give my opinion on the issue itself because I did not want to give my opinion out of context. Few people on this blog know me and know how my blog came about. So I will answer you and I can only ask that if you choose to delete, please delete it all as my reasons for feeling the way I do are important to my response.

I am a taxpayer first and a county employee a very close second. When I was a union rep my priority was the employees. It was that priority that got me kicked out of the union as I did not care about union management or county management. County employees came first. My blog is not a political blog but simply a place for us to vent and share information about what is happening in our various departments. We keep it really informal.

That being said, I have many friends at the Assessor's Office, some of whom have been appraisers for decades. All that I have spoken with are embarrassed that their once-professional office has been turned into a political pawn. The employees I know do not want another politician running their department. They want an Assessor--someone who doesn't have to take a class to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. The two names I have heard mentioned are Harlow Cameron and Michael Wilhite (sp?) although I'm not sure either one wants it.

All of this assumes that Bill Postmus is indicted. I think that is quite an assumptiion. Although I have every reason to believe indictment(s) are going to be issued, my sources tell me that Bill Postmus is not likely to be a recipient of one of those indictments. My feeling is he will go down eventually, but not on this issue. There are enough other investigations going on that one will get him at some time in the future.

Rita was not the first person I heard express an interest in the Assessor's position. Actually, she was the third, the other two also being politicians. I could be wrong on this part, but I believe for Rita this whole thing started as a passing comment that somehow developed into a front-page story. You have to remember for months she couldn't get press for anything she wanted press for so I don't think she expected all of this out of a comment to a reporter. But again I could be wrong.

I think speculation on who the next Assessor will be is jumping the gun, but when that time comes I will support the person the majority of Assessor's Office employees supports. I would like to see the Assessor's Office out of the political realm and back as the well respected department it once was.

As to Supervisors Hansberger and Mitzelfelt, I never wanted to oppose either. Both were approached by county employees who wanted to meet with them to discuss corruption within TAD. You have to understand that TAD is one of the county's largest departments and employees are tired of despot leadership, the lack of integrity, and the constant demands that we falsify information so that they can obtain funding.

Supervisor Mitzelfelt's office told me to take a hike. Supervisor Hansberger never responded at all. Those were choices they made. We made a choice to try to defeat them along with Supervisor Gonzales. Unfortunately, the only one who had a formidible opponent was Supervisor Hansberger.

You have to understand one thing. SBPEA may be the union that county employees have to belong too but it is also a union that is loathed, and with good reason, by a majority of those county employees. An SBPEA endorsement is usually the kiss of death to a candidate. They have a miserable history of successful political action. The candidates that SBPEA endorses who win are usually running unopposed, are in a district so gerrymandered that they can't lose, or are so popular they can't lose. Most employees vote against anyone SBPEA endorses.

When you add to all of this that Hansberger has made disparaging comments about county employees in the press, supporting Neil was really a no-brainer. As I said I have some issues with a few of his beliefs, but I still felt comfortable with it. I think the issue of an ethics commission/committee really hit home with employees. We are expected to be ethical, but our leaders are not. The perfect example is Mark Uffer--do as I say, not as I do.

So there you have it!

"That being said, I have many friends at the Assessor's Office, some of whom have been appraisers for decades. All that I have spoken with are embarrassed that their once-professional office has been turned into a political pawn"

There is acutually people in the Assessor's office that consider Don Williamson's Santa Claus suit professional?

I wasn't necessarily referring to Don Williamson--some loved him, some didn't. I was van pooling with several of them when Don Williamson took office and I remember that transition well and what they had to say. The Santa suit did not bring about a Grand Jury investigation nor did it bring about the attention and scorn of the public.

Yeah, but it sure provided voters with enough information not to vote for him again. Ho Ho Ho!

I doubt there was more than two percent of the voters who even knew about the Santa suit.

I have to jump in on this one. You doubt that there was more than two percent of the voters who even knew about the Santa suit? The Santa suit was critical in the negative direct mail that the Assessor sent out.

I will tell you honestly that I read almost every political mailer, not because I'm looking for information, but because I like to see what information is being put out there. I have no memory of the Santa suit whatsoever. The only reason I know about it is because Barb Stanton mentioned it on her radio show on Thursday or Friday.

If the Santa suit is what got Bill Postmus elected, then he should be embarrassed because that doesn't say much about him or his qualifications for the job especially when you consider he outspent Williamson 10 to 1 to get his message across and didn't win by that large of a percentage.

However, no matter who is right in this, it supports my theory that a majority of voters not directly involved in a candidate's campaign are Koolaid drinkers, but then that is what most of you are counting on, isn't it? I'd be willing to bet if you were to survey all adults in the Third District and ask them who Dennis Hansberger and Neil Derry are and what they stand for, you would find few that could tell you. It's one of the biggest reason why things are so messed up.

Sharon, you read every political mailer? Really? And you ease drop while in the van pool? You must be one political insider.... Regardless of how small the margin of victory WAS and how much the current Assessor spent the voters sent Williamson into early retirement... and what is the point of surveying adults on who Dennis Hansberger and Neil Derry are and what they stand for? When you do a "field poll" you target a certain "propensity" which makes up your "sample size". The poll then reveals your the candidates "name i.d." and then you move into your other questions. If there is more than two candidates you can rotate the order of the names and do "first ballot" and then "second ballot."

This is my good act of the day. You just learned a few things and you did not even have to ease drop. So next time you post you can cut and paste the words I have " " for you and put them in your blog to sound creditable... Just make sure you remove the " " before you push the submission button.

Amateur night once again...

I guess my conscience got to me. I would not want you to go around and lead anyone astray. First ballot and second ballot have nothing to do about rotating the candidates... I would not want to cut and paste those words I have left you and mislead people in your posts... not that you ever do.... I guess I still have some redeemable qualities.

Hey can we keep things friendly around here?

I think Sharon was referring to the fact that a majority of the American public doesn't know much about their government and their politicians... in general.

In fact, I read somewhere that more people know the names of all the characters on the Simpsons than they do their very own Congressional representatives. It is a very small, select group of the American public that is actively engaged in national politics alone... and an even smaller margin when it comes to local politics. I could be mistaken; however, I think that was her point. Look at the latest data out of the ROV to see the relatively dismal turnout of voters within SB County.

And just whom exactly are you calling an amateur?...

A Dirty Little Secret and Sharon should really just get a room.

Um . . . have you ever been part of a van pool? Then you would know it is usually 5-8 people crammed into a van for an hour's drive. There is no "eavedropping" just friendly conversation. It so happened that the appraisers that I van pooled with were politically active. And chances are those same appraisers voted for Postmus because they hated Williamson when he won his first election. Every Assessor's office employee I have spoken with in the past few months however very much regrets having voted for Postmus because they feel Postmus has shamed their department. Williamson had his issues but he still never brought about the kind of scrutiny and negative publicity for the department that Postmus has.

As to political mailers, yep I read almost everyone I receive. Again, not because they will influence me but because I like to see what is being said. Yes, I realize most people use those mailers to line their birdcages. I don't have a bird.

And finally, Jessica is right. My point is the average citizen does not have a clue what is going on in their government and doesn't care until it directly impacts them. Then they are scratching their heads wondering what happened. We're seeing that play out right now in the city of Victorville with power plants and the fire department. No one cared. Now $100,000,000 later and the citizens are outraged. By November if the incumbents choose to run they will all win because this will be forgotton.

Another good example is this blog. The only people that read it are those that are interested in local politics. Considering it is the political blog for Republicans in San Bernardino County, of the total registered Republicans, what percentage read it? I bet as a percentage of total registered Repblicans, the readership is very small. It's because they don't care.

It's no different with my blog. Mine is aimed at county employees. There are 17,000 of us. When nothing really newsworthy is going on, I'm lucky to get 1000 hits a day. During the election I was up to 3000 a day. If I don't keep controversial items on there, it will drop down below a 1000 rapidly. My biggest hit days are those when two or more of us are going for one another's jugulars in our comments. As newspapers have known forever, controversy sells; mundane does not.

Most people are more worried about making their mortgage payments, the rising cost of gas, their children's education, and day-to-day life than they are about polticians that most perceive to be overpaid, corrupt and with self-inflated egos. What is going on in the Assessor's office is important to those of us who like to watch those things. For the rest of the world, it is just another example of a corrupt government that has always been and will always be.