Tuesday, November 4, 2014

City Council Votes 9 PM


Candidate Name
Votes By MailEarly VotingElection DayGrand Total Votes

SUE DIGRE (19.88%) *
2,0162002,036
MICHAEL "MIKE" O'NEILL (17.72%) *
1,7882701,815
JOHN KEENER (16.05%) *
1,6311301,644
VICTOR A. SPANO (14.01%)
1,4191601,435
ERIC RUCHAMES (13.66%)
1,3871201,399
THERESE M. DYER (9.36%)
947120959
MATT DOUGHERTY (9.32%)
94690955

* = current leaders
Last Updated: 9:00 Report

Posted by Steve Sinai

26 comments:

Hutch said...

I say Spano will overtake Keener.

Anonymous said...

Spano and Ruchames split the progress vote which could have easily defeated Keener.
The NOBIES are much more united and strategic about election politics. They are small in number but they are very obedient sheep.
When will we ever learn.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 9:42p, said...
"Spano and Ruchames split the progress vote which could have easily defeated Keener.
The NOBIES are much more united and strategic about election politics. They are small in number but they are very obedient sheep.
When will we ever learn."

What?! There were three votes to cast. Surely with all the comments on Fix Pacifica you weren't voting for Digre. The vote wasn't split... unless it was those that voted for Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Let the spin begin!

Anonymous said...

942 You think "they" are small in number? They are Pacifica. Sounds like you actually believed your own crap about the 99%.

Anonymous said...

RIP, Fix Pacifica, RIP.

Anonymous said...

Dyer dead last. The kid passed her up easily with walk-in voters.

Anonymous said...

Spano drops further back at 11:00. Hutch is wrong again.

Fat Lady said...

"942 You think "they" are small in number? They are Pacifica."

We are hippie hear us roar,
in numbers too big to ignore.

Anonymous said...

So it would seem, 1116. So it would seem.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think that people would actually fall for all of the disinformation and distortions about the highway widening. But it looks like we've allowed the do-nothings to think they can do to the highway what they did to the quarry in 2006.
Lets make sure they can't screw it up for the rest of us again. Can we start with getting two time losers and spoilers Spano and Dyer to never run again?

Anonymous said...

It's over. Now clean up all your signs.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11:28 said... "I didn't think that people would actually fall for all of the disinformation and distortions about the highway widening. But it looks like we've allowed the do-nothings to think they can do to the highway what they did to the quarry in 2006.
Lets make sure they can't screw it up for the rest of us again. Can we start with getting two time losers and spoilers Spano and Dyer to never run again?"

Gracious me, already turning on your own. You don't get it apparently. The highway widening is something that MANY Pacifican's, of all ages and interests, are against. Comments on this blog called this election a referendum. Seems to have been. The vote was against the highway probably more than a vote for a candidate.

Steve Sinai said...

I still think it's about name recognition. Digre and O'Neill were locks, and from what I could tell, Keener simply outworked the remaining candidates. If it was mostly about the highway, Dougherty would have done better.

There were three anti-widening candidates, and four candidates who at least didn't oppose the widening. If Dyer wasn't running, I suspect the top three would have been Digre, O'Neill and Ruchames.

In any case, the turnout was way too low to come to any conclusions about how most Pacificans feel about the highway widening. In a low turnout election, a small group of motivated voters on either extreme can determine the outcome.

Anonymous said...

Wow 1128. That's vicious. Pretty quick to turn against your namesake and then Mother Courage, too. Your next instinct is to control the field, limit the candidates, manipulate the voters. People don't like that.

Anonymous said...

Unknown 22 year old who didn't campaign beats notorious gadfly who did in a low turnout election. Was it name recognition or highway stance? As far as the winners, how can we say these results are about low turnout? It's very possible maybe probable that more voters would have produced the very same outcome. The highway played a big role but, IMHO, people voted for candidates they trust to be straight with them. And not just on the highway.

todd bray said...

Steve, I disagree about your council race wrap up.

Sue came in first, and she ran on NO WIDENING. ONiell came in second behind Sue which is understandable as he is an incumbent. But Keener, another NO WIDENING candidate came in third. I think that pretty much sums up the communities feeling about the Calera Parkway Project, meaning it doesn't want a $55 million dollar road to nowhere.

Doughty as you pointed out lost, but he is still a kid, of 22, who went to Good Shepherd with our neighbors kids, and boasted among his achievements, a summer internship with a Fortune 500 company. He was never a viable candidate, but at least he followed a calling and ran.

No, Steve, the two anti highway widening candidates won and the third choice went to the five leftover candidates who were all pro development and pro widening. Since O'Niell had the name recognition of those 5 he was the lessor of the five evils, and folks choose him as the least harmful of the leftover 5.

Tuesdays vote was clearly a resounding referendum against Caltrans 60 year old Calera Parkway plan to widen the highway from 64' to 144' at an astonishing cost of $55 million, as it should be.

Hutch said...

Congratulations to Sue, Mike and John. Now let's move forward and make Pacifica a great place.

Anonymous said...

Voters said Calera Parkway proposal needs to be modified!

Anonymous said...

Steve 12:17am Yes, name recognition and that people knew and apparently APPROVE of the record of Digre and O'Neill and trust them. A small group of motivated individuals was actively working on BOTH sides of the election. One side for the environment and against highway widening. Another side mandating development and for highway widening, that didn't go over with voters.

Anonymous 12:59 Keener was clearly a vote against the highway. Campaigned against something people feel strongly about not wanting, the highway widening. Campaigned against those currently in city hall citing a lack of trust and yet the two incumbents won. Didn't provide any new ideas for the city, implied he had a deep understanding of city finances, while stating what anyone that pays attention in the city already knew and that the new city manager is already actively doing something about. Not a vote of trust for him, a vote against highway widening.

Kathy Meeh said...

830, what you say is more a vote about confusing the public. Nothing new in this city.

Traffic through Rockaway, Vallemar peak hours is horrible now, worse in the future. The highway there needs widening, the city needs progress.

Steve Sinai said...

Nobody was making "Widen the highway" a centerpiece of their campaign. I kinda' wish someone would have. One of the candidates should have put some signs on Highway 1 between Vallemar and Rockaway saying something like, "Fed up with being stuck in traffic jams? Vote for so-and-so". Those signs would have made an impact on people sitting in their cars stuck in traffic.

The small group of people who are adamantly opposed to widening were motivated to come out and vote last night. Turnout was low enough that those relatively few votes mattered. If turnout was higher, I doubt the absolute number of anti-widening votes would increase much.

And as mentioned before, there were four candidates unopposed to widening, and they split the vote. We "Fixies" or "Yessies" (for lack of a better term) always shoot ourselves in the foot with weak candidates who do nothing but draw votes away from candidates who can win. If Therese wasn't running, the people who voted for her surely weren't going to vote for Digre, Keener or Dougherty. Most of her votes would have gone to Ruchames, and he'd be in the top three.

Anonymous said...

Steve, Ms. Dyer did regularly campaign on widening the highway.

Pacifica Tribune, 10/21/14 "The last candidates' forum of this election season happened last Saturday at the Pacifica/Daly City Democrats meeting at Sharp Park Restaurant.

In opening statements, each candidate defined their desire to serve and accompanying skills.

The first question asked the candidates to name their position on highway widening. Since that issue has come up in other forums and in the candidates' responses to Tribune questions, it won't be rehashed here.

What decision will you work on first?

Therese Dyer said completing the highway widening and selling the former wastewater treatment plant will be her first acts."

todd bray said...

Oh Steve, you doe eyed romantic.

Steve Sinai said...

9:39, Highway widening was not Therese's centerpiece issue. It was one among many issues.

She lost because she was a weak candidate overall, not because of her stance on highway widening. If the highway wasn't an issue, she still would have finished last or next to last.

Anonymous said...

Even with Ruchames and Spano splitting the vote they still came close to Keener. If Therese hadn't run they would have both beat Keener.

Not a referendum for anything except be smarter next time and don't run too many pro development candidates.

Thank God the gang of no still is a minority on council. If most people were really for widening O'Neill would have lost or gotten much fewer votes.

Carry on.