The National Women’s Political Caucus withdrew their support of Bonnie in 1995 after the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported she is against California recognizing gay marriages. She was quoted as against “special legislation” for homosexual relationships.
Bonnie Neely has been in the middle of other controversy in the past, but always seems to find the resiliency to avoid major opposition. Actually I should compare her to Teflon. Lot’s of things thrown at her but nothing seems to stick. Some examples:
She helps wage a war for the Humboldt County Library to be sited behind the Ingomar on prime waterfront property, instead of the practical location at Coopers Gulch. Maybe a less gaudy structure would have left enough funds to keep the place open.
Bonnie pushed for the creation on a redevelopment agency, and did in fact chair the process that ended up wasting nearly 1 million taxpayer dollars due to a very poor planning department.
What happened to this “Red Team” Bonnie was going to establish to assist the permit process on projects that would bring jobs to the county?
And I still am amazed at the lack of public outcry concerning Tammy Falor.
Am I just missing something?
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70 comments:
This post is going to get way more comments than that last post on softball.
so Richard---what should be done now....
I remember two candidates who challenged Bonnie on all the issues you mention and more and lost...
Maybe people in the 4th District are happy with her performance and feel Bonnie is leading them in the right direction as their Supervisor..
Maybe people in the 4th District are happy with the rise in employment and the reduction in crime.
As the saying goes--why would you fix something when it isn't broken.....
Then again---Maybe people in the 4th District will finally wake up and decide enough is enough and start a recall.
Then again maybe not--for Bonnie is Bonnie, plain and simple...
I don't know Richard. I think this post makes you look like a sore loser.
As far as Falor is concerned, think about about often happens to women in professional positions and you will be on the path to understanding what happened. That is the only hint I am going to give you. For now anyway.
5:45pm-Sexual Harrassment? Say it ain't so. And who are you? who harrassed?
Sore loser? Whatever. Talk to the hand....Bite me......you loserer! (And I am childish I might add.)
Richard please get over this. I remember Bonnie being pro gay marriage or civil union. Wasn't there an issue a year or two ago where she spoke out in defense of gays before the election season? Also Richard, there is a difference between spending funds on capital projects and funding those projects operational budgets. Just look at HSU, new buildings and pointless doodads but they're laying off people. As for the Falor thing, you will never know so just let it go. At least the board of supervisors isnt invading foreign countries and killing people.
rmostranski
Where do you come up with the "reduction in crime" statement? Show me something, or tell me, that documents or even hints that crime in Humboldt County has gone down. And what do you think Bonnie, Rodoni, Wooley have done to reduce crime?
7:27am Rich was being sarcastic.
Oh, concerning Bonnie and gay marriage, re-read my post. I took her quotes out of the Northcoast Journal.
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/MARCH96/3_96_POL.HTM
Has she changed her mind, or was her mind changed for her? Just saying.
Give us a break Richard, you campaigned for anti gay rights mayor Bass Jackson. I assume Bonnie changed her mind about gay rights just as many have in the last ten years. You really need to get over your anger.
12:32 is right. Youre going to complain about Bonnie, but then support Virginia? Huh??? Taking a quote from a journal article over a DECADE old is sad. Richard, I realize youre frustrated but move on! You may never ever be elected to office. Sorry, but that might just be reality for you. What happened this last election was unfortunate, but it wasnt like it was illegal. If you couldnt get the local Democrats to endorse you over a Republican, maybe, just maybe Richard, that is your fault.
Teflon is correct. People have short memories when it comes to politicians and that is how they get reelected. I remember promises she made before the election. Waiting for her to do something re promises is a waste of time.
She has bragged that she has created jobs - well that is true - she created one for herself. She has been on different boards or committees as one of many other votes but took credit as if she was the one that caused certain things to happen when it was actually the entire committee. I often hear people in Eureka make statements re what she has done and have to laugh especially when the statements are about how much better county planning department is to deal with. Then ask a builder if this is so - not.
As to Dems supporting her - she is a RINO. As to Richard not getting support - didn't he enter the race a little later and by that time, Bonnie had collected the labor union support, etc.??
Next time Richard - think you still have a lot of support in the area even if some of the trolls think you don't.
Virginia Bass is not anti gay. See, that is just polical BS. Bonnie has been on record and I put that out there for the public to evaluate.
You all who post anonymously about this have no credibility. Give me a name please. Or just shut up.
Regarding what went on behind closed doors at the county, only The Shadow Knows, and I am "The Shadow". There is a good reason why things like this are not made public.
Anon 8:23 is Charles Douglas. Richard watch your back. Charles has a long list of people he blames for his political failings.
Actually Richard,when the same sex marriage ordinance was before the Eureka city council,Virginia did say that it was an issue not be dealt with by a city council,despite having friends who were gay.
I could be wrong but wasn't Neely and Wooley the only two supes to vote yea on some sort of gay marriage ordinance/letter? I distinctly remember this because it made me think she was human.
Yeah Richard, she voted against gay rights. So do you want to tell us the reason you worked for her?
Richard I think your motivations over why you supported Virginia over Peter are becoming more clear. It had nothing to do with their politics, and it had nothing to do with Virginia being nice to you when you ate food at her restaurant. I am getting the impression it was your anger with HDCC for its endorsement of Bonnie Neely over you. Your pissed because the local dems didnt think of you as a viable candidate against Flemming, and it still hurts. You want to remind them of how narrow Virginia's win was, and your endorsement may have swung the win over to her.
There is only one consistant honest sup. It's Rodoni. You may not like what he say's but he's straight. Why did he vote to support the Falor payola? Don't know and he is unable to comment. Lets change the closed session rules,I know Rodoni would support that. Change the no comment policy,Rodoni supports that. Richard quit bad rapping Rodoni and go after the corruption you know exhists. Woolley,Neely were knives in your back. If they go Smith will flow with the new river.You might as well piss in a sive as figure where Geist is on anything. She's burning here bridges faster than Sherman fleeing the south. If you want to run and win ,stay a moderate and remember the screwing the "progressives" gave you and are giving our country.
10:29: This thread was about Bonnie not Virginia. If you want an answer to your question, either call me or ask using your real identity. Hey! Maybe I qualify as the Teflon King!
I don't think 10:29 ever asked a question Richard.
Well if he's going to run with the local solutions crowd ,he's just learning how to listen ans answere like a pretend progressive.
Take the point about running early Richard-don't be wishy washy and wait for the Gang to send you flowers!
As for Bonnie we've all learned some lessons-hopefully. With 60% of primary votes going against her it wasnt surprising to see her almost voted out of office. Yes-you had a lot to do with that Richard in more ways.
There was plenty of noise about Falor. Isn't there some kind of lawsuit? What kind of noise do you expect.?
Virginia Bass wouldn't stand up for gay rights on the council. That either means she's against gay rights or she doesn't believe that local government should be involved in human rights issues. Either way she's wrong.
The fact is, Bonnie has changed her mind, or at the very least, says she has changed her mind. People grow and learn. That's a good thing.
I still think you would make a better County Supervisor than she does. But I also think that you make a sore loser. Of course, you have some good reasons to be sore, and if you just stuck to those reasons, you might seem a little less petty.
But of course, it's all over now, and it doesn't really matter, since she's probably never running again.
You know... I just like to stop by and beat up on you every now and then.
Every time I bring up Bonnie and accountability of her job performance, it seems to come back at me. Nothing seems to stick. I put my "money where my mouth" is so to speak and ran against her. A large part of the 4th District has seen what is going on.
My point was that Bonnie seems to re-invent herself for the sake of keeping her job. I will publically applaud her tenacity and I do realize she is a hard worker. She has just has her chain yanked by too many special interest groups.
Some have chastized me for entering the race to late, and shooting myself in the foot garnering the needed endorsements. Yes, points well taken. I can't reverse that.
I still don't like the Falor thing, but we will have to wait and see.
I have it from a good source that Bonnie spends maybe 20 hours a week at her office at best. I don't really know what supervisors do all day or if theyre even really required to be at the county building other than for the BOS meetings. What do supervisors do other than attend meetings which amount to 10-15 hours of the week at most?
They cash those nice pay checks,fuel up on your credit card and oh,yea, throughly screw with your life. Other than that, not much.
Thats a good question actually. What do they do all day? Do they pitch in at the county and do a little research? Or do they just make phone calls to county staffers all day and tell them what they should be doing? I mean, most of the time the head county executive gives them a recommendation on how to vote. Its pretty rare that they don't do just that. They are paid a little over 70k a year. I would think to make that much money you would have to be doing something at least marginally substantive.
7:31pm,run for a seat and find out.
Like every thing else you get out what you put in. To be "effective" as a politico, that is to appear effective it's crucial to claim responsibility for any thing positive that happens. Most of this BOS are not lazy however most of them are best at the afore mentioned definition of effective. What would be much better is if they were foreward looking for the public not their next election.
So basicallyt these people are figureheads. I mean, literally they dont have to do anything other than attend BOS meetings. The 70k is for a wardrobe to look nice and maybe a 500 dollar car payment. But the trick is they have to look good, so they take credit for what county staffers end up doing right, and then blame the county staffers when they do something wrong.
What a load of bullshit. Hey I want a job where all I have to do is look like I know what I'm talking about!
This is getting hillarious. Board of Sups set the policy for the county of Humboldt. Yes, staffers implement the policy but to not acknowledge their basic duties is silly.
Ask yourself why people donate thousands of dollars to campaigns for Board of Supervisors. Real power is at stake and that's why these races are so expensive.
8:59, figurehead? give me a break, you are pretty naive.
9:25 you are the fool. The donations are to buy votes. The sum of the parts are less than the individual with this BOS. Maybe with most but not all. There is zero creative thinking with BOS and yes the staff runs the train. The BOS only runs the "SHOW" and takes credit along with the pay check. When these premadona's look to the effects 40 years down the road instead of their next election then we'll have something worthy of our needs.
They really dont do much that is substantive. The trick is finding a constituency that has a broad base (And free labor for campaigns) and then make them feel as though their voice is being heard. Thats what these people do. Is it worth 70k a year? No. They could hire staffers to shred paper with that money and it would be put to better use.
The reason the BOS has such a nifty salary is because it ties them to county employees. The employees want a raise? Well, if you give it to them, you're going to get one as well. It's a smart move by the bureaucracy. And look, its provided a careers worth of employment to certain officeholders.
May I also add fuel to the fire and point out that the wages for the BOS in 1998 was in the 40 thousand range. Now it is over 70 thousand. (Bonnie gets a special stipend up and above that for over 20 years of service. I think Wolley made that motion?)
And the average normal wage in Humboldt is in the mid 20 thousand range. Maybe the BOS should cap their wages to reflect other workers in the county. Maybe make their wages 2x the median for the county. Then they might look for people to invest in their workers.
Richard I agree with you, but I dont think anyone is really interested in investing in Humboldt County. Maybe Walmart for jobs that pay $11 an hour (Usually more than any of the local businesses pay). I think the employment base of the county is going to shrink, not grow. Evergreen is really one of the few good things going on in the Eureka area right now.
Oh, and yes it is amazing how long these people are clinging to their jobs. Bonnie is now over 20 years in. How long is Wolley? This is really a two term job. 8 years. Isnt that a good amount of 'public service' in any one area?
I don't get it.
Somebody want to explain it to me? Like I'm a 5 year old?
As to investment, is there an active countywide effort to bring in high tech industry? Because I really see that as the only hope for economic future.
Of course, that would bring in even more liberal greenbelt yuppies.
2:10pm Eric: I made this statement before, did she change her mind, or was her mind changed for her?
Virginia Bass, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingram. So many HOT Republican women.
OOPS! Almost forgot the Arkley girls!
Well, Coulter's all right. But on pure looks for Republican figures I'd give Michelle Malkin the award. Or Bo Derek maybe, though I haven't seen any shots of her in a few years.
How in the world did this degenerate into all this sexist chatter. I think I will surf over and see what Fred has to say.
Didn't degenerate, sex is the only honest thing in the thread. The Rep. women are very hot and honest. To be fair the very liberal Harmony is the hottest of all and is also honest. The nags on the board of supervisors are not honest. We will take sex over lies anytime.
Change is good. Being able to conform to the times is even better.
I support Bonnie because she has always been direct and honest with me. She listens if you ever care to converse with her. Guess that's not what blogging is about.
I was over at Fred's blog. I am back...you are right...the sex is better. So besides Harmony don't we have any hot liberals?
Hot doesn't just mean female. I would like to get Larry Glass in a dark room.
The BOS actually do spend a lot of time other than being in the BOS meetings. They are all on subcommittees that take up their time. Most of them have projects in their districts that take a lot of time. They get lots of e-mails and phone calls and some of them even answer them. They should read and understand everything in their board packet and at times I am not sure they really understand some of the consent calendar items that spend a lot of money and get voted as a block unless someone pulls the item off the calendar for discussion and then it gets voted anyway.
Ran into a former supervisor who told me that during his time as a supe they didn't have staff and did everything themselves but someone that got elected decided they needed assistance and that move got people hired to assist and more people hired to assist the assistant and got us to where we are today with staff making recommendations for the board to approve. So now we pay a lot of money for them to sit there and agree with staff.
Hot doesn't just mean female. I would like to get Larry Glass in a dark room.
Well, how about Christopher Dodd?
Yea,Ya-betcha. You've got Kim Starr. Yum,yum,with some anti-biotic's and a gallon of scotch you might go there. butttt you might not make it back.
Don't forget the tree hugg'n hunny with dog turds in her hair, the odiverous Remedy. Sounds like a cure for the crabs. Wow! these liberal girls really rock.
Richard, since you were a member of Virginia's campaign committee, please tell us what behind the her campaign's decision to attack LaValle for supporting gay rights?
Why would a Democrat such as yourself work for a conservative pro-war republican, who voted against gay rights?
Since when did Virginia attack Peter over gay rights during the campaign. If you're going to come up with BS at least come up with better, more believable, chapter and verse BS.
11:16am,at the city council meeting in which the same sex ordinance was proposed,the mayor said that he was disturbed by the council's refusal to pass the ordinance even though some of them said they had gay friends.Then throughout her campaign,Virginia stated that he was divisive, and that he bereaded her by speaking up and expressing his personal views at that meeting.
mresquan: And might I add that this very subject about Peter was one I took issue with: Bullying the council publicly through the media of his political beliefs. Ultimately it pushed Virginia over the top to decide to run.
I sat down with Virginia and discussed her views on alternative lifestyles and her vision for the future direction of Eureka before I decided to join her committee. She contacted me through mutual friends and asked for a sit down.
She grew up down the street from me in Myrtletown and I played ball with her relatives. We share the same circle of friends. It was not an easy decision for me to make, and I do not normally stick my neck out for conservative candidates. But it was a non-partisan race, and I had witnessed liberals backing a ultra conservative Neely, who clearly and publicly endorsed Bush and Arnold.
I have taken a public beating for my choice, but it I would do it again. Virginia already has proven her leadership qualities and has shown how to steer the council toward consensus, not division.
Let the City Council stick to the issues of the City, the BOS the county issues and the state legislature to issues of the state.
I agree with you Richard, shame on Peter LaVallee for standing up for the equal rights of gay and lesbian families. Good thing we had virginia to put him in his place. Gay people have too many rights.
5:44 don't know what your really trying to say. Are you wanting a sex sax marriage? If so thats great,I happened to have voted in favor of gay marriage even though you'd most likely label me a conservative. What you fail to say is the La Valley tried to use this issue as wegde for the election. His very personal attacks were not only hurtful but completly out of line. He was worse the Kerrigan to our astonishment. The public of Calif. spoke when they overwhelmingly turned gay marrige down. To put the city councile through the exercise is fine but to go into hestrics about it is misplaced. Attack your state reps and try again on the state ballot. Mr. La Valley's person attacks cost him the election. I voted for him once but choose Bass next.
mresquan:
Since you are so much a zealot on the subject of gay marriages, etc. and what the local governments should do, get off your ass and run for something. I'm really tired of you pontificating and not getting into the game. Say what you will about Richard, he put his money and time where his mouth is and ran for office. It's very easy to have an opinion when it doesn't cost you anything.
6:10, not hard to retort that dribble you wrote. So let me summarize your one point: You were for gay marriages, before you were against them?
And you make a claim of LaVallee using personal attacks. Proof?
Well actually Jim,I supported Richard during his run.Go back and find his list of endorsements.He was the best candidate,Neely the 2nd.His decision to back Virginia was well,his decision and as he has stated,he had personal and valid reasons to do so.
Well maybe I'll throw my hat in against Mr.Smith,despite my approval of his overall job performance,and the fact that I've already told him I'll be willing to knock on doors for him,who knows.And I did back Nan Abrams,knocked on hundreds upon hundreds of doors,and tried to sway voters into putting her into office,we failed.Nan is much more adept to dealing with this civil right issue due to her personal lifestyle,one in which Eureka voters aren't quite ready for yet.
But I can't really apologize for my pontification.
mresquan:
It's not that I am not acknowledging your working in the field for candidates or who you have supported. That was not the gist of my statement. It was that you are so ready to offer an opinion on anything and everything, and having not been on a board or commission or in an elected office, don't understand the reality of life in politics. I agree with Virginia that the Eureka City Council is not the place to be tackling social issues. Maybe when the last pothole is filled, cops and firefighters are paid enough to stop defections, and we have enough good paying jobs for those who want them, then maybe, they can take on social issues when they have nothing else to do.
Jim,so if one's never been on a board or commission that means they have no knowledge of how city government is run? I truly hope you don't believe that for a variety of reasons,and I believe that your personal experience on boards or committees is fairly minimal as well.I do understand the inner innuendos surrounding city government despite your belief,but I do understand your shot against me as I'm not so articulate in explaining things at times.We can meet for coffee some time in the near future so we can see where we stand on a variety of issues.
mresquan:
Having been elected and spending four years on the local utility board - including a term as president - which had a multimillion dollar budget, having been on a fire department for over a decade including a stint as Chief and building it into one of the finest in the county, and having made a respectable run for Second District Supervisor, on top of all the other political things I have done, I think you could call my experience slightly more than minimal. But be that as it may, my point which you don't seem to get is that there are those out there, you being one of them from what I can tell, that think local government needs to take stands on social issues that have no direct connection with how a city functions - financially or otherwise. I live in the world of real politik, not some idealized realm of what things could be - and the majority of citizens - when they think about politics at all, care primarily about the potholes and is the drug house down the street going to effect property values. One of my problems with groups like the Green Party is that while I can respect the 10 key values as a worthy goal, and I can respect people like Peter Camejo, politics is the art of compromise, and until they are willing to accept someone who agrees with seven out of ten and back them, they will always remain on the sidelines and NEVER sit at the table where the decisions are made.
mesrequan,
shame on you for expecting your elected officials to respond to social issues. You mention Rosa Parks, she should have ran for local office before she dared to criticize social policy just as Jim says.
Wait a second, make that state or federal office becuause local office should never address such issues as equality for its citizens.
Jim,they could've passed the ordinance and moved on to next item within minutes.Yeah sure,the public comment period may still would've taken up a bit of time,but after that ended they could've passed it within minutes without any further discussion,and moved on to other business.If your stance is for city councils to not deal with anything other than the dirt,then I agree in most cases,and the first thing that should be done away with is the pledge of allegiance which is then followed by a prayer,both of which are considered social norms,and have no connection to how a city government functions.
And Jim,I'm sure that all of the brave,courageos women who fought for Virginia to have the right to vote feel exactly the same way you about local governments taking a stance on social issues.
mresquan:
I strongly object to a young, white male telling me, and the readers of this blog, what women think. That's quite a sexist attitude. Is this how you truly feel? That you can speak for all those women?
And I strongly object to an older than me white male telling gay couples what they cannot have,but other couples can.
And I would think that most women respect and honor what social actions their ancestors took towards obtaining the right the vote.So I'll let the insults towards my white maleness begin if indeed my position is offensive to women,and others.
When did this older white male EVER make any statement about what rights gay couples can or can not have? We were talking about Virginia and the Council taking up social issues, not my personal feelings on the subject.
Wow
It just amazes me how often Konkler throws obstacles in the path of his own arguments.
There is no set of facts that will put this dude off his feed.
Sure thing pal...let's make a specious argument that has no practical purpose in any sense of reality.
It'll get you some attention and that is the point...isn't it?
Gay marrige is a useless issue.Its only value lies in attack style politics. A good statesman would simply move past it. First it only affects a minority population. Most people don't give a shit who's screwing who and those who do care are also a minority. Yes as a majority the nation thinks marrige should be between a man and a woman. However a larger majority believes in social justice providing for a civil union. What is of concern is that previously solid citizens like Neely are in bed with slime like Cobb,EPIC,Local Solution,etc. These are the clandestine relationships that give sex a bad name. We all like sex ,we just don't like to get screwed.
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