Technology, it seems, finally has caught up to School Board President Steven Gourley.
In his third decade in politics, Mr. Gourley has a tradition of asking residents, visitors, complainers, business persons and others who appeared before the City Council (1988 to 1996) and now before the School Board whether they vote in the local elections.
At School Board meetings, the percentage of concerned citizens who come to speak is unusually high.
Mr. Gourley should know. He checks the persons in the 2007 public register of voters for the election of 2007. Often he asks Board member Kathy Paspalis to look up the voters in her 2009 public records to see if the person before the Board actually voted in the 2009 election.
Now Facebook and the California Democratic Party have come up with software that identifies Democrats who don’t turn out as often as dedicated voters do. Through Facebook and their minions, the Democratic Party can identify and urge the recalcitrant Democrats out to vote, especially through peer pressure from their fellow Facebookers.
Mr. Gourley got into the habit of bringing the City Clerk’s books into Council Chambers and looking for the names of the speakers at the podium in Clerk’s official records.
More frequently than not, the biggest complainers did not vote in local Council elections. Mr. Gourley recalled one such confrontation when 30 people showed up at a Council meeting to protest code enforcement citations.
The lead speaker loudly proclaimed: “You should do what we want you to do. You’re representative of us.”
Mr. Gourley snappily rejoined: “Ma’am, we try to represent the entire city. But we are representative of the people who vote.
“On your entire street, only three people voted in the last Councilmanic election. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. People in other countries, and this one, have died or languished in prison for the right you take for granted.”
The 30 persons looked around to see if any of the three voters on their street was present at the meeting.
None was there.
The leader of the protestors yelled at the City Council:
“Of course, we don’t vote for City Councilmen. It wouldn’t do any good. You’re all crooks.”
Needless to say, their citations for blighting their neighborhood remained intact. The 30 non-voters filed out quietly.
Moral: The people you elect will have a lasting effect on your neighborhood, your home, and your schools.
It would be a good idea to vote, whether Mr. Gourley, Facebook or anyone else is paying attention. A person who represents you might actually get elected.
Mr. Gourley may be nudged at sgourley@maleklaw.com
