On the eve of Christmas, the City Council race has exploded this afternoon.
By this fourth day of the month-long filing period, eight candidates have taken out papers – promising to return by Jan. 15 with at least 20 signatures and a maximum of 30.
Three new previously unpublished names have turned a tidy little race for three open City Council chairs in April into a jaw-expanding eight-way tug.
With a chuckle, Councilman Jim Clarke scanned the Jenny Craig list, gulped and cracked:
“This is interesting,” he said. “We could have something like the (oversized) Republican field. Let’s get Donald Trump in there, too.
The newbies are:
- Jay B. Garacochea
- Daniel Lee
- Joseph L. Stone IV
Now what?
If all of them deliver the appropriate requirements, they will bulge the lineup of previously announced contenders:
- Goran Eriksson, the first candidate to announce and the first to pull papers at 8:15 on Monday, 45 minutes after the City Clerk’s blinds were raised.
- Incumbent Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells.
- Thomas Aujero Small, the first fine arts-oriented Council contender in years.
- Marcus G. Tiggs, a second-time contender who would be the first black Councilman.
- Scott Wyant, who would be the first professional and accomplished tech-spert to sit on the Council.
Ex-cops run for office with the same frequency with that Parcel B has been built since the last century.
Mr. Garocochea, former police officer, was terminated by Chief Don Pedersen, a source told the newspaper, for not being truthful to his superiors.
Mr. Lee, recruited by Ms. Sahli-Wells, like Mr. Tiggs, would make history as the first black man on the Council.
An unabashed progressive in the spirit of Ms. Sahli-Wells, who earned an MSW degree from UCLA, Mr. Lee is deeply involved with a movement seeking to reverse the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling. This allows corporations to contribute openly to political campaigns.
