ABSTRACT: Mayor Sue McCloud “has repeatedly said this is it for her” regarding another campaign for mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea and City Council Member Jason Burnett promised he would “serve a full, four-year term on the council” at the 2010 Candidates Forum. Monterey County Weekly and The Carmel Pine Cone are sources, respectively.
Mayor Sue McCloud:
Under the circumstances, endorsing McCloud might seem like a no-brainer. But we can’t in good conscience offer her blanket support. If she’d commit to a change of tone in a sixth term, she could regain the trust of critics and finish her tenure on a high note (she has repeatedly said this is it for her).
Source:
Carmel at the Crossroads
Tough choices in mayoral, City Council races.
Staff
Thursday, March 18, 2010
MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY
Note: In 2012, Sue McCloud will be 78 years of age.
City Council Member Jason Burnett:
Burnett also described himself as “absolutely committed to my community, and being your city council member is the best way I know how to serve,” and promised, if elected, to serve a full, four-year term on the council.
Source:
From retirement fund to beaches, candidates weigh in
- Fireworks when newcomers asked about their commitment to town
MARY BROWNFIELD, The Carmel Pine Cone, March 12, 2010
Burnett handled the line of questioning smoothly and promised that if he is elected to the city council, he will serve all four years of his term. In other words, he will not run for mayor in 2012, or enter the Democratic Party primary for U.S. Congress, or anything else.
Source:
Editorial: Still mad about 2002? The Carmel Pine Cone, March 12, 2010
8 comments:
If Jason wants to run for Mayor, he should be allowed to without a lot of fuss. First, we need him! Second, I think he would live up to his promise to serve all four years on the council - after all, the Mayor is one of the council, yes?
Absolutely, Jason Burnett can run for mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea...in 2014 or anytime thereafter.
It’s all about veracity in politics and government. If we, the people, see our elected officials as not honoring their promises and pledges, then we no longer have a viable government, we, the people, can believe in and that includes the city government of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
I don't agree. Jason promised to stay on the council the full 4 years. If 2 of those years include the mayorship, I don't see how he has violated his promise. The issue was (I thought) that he not make a move towards an office outside of the council. Whether he is the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor or a regular council member shouldn't matter - they are all council members.
Semantically speaking, serving two-years of a four-year term as a council member replacing another council member and then serving two-years of a two-year term as mayor is different from serving a full four-year term as a council member. If Jason Burnett meant the former rather than the latter, he should have corrected and clarified the record immediately after the news article and editorial in The Carmel Pine Cone, post-Candidates Forum 2010, and not let the public be misled.
The same standard applies to Mayor Sue McCloud. When MCW reported that McCloud informed MCW that “this is it for her,” then “this is it for her” means exactly that. If she did not “repeatedly” tell MCW that, then she should have also corrected and clarified the record and not let the public be misled.
Jason Burnett is not the indispensable man. And no we do not need him as much as he needs us. He works for use not the other way around. Look, his voting record is virtually identical to Sue McCloud's. He has not advanced much beyond his non-controversial talking points campaign. He lambasted Carly Fiorina in an op-ed for nearly destroying his grandfather's company, for not having integrity or respect for employees or concern with the community, for laying off employees, for not having a team-oriented approach, for having a top-down culture, for putting herself ahead of employees and others, for destroying employee morale and for taking millions in pay and perks. Funny, sounds a lot like Carmel. Carmel's city council did not have integrity and respect for employees when it tolerated the behavior and actions of Rich Guillen. The city also cut employees. The council tolerates a one-woman, top-down culture destroying employee morale. The council voted to buy out Rich Guillen's contract for $100,000 in pay and benefits when he breached his contract. Conversely, Jason was almost apologetic in an op-ed about the need for Righ to go for the good of Carmel and added insult to injury when he credited Rich with the fiscal condition of the city. I had high hopes for Jason, but so far he is just another typical modern day politician, saying what he thinks voters want to hear, just one of the council club members. So he will probably go far in politics with the backing of the Democratic Party and friends like, Sam, Jerry, Barbara and Leon.
Let Jason run for Mayor. He would make a damn good one. He promised he would serve four years. He didn't say in what capacity. Aren't you being a little too rigid in your thinking? Circumstances change. Times change. Wouldn't it be good to have him run for mayor from a safe seat on the council? He would likely win and then could appoint someone to fill out the remainder of his term as council member and fill the vacated seat.
What's funny is no one has mentioned Ken Talmage. Is it his time to be mayor? He will likely run again but who knows whether it will be for re-election to his seat or for mayor. Ken and Jason would not compete with each other in an election.
And as far as Karen Sharp is concerned? Good riddens. Talk about an ineffective, non-entity. She has been the "go along to get along" for far too long, providing absolutely no leadership and offering no opinion or stated positions. She's practically fallen silent, waiting out until the end of her term.
Good bye!
Well, I don't feel misled by Jason in the least. Where I live, 2+2 still equals 4. But as you say, its all semantics, which is often defined as "a problem of understanding", and comes down to interpretation. It's not as cut and dry as you propose.
Having low standards, low expectations for politicians is a reason Carmel-by-the-Sea has had Mayor Sue McCloud for six consecutive terms.
A reason politicians are held in such low esteem is their well deserved reputation for not telling the truth and not honoring their campaign promises. If Jason Burnett wants to run for mayor in 2012, then he would be well advised to say he changed his mind and state the reasons why he changed his mind, not engage in revisionist history.
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