Saturday, May 27, 2006

I am not voting for Kevin deLeon for California State Assembly

I live in atwater village and Kevin deLeon dropped by my house while I was away to campaign for assembly.

Though we were not at home and the gate to our front patio was closed and our two dogs were on the patio, Mr. deLeon still came in and left a personalized message on campaign literature on my door.

The gate was closed. The dogs were on the patio.

We came home from lunch to find that the gate was open and one of my dogs was across the street. We were gone for about an hour and had seen Mr. deLeon talking to a neighbor a couple houses away. I assumed he was campaigning and that he would see no car in my driveway, a closed gate and two dogs and not bother coming in. Well, he did and was not considerate enough to close the gate after he left. It's conceivable that my dog that got out could easily have been hit by a car.

Well, needless to say, he wasn't and we're lucky about that, but Mr. deLeon lost my vote.

If he should happen to win, I would hope that he's more thoughtful and considerate as an Assemblyman.

Here are the other democrats running for the Distric 45 seat:

Elena Popp
Christine Chavez
Oscar A. Gutierrez
Gabriel Buelina

Updated: Thanks to the commenter for the link to Ms. Popp's campaign site.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a link to Elena Popp's website:

http://www.voteelena2006.org/

Anonymous said...

Who let the dogs out?

woof! woof!

Too funny - and too apt a metaphor for the deLeon candidacy.

Anonymous said...

Glad you dog is safe.

I'm scanning blogs for ideas and comments that can enlighten me when I make a decision on June 6.

Frankly, this is a pretty lame reason to not vote for someone. If he didn't shut the gate properly, that's a pretty human mistake. As far as entering a gated property, I don't think there are any places that aren't gated in L.A. anymore.

Perhaps your pup has a keen eye for improperly shut gates and you've focused negative attention on Kevin rather than positive attention on your escape artist dog.

The information I've gathered still leads me back to voting for Kevin, but again, I'm glad your dog is ok!!

Miles said...

Ask yourself seriously if you would vote for somebody who would come onto your property with no cars in the driveway, two dogs on the porch and a closed gate who left campaign materials on the door instead of the obvious mailbox outside the gate and didn't make sure to the gate was latched. That is somebody who does not think things through. Seriously. It's a problem. And, honestly, with the Mayor's endoresement, I was previously inclined to support him before, but not anymore. So, there you have it. Real life action have real life implications. Do something stupid and inconsiderate to me and my family personally and I'm inclined to not vote for you and tell everyone I can why I will not vote for you. Plus, incidentally, I emailed the deLeon campaign almost the same response and have heard NOTHING back from them. Do they care? Were they apologetic? Seems not likely.

Miles said...

Apologies for the vitriol and bad grammar below -- written in the heat of the moment and published without proofing. Anyhoo, you get the point.

Anonymous said...

I am with you.

This is the kind of behavior I find telling.

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth: the LA Times endorsed Elena Popp today.

Anonymous said...

I am with you, Miles. I am not voting for Kevin de Leon, either. When I asked a worker for the de Leon campaign, how long de Leon has lived in the district--I got a very evasive answer. Is it because de Leon has only very recently acquired an address in the district? I saw an ad for de Leon on TV and it does not even mention what district he's running for? This makes me feel that he is being planted by Nunez and Villaraigosa in the Assembly for their own agenda. Where would that leave our district? On the outside looking in. Atwater Village held a candidates forum and being the front runner at the time with all the big name endorsements, Kevin de Leon did not show up at the forum. This behavior and Miles' experience only show that Kevin is only after your votes and once he gets them, we, Atwater Village will be forgotten. I agree with Miles, I will vote for someone who has very little regard for the voters. We do not matter to de Leon because we can not sponsor big TV ads. I also asked one campaign worker for de Leon where his candidate stood on clean money on campaign finances--the rsponse a long silence.
I would urge everybody to vote on June 6 and to please consider what people have said about the candidates.

Anonymous said...

I am with you Miles.

(It has a ring to it, doesn't it?)

The Times cites Popp's independence and her roots in the district.

Anonymous said...

It is illegal for him to put campaign materials inside your mailbox. That's why he would have come in the gate... and leaving campaign material is part of canvassing a neighborhood, which is why he'd come in even if there were no car.

It was a pretty simple mistake -- and you didn't see him do it in any case. I hope others in your life get more than one opportunity to make a mistake.

But certainly glad your dogs are OK. Maybe you shouldn't leave them outside protected only by an unlocked gate.

Miles said...

In the 7 years that I've lived in the house, nobody has ever made the mistake. If we hadn't come home when we did, our dog likely would have been missing or dead. No, I didn't actually see him do it. I did see him two house away and likely heading toward my house. So, I put 2 and 2 together.

If getting his materials on my doorstep is more important to him than the safety of my family (and my dogs are part of my family), well, then, he doesn't deserve my vote.

If a friend, a colleague, or somebody who does work for me ever did that, I would be just as disillusioned and undoubtedly they would apologize. As noted, I emailed the campaign and have gotten no response.

So, I do feel like he does not deserve my vote. He acted irresponsibly and without consideration and I feel it necessary to let my community know.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of missing forums and debates, Christine has missed all but one, Kevin has attended all but one.

Hope everyone in Atwater village isn't as hungry for undue attention as you are Miles. There is such a thing as being human and you don't seem to get that. Humans make mistakes and get overwhelmed with schedules like the sort Kevin and other candidates keep. For all you know, he had a migraine that day. For all you know, he wasn't the one that left the gate open. Hell, maybe it was you?

Maybe you should spend a little more time with two-legged members of your family and get a clue.

THE DOG IS OK, GET OVER YOURSELF!!!

Miles said...

Perhaps it wasn't him. Though, it seems likely. Perhaps, he had a migraine. Does a migraine provide an excuse for not thinking things through?

I encourage everyone to vote for whomever they feel would best serve them (Actually, I just wish everyone would vote.). I've had one experience with Mr. deLeon and it was not positive. I reached out to the campaign and was not responded to. I've drawn my own conclusions.

PS You may think that "I am hungry for undue attention," but in reality, I'm just trying to use my little virtual soapbox to let my friends know what I'm thinking. If you are not interested, there are plenty of other people standing on soapboxes to listen to.

Anonymous said...

Migraine - oh my god. Who are these people?

I am with you, Miles.

Anonymous said...

As any person with a pet know, you know how to close and latch a gate or door and why you should. Too much depends on it.

I hear the Weekly will endorse Popp tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you, angryredballs.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you, angryredballs/

Anonymous said...

I'm with you, angryredballs.

Anonymous said...

Kevin de Leon came knocking at my sister's house while I was visiting and since my sister was busy in the kitchen, I answered the door. Kevin called me by my sister's name. Honest mistake, since the registered voters at that address were my sister and brother-in-law. when I said I was not my sister, he proceeded to call me by my brother-in-law's name. I know I'm not pretty, but I did not think I look like a man. I wonder why he's getting the heavy endorsement from the Mayor.
Maybe you're right. This is one mistake. But a very sad and dumb mistake from a candidate seeking votes. Really, I have seen lamp posts with more engaging personality than Kevin de Leon.
By the way, other than being endorsed by Nunez and Villaraigosa, what does Kevin have to say for himself?
So he missed only one forum--and that one was the one at Atwater Village. I wonder why. Maybe our votes do not matter to him.

Anonymous said...

Kevin's campaign team is worse then our local taggers! They have littered all of Fletcher Drive with those campaign posters... I sure they will be there well after the elections are over. If Kevin doesn’t care enough about neighborhood to do responsible campaigning he truly needs to go away!

Anonymous said...

Our gate was left open accidentally ( we usually keep it closed to keep out real estate agents and people trying to convert us to some religion ; ) and in walked Mr. DeLeon to have a chat with my husband. Husband was NOT impressed. Mr. DeLeon ignored whatever feedback my husband gave him and kept up his campaign spiel long after it was clear he should be going.

Anonymous said...

I saw the Republican candidate the other day. Seems to be a nice lady who has enough smarts to not be pushy if you tell her "Now is NOT the right time to talk politics"; apologized for interrupting my gardening. She even let my dog give her a wet kiss AND she didn't wipe it off.

Anonymous said...

De Leon is lame. He is from San Diego and was planted in the district by Fabian Nunez. Villaraigosa owed Nunez a favor and so he's now endorsing De Leon.

Vote Buelna! This guy has been by my house a few times since last year. He seems genuinely concerned and not part of the political machine.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm being naive but why don't you lock your gate if you're so easily upset? By the way, I live in Atwater and I liked all the candidates who came to the door - even the Republican though I'd never vote for her.

Anonymous said...

Why not? Give me three good reasons not to vote for her.

I can give you one critical reason to vote for her. There are only 23 women in the Assembly and 11 are leaving. That's 50% of the women right there GONE in November. HELLO!!!!! Anybody awake out there? Be careful with the never vote for her thing, because with only 12 women being left in the Assembly and us losing one to represent us, your I'd never vote for her just might undo everything that activists like me have done to advance women in politics. Even though she's a Republican (and from what I hear a moderate one at that), I as a hard core liberal woman would rather vote for a woman to replace a woman. Unless of course you'd rather let your political pride screw up 40 years of hard work!

Anonymous said...

I went to the Fletcher Square Community Input meeting tonight. Guess who was there? Samantha Allen-Newman. At least she cares enough about the community to actually SHOW UP and ask some tough questions like "Just how much is all of this going to cost," and "Who are the developers that have already thrown their hat in the ring?"

I agree with the poster that said behavior is telling. I can tell already who I'm voting for, and it's not Kevin!

Anonymous said...

Go Sam! Anyone who shows up in my neighborhood in 100+ degree heat to listen to what this Democrat has to say gets my vote.

And for what its worth, my cat followed her down the street. Sam found my baby and brought him back home.

I urge everyone to vote for Sam!

Anonymous said...

Vote for someone based solely on their gender? That's moronic.

Anonymous said...

No, its not. It's rather sensible, but then again you probably are a man and have no clue as to women's issues and representation.

Four Seeds of the Pomegranate said...

sic your dogs on Kevin, next time he comes by. Maybe they can chase him back to San Diego!