I live here in the 15th Senate District which includes all of San Luis Obispo County; Santa Maria, Orcutt (69.6 of residents), and Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County and the unincorporated areas north of these three cities; Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, San Jose (7.5% of residents),Saratoga, Lexington Hills, and San Martin in Santa Clara County; Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks,Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Seaside, Aromas, Bradley, Carmel Valley, Del Monte Forest, Elkhorn, Las Lomas, Moss Landing, Pajaro, Prunedale, San Ardo, San Lucas,and Spreckels in Monterey County; Scotts Valley, Watsonville, Amesti, Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Corralitos, Day Valley, Felton,Freedom, Interlaken,and Rio del Mar in Santa Cruz County.
If you managed to read through this boring little list and didn't skip to this paragraph, you may have noticed that most of the district is small towns or unincorporated areas. Did you blink and miss San Ardo on your trip north on the 101? Forty-three percent of the population in San Luis Obispo County(and in fact most of the District) live in the unincorporated areas... The San Luis Obispo County Chamber of Commerce calls it a "post-industrial" area. But it is more likely an area that was never truly "industrial" and could better be considered rural and agricultural.
So, now we have a special election here to replace the total squish Abel Maldonado (R-retired, but doesn't know it yet, Lt Governor's Office).
And who do we have running to finish his term?
First we have reliable "nice guy" and squish Sam Blakeslee, who according to one of his campaign flyers "Wrote a law creating new, clean, tech green jobs that keep businesses from leaving California" Apparently he is an inventor, as well as a legislator!(OK,he does actually hold a patent on something oil-industry related) But unless "conservatives" are now using the progressive definition of "job creation", government can not "create (invent) new jobs" (oh, did I tell you his wife is on the Executive Board of the Nature Conservatory?).
Got an endorsement from Abel Maldonado ~ "Sam Blakeslee is an independent-minded reformer who has reached across party lines to help turn California around." (Where, oh where have we heard THAT line before?)
And this from the San Luis Obispo Tribune online today in an article about State workers furloughs ~
Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, said Thursday the furloughs can be demoralizing to workers.
“I’m no fan of these furloughs,” he said. “I’m concerned that there are better ways to negotiate and probably smarter ways to save money.”
He is pushing for a closer look at the size of various agencies and departments in Sacramento.
“We may in fact need to economize,” he said. “There may be situations where we have, frankly, too much fat up here in Sacramento.”
"There may be...too much fat..." You think so Sam?
He does actually respond to constituent's letters and phone calls, and you don't get a form letter either. Even when his position is not yours, you do get a well thought out reply.
Back in May when he declared his candidacy for this seat his statement included the "fact" that he had "always been a strong fiscal conservative" (excuse me while I throw up a bit!) His votes during the special budget sessions in 2009 were even worse than Abel Maldonado's!
From The FlashReport ~
His voting record is more moderate than members of the California Republican Assembly would prefer, with Scorecard ratings of 83% in 2005, 71% in 2006, 55% in 2007, 87% in 2008, and 69% in 2009.
But then there's his opposition! Someone who actually makes Sam Blakeslee look like a "fiscal conservative"!
Also from The FlashReport ~
According to the California Republican Assembly Scorecard, John Laird’s record is as bad as any legislator’s record can be. For each of his six years in the Assembly, Mr. Laird scored a perfect zero on the California Republican Assembly Scorecard (2003 through 2008). In every category, he voted for bills that were so extreme that many of his liberal colleagues cringed and abstained. He supported tax and fee increases, job-killing employer mandates, special privileges for homosexuals, drivers licenses for illegal aliens, racial identification on voter registration affidavits, free college tuition for illegal aliens, AB 32, prohibition on smoking in your own car, elimination of secret ballots for union elections, etc (emphasis mine)
And then there's the little matter of this perfect zero being a carpetbagger, which unfortunately seems to be perfectly legal. Less than 10 days before John Laird filed his nomination papers, he did not live in the 15th Senate District. He somehow acquired a "residential" address in Aptos, when he has actually lived in Santa Cruz for many, many years (if you want to go check that boring little list again, Santa Cruz is not on it...hmmm...). YOU would have had to have lived in the district for more than 15 days in order to register to vote in said district. But those mundane little rules are only for plebs. You too can carpetbag in any district, if you can afford to rent a second residence!(AND get the SEIU State Council and the San Jose SEIU Local to help bankroll your campaign! Remember that list up there again?...only 7.5% of San Jose is represented in this District)
So there you go California, we can hopefully elect a squishy conservative. O we can get stuck with a progressive who has never seen a tax he didn't like, or a "social justice" cause he couldn't support; giving the completely insane D's in the California Senate the numbers to pass the additional $25 million in taxes on Californians they are drooling over!
Please, if you know anyone who lives in the California 15th Senate District ask them to vote for Sam Blakeslee (Squish - but not suicidal)
R
