Election Reflections

Looking back on the 2007 Claremont Municipal election, we can't help but wonder if party politics isn't hurting our local governance. It may be that what is good for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party on the state or federal levels does not translate to sound policy on the local level.

Party politics, particularly on the national level, have become so polarized that voters are too often left with only two positions, and a range of other choices in between are automatically eliminated. This may be one reason why the number of Californians declining to state a party affiliation has been on the rise. According to an NPR story in January, 2007, the percentage of declined to state voters in California is now about 20% and growing.

Both parties risk becoming caricatures, the Democrats stuck in the 1960's and the Republicans stuck in the 1980's. While the Claremont electorate has traditionally been weighted slightly in favor of the Democrats, there are plenty of fiscally conservative social liberals who've objected to such things as the city's Landscaping and Lighting District. And, there a moderate Claremont Republicans who were bothered by the city's handling of the Landrum shooting.

One risk the incoming council has is to assume it has a mandate to spend freely without considering methods of payment. Last year's assessment district vote showed that there are still strong feelings about that sort of spending, and those feelings cut across party lines. The city has also turned its back on things like the vehicle stop study by the Police Department, and socially liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans alike may have concerns about that, especially if another racially-charged incident comes along.

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As we've noted in the past week, the newly-elected councilmembers and re-elected Peter Yao owe their election to the village vote, which accounted for the difference between third-place Linda Elderkin and fourth-place Jackie McHenry. The danger is that the council will fall back into its old patterns of conflating the good of the village for the good of greater Claremont.

Sam Pedroza ran as a candidate for South Claremont. Yet, what has he really done for them? What ideas does he bring to the council that will invigorate South Claremont and direct more city revenue towards the south, other than to line the pockets of his benefactor Roger Hogan at Claremont Toyota? We have yet to hear.

If areas like South Claremont, Northeast Claremont, and Piedmont Mesa become disaffected again, and if there is another polarizing event like the Landrum shooting, the city will be forced to confront its shortcomings, and some other Jackie McHenry will step forward as a vehicle of change.

The mistake the Claremont 400 makes is to deny their part in this dance of anger.

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We will say that there was one little-noticed comment by Pedroza at the Pitzer College candidate forum the week before the election. Pedroza, in answering a question concerning the police commission, seemed to answer sincerely and from the heart. It was a question that had not come up before in the campaign, so his Claremont 400 handlers had not had a chance to tell him what to say. Pedroza, who growing up must have seen some instances of police abuse, seemed to understand the concern some Claremonters have for the need for civilian oversight of the police. His keepers will rein him in, of course, but the lesson was that Pedroza on his own can speak intelligently. It's when he has the 400 telling him what to say that he puts his foot in his mouth.

(The 400, lead by people like former Police Commission Chair Helaine Goldwater, have watered down the Police Commission to where it's a non-entity. Hence, current Police Commission Chair Kevin Arnold's tantrum at the council meeting immediately preceding the election. Arnold has nothing better or more important to do with his time.)

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The Student Life, Pomona College's newspaper, had good article on the election. Keep it up, TSL!