Steve Bennett wants your help finding out what his opponent is doing. Here is the email he sent out:
Dear Supporter, There are two polls being conducted for Bob Roper, one is a live call and the other is a robo-call. You can help our campaign by taking the poll and writing down all of the questions asked. Then send that information to me as soon as possible. Along that line, as the campaign heats up, it's helpful for us to quickly know what communication is hitting the community. If you receive mail, phone calls, or social media contacts supporting Bob Roper or attacking me, it will be helpful if you contact us immediately with that information. Thank you for your support as this campaign progresses.
Have you been getting political phone calls yet?
Did Steve Bennett ever survey Ventura County voters before he voted in favor of Waste Management's expansion plans that have made this county the dumping grounds for the trash that Los Angeles and other locations in Southern California generate?
I would be interested in reading his answer.
Harold,
That's a good question. I imagine if the County Supervisor that represents that area did not object the other Supervisors were less likely to attempt to stop it.
True, the trash would not go into his district. No do the trucks carrying it through Simi, Moorpark or Conejo Valley drive through his district from L.A.. The stench from the site probably would not travel as far as Ventura and Ojai nor would the exhaust fumes - especially if the wind is blowing in an Eastern direction from his district's beaches.
Foy made little pretense about his support for Waste Management's rights to do with the property whatever they wished. Waste Management made little pretense of their support for him. Foy never presented himself as an environmentalist.
On the other hand, Bennett has always claimed unquestioned credentials as an environmentalist who as a supervisor had an opportunity to prove it in one of the most important decisions affecting the county he serves. He chose to do otherwise.
Perhaps, he had his reasons, but in fairness to voters he should make those reasons clear to the people considering how he might vote on a similar issue in the future - especially if they saw that its effects in their own neighborhood.
Brian, do you believe that a supervisor's responsibility to this county does not extend beyond his district boundaries? Do district boundaries excuse a board member from voting against something he does not believe in? Under such circumstances, do you believe he should explain the wisdom behind his vote?
Those of us in the East County have to live with the results of the action of that board and its likely effects on us, our property and our communities. Ironically, Foy made his reasons clear, but Bennett has been silent on his.
A agree an elected official has duties beyond their district. What was the alternative besides expanding the dump? Expanding a dump in another town? How is that more sustainable?
The question really should be: should this county have made the dumping grounds for trash from other counties such as Los Angeles?
With decades of capacity remaining at the current usage of the site if only Ventura County were supplying all the debris and trash, the expansion was a way for WM to economically solve its ineffective negotiations with Los Angeles and other counties where current sites were full and/or near capacity.
Does Bennett believe - as Foy does - that Waste Management's property rights on usage and development trumped the concerns and rights of the community? If so, he should say so.
Does he believe that each supervisor should automatically receive the votes of the others on matters that involve land development and usage within his/her respective district? If so, he should say so.
Did he simply make this decision because he saw this as an environmentally sound way to secure easy revenues for the county? If so, he should say so.
Did he have some other reason for voting for this? If so, he should say so.
While this issue has been settled by the vote of the board, voters should have a reasonable expectation of what to expect in the future from someone asking them to place or retain them in office. One way for voters to make a judgment on that is to understand what the candidate did in the past.
The silence from all of the supervisors - except Foy - was and remains deafening.
Bennett will never answer your questions, Harold. Clearly, he is taking campaign contributions from Waste Management. That is the sole reason he supported the landfill expansion in Simi Valley. What an environmentalist, huh?
And now he is exhibiting acute paranoia by wanting to know every single thing Bob Roper is doing and saying about him. Time for this fossil to be placed in the museum. Ventura County has suffered long enough from this guy's misdeeds.
In a new CNN/Time poll, available exclusively on the CNN/Time Convention Floor Pass app, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden top Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) among likely voters in Florida, 50 percent to 46 percent. Obama and Biden have a 12-point lead among Florida women and a 41-point advantage among “non-white” voters in the Sunshine State.
In other news New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he would donate the $10,000 he won in this years Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest to the RNC.
Breaking News: Barack Hussein Obama was seen backstage at American Idol this week sucking up to the judges before the taping of the show. Word is Hussein will be making his debut as a tap dancer, demonstrating how he's avoided being taken to task for his abject failure in dealing with our broken economy.
Breaking News: Mitt Romney was seen backstage at American Idol this week sucking up to the judges before the taping of the show. Word is Romney will be making his debut as a dancing idiot, he will be joined by other dancing idiots from the VCRCC. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Breaking News: Barack Huseein Obama's campaign stategists have advised him to keep his campaign speeches focused on how evil a person Mitt Romney is for being such a successful businessman who created thousands of jobs for U.S. workers. He will be attacking Governor Romney for being too successful rather than touting anything that he himself has actually done as President.
This strategy will fall flat on its face when it comes time for Obama to actually defend his record (or lack thereof) before the American people in a debate with Governor Romney. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mitt Romney has announced his job plan. He plans on sending 600,000 jobs to China, 300,000 to India and 450,000 to Mexico. Of course this means hard working Americans will lose those jobs and unemployment will increase. But as Romney likes to say, "If you ain't rich, you ain't sh*t!" Of course under Obama America has added back 4 million of the jobs, of the 6 million lost under the republicans.
Brian -
While your love of the Freedom of Speech is to be applauded, the ludicrous loquaciousness above is the reason many of us do not frequent this cite as often.
Back on topic - Mr. Bennett is running scared. After sucking up to Peter Foy all these years (INCLUDING his environmentally hypocritical decision to support Waste Management), he is now opposed by one of Foy's far-right cronies.
Instead of running a campaign on his accomplishments, however distant they may now be, he is concerned about political phone calls from his opponent. This is a sure sign he has already lost the election...just as he has lost touch with his constituents.
Make no mistake, I have no love for Roper. But Bennett is a fatally wounded incumbent and the writing is on the wall. What the hell do you stand for anymore, Mr. Bennett?