By Mark Shepherd Santa Monica
Bill Clinton called the other night, for the second time in two weeks. Rudy Giuliani phoned too. And Herb Katz and Bobby Shriver and Denny Zane and a couple of state legislators whose name I can never remember. That Heal the Bay dude called too. And a bunch of other people pimping a bunch of other ballot propositions.
Of course, these were recordings from robo-phone computers. What a horrible invention.
My household is on the federal “Do not call” list for tele-marketers. Why doesn’t that apply to politicians?
Moreover, we filled a recycling bin with election fliers, mailers and hand-outs, all from politicians who said they care about the environment. Obviously, they don’t care about trees. The local cable TV candidate forums that ran 24/7 were more helpful than all the ads put together. But for crying out loud, next election can they get the audio in sync with the video? They all sounded like old mattress commercials.
But do you know what would have helped more than any of that? What would have cut through all the chatter, promises and lies? Council candidates to actually walk through our neighborhood, knock on doors, introduce themselves to us... and listen.
Nobody bothered to come around. Nobody bothered to listen to us — the voters, the residents, the families in my area with real concerns, who day in and day out, deal with the problems this council has created through its ignorance, arrogance or neglect. I don’t need to read or hear half-baked promises or retread ideas from some extreme social philosophy. I want candidates to listen, especially at the local level, even if its only once every four years.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 14, 2006. Read the original PDF.