What’s New

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. I’ll be 65 tomorrow, celebrating with family and friends in home town Berkeley.

I starting posting to social media, and dove right into issues around Voting (HANVA), which is a bit off base — I probably shouldn’t assume people immediately rush to spend an hour on the site. But social is fluid, I’ll post more today and later this week about the positive side of this campaign — how we can, in principle, pull back from the partisan mess we find ourselves in. That’s what it’s about, after all.

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My interview on KQNY Quincy starts airing today, check it out!

With tonight’s update the site is ready to provide a solid base for the campaign. I’ll still be adding and refining up to election day, but now it’s time to focus on short messaging videos every day or so, and get the Social Media channels fired up.

One obvious change on the site is replacing “put people before parties” with “say NO! to partisan nonsense”. Of course I still believe in putting people before parties, but that message feels rather bland compared to what I’m hearing from constituents. It’s worse out there than I’d imagined — a lot of people are really fed up with what can only be termed nonsense, indeed.

A lot of pages have been clarified and expanded. Thank you to those providing helpful review and feedback.

One major update is A Tale of Two District 1s. This was in part because I think it’s important for voters to understand what’s going on, but it’s also a good example of how I operate: I work to understand complex issues and then do my best to help others understand as well. The page is a bit long and wonky, but I hope it’s also clear and interesting.

A significant campaign move is that I’ve nailed down No Fundraising. I had considered setting up for limited donations, but I went back to an earlier idea instead — I’d love to hear your take. I also hope you enjoy the strange and wonderful experience that in part drove the decision.

I realized that the issue underlying everything I’m doing with this campaign is Equal Representation. It’s something we aspire to as a nation, and I believe it needs attention.

In other news:

• My KRCB interview is up, and I’m recording another with KQNY 91.9 FM in Quincy tomorrow.
• Site aesthetics and consistency — so far I’ve focused more on content, but appearances count too. This will be ongoing, and feedback welcome as always.

But the big news today is: This is my last day at work — I’ll be retired as of this evening!

Now the campaign kicks into high gear, with district-wide visits, more interviews and appearances, new campaign materials, and regular site updates.

Tonight’s update takes us from roughly 20% complete (just the fundamentals) to about 70%, with the full shape of the campaign clearly mapped out. There’s enough to answer most of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions about the campaign.

There are too many additions and updates to list, but a few of note:

• A lot more about who I am and why and how you should support me.
• A tale of two District 1s explains, with graphics, what happened here.
• Proposition 50 explains how we can, and should, make it through the primary.
• Get Involved updated and expanded.
• The Elephant (and Donkey) in the room updated.
• More to come lists the queue of ongoing campaign development.

I hope to soon meet many of you in person! Keep in touch.

The home page is essentially complete, outlining what I and the campaign are about. Several supporting pages are also in place, plus some “coming soon” placeholder pages as I continue to flesh out my views for your consideration.

Of special note, I’ve outlined my plan for a District Advisory Council, a centerpiece of the campaign.

Still missing (not even placeholder pages) but also in the works: My bio, and my “positions” on issues. In short, my position on most issues is that a range of options are reasonable. I resist settling on specific solutions until time for debate has been exhausted — this is how I believe Congress should operate.

A few minor edits and clarifications are now live, with much more content coming in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Mostly just got my intro and basic videos posted. Hit a last-minute snag with GoDaddy DNS, but their tech support got me through it. Stressful. A good reminder of engineering tradeoffs — stability vs. cost. Noted.

Follow the campaign on this site for now. Email list sign-up coming soon, along with social media posts. Stay tuned!

Found out that there’s some “extended nomination period” for this race, so I won’t have official notice that I’m a “qualified candidate” until Wednesday. I took the extra day to polish up some things. Fingers crossed no more delays. Setting up is going well, should have a decent basic set of “complete” materials by tomorrow.

Ok, just filed my 40+ nomination signatures and other forms. Everything looks good, and I’m expecting to be officially on the list by Monday. Took the oath!

I’m repurposing my site to focus on the campaign, with any personal bits tucked into a corner but still up. Things will be in flux as I finish putting together campaign materials, including introduction video, for Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Well, I’ve certainly thought about it for years (decades) but just decided to take the plunge this week. Now the site will be shared between my campaign, and other personal things. I just put up some basic placeholder content, with a pledge to provide full material by March 6, which is the due date for final filing.