E. Boyer
In case you haven't noticed, there's a contest..er, uh, I mean an election going on in Piedmont. Its really quite the marketing blitz! I guess the days of good 'ole small town elections are a thing of the past. Used to be a candidate would show up and answer questions at town hall meetings, pass out a few pins, toss in his/her cap and hope for the best. Times have changed. I must admit that the giant postcards and snazzy websites are impressive! All with the same basic message of wholesome, civic minded, fiscally responsible "Piedmonty" goodness. I salute these motivated individuals..volunteering their time and expertise in positions that are demanding and often thankless. But, has anyone else noticed the proliferation of lawn signs? What in the world?!? Seems the ban has been lifted...there was a time in Piedmont when the use of a lawn sign was considered an underhanded tactic, thought to turn the election into a popularity contest. I suppose it makes sense. All the fancy postcards, letters of praise, campaign socials and lawn signs can really get a town whipped-up!! Things haven't changed so much then, since the cliquish days of high school when popularity was crucial to one's existence..as adults, some of us are still just as frantic to be part of the "it" crowd. So, we start calculating: If these neighbors have McBain and Fujioka signs then, that's probably who I should vote for. After all, they have nice homes and drink lots of really good wine. On the other hand, the neighbors with the Rood signs have been here for a long time and seem to go to lots of parties so, maybe I should vote for him. Then again, the flamboyant loud-mouth neighbor has a McBain sign and I cant imagine that we share any of the same values. But, the lady who complains about every proposed project has a Rood sign so, that can't be good. What to do? McBain seems to have the Plaid skirt crew, Fujioka appeals to the no-nonsense group and the NIMBYs favor Rood. Thats just for City Council! Then, we have to consider the school board candidates! Good Lord! Swenson has the old-guard Parent's Club types, Raushenbush has the "stay-the-course" folks on his side, Sarah Pearson has the motivated Gen Xers in her camp, Nancy Bostrom has a dedicated Hitchcock cult following and Jon Elliot has the sensible mature, progressives in his corner. Tough decisions, here. One wrong move and just like the inadequate cheese incident of 2010..you could be off the "important guest list" for good! Oh, sure, they've all got a few blemishes but, who doesn't? Not unusual during an election in Piedmont for the poor, unsuspecting candidates to get lambasted: Ineffective in group negotiations, lacking creativity, too aggressive, too submissive, snobby, mean, lacking warmth, inexperienced, dull and of course, anything deemed questionable behavior. Sorry candidates, don't think for a minute that townsfolk aren't counting your every cocktail, keeping a tally of every encounter when you were less than warm and fuzzy, watching through binoculars every..ahem..party your teenagers host, taking note of every snarky outburst and basically scrutinizing your every move. But, hey..none of us are perfect and who among us doesn't have a few skeletons in our closet? Well, most of us don't have actual skeletons in our closets...or foyers but, still..we really shouldn't judge.
But, in between all the Piedmont pomp of campaign cocktail parties, lawn sign design lunches and general jumping on of bandwagons, its good to take some time to carefully consider the candidates...not just their camps. Popularity has a way of creating the illusion of validity...much like lawn signs.
