Election Wrap-Up 2006

St. Johns County
In the primary, we were gratified to see Tom Manuel win over Bruce McGuire in the District 4 Commissioner race, and to see Tom win in the general election over a write-in candidate. Brian Paradise and Alice Platt completed a postcard mailing campaign among Sierra Club members and environmental supporters in St. Johns County that we feel made a critical difference in that race. Tom Manuel had broadly used his Sierra Club endorsement in his campaign and has given us credit for making the difference in a close race where residential development and its effects on infrastructure was the overriding issue. Manuel’s win over McGuire sent a message that voters do not want “development as usual”.

We endorsed Ken Bryan in the District 2 St. Johns Commissioner race against Ron Sanchez in the general election. Both candidates had environmentally favorable characteristics. While we were disappointed that Bryan was not successful, we believe Sanchez will serve us well on the Commission. With these elected officials, we are optimistic that St. Johns County will be better positioned for more appropriate growth management going forward in the future.

Clay County

Katja Palmer, our endorsed candidate for the District 2 commissioner race, lost to Doug Conkey in the general election. Janet Larson and Andy Wojcicki were instrumental in hosting a wine and cheese fundraiser for Katja.Mary Cardell, Candace Rue, Janet Larson and Cassandra Cogar contacted Clay County Sierra members to support and vote for Katja. We applaud and thank Katja and her campaign manager Sandy Goldman for a well-run campaign.

State Constitution Amendment 3

What were they thinking? Voters approved this amendment that raises the hurdle for voter approval of constitutional amendments from a simple majority, to a 60% approval rate. We noted that it was approved by 57% ofthe voters which is less than the percentage approval required in the new amendment. Nonetheless, we now must approve state constitutional amendments by 60% going forward.

Thanks goes out to all Sierra Club members and supporters who worked on the campaigns. A special “thank you” goes to political committee members: Brian Paradise, Tom Register, Eric Geller, Candace Rue, Max Story, and Bob Tidwell, and to Alice Platt who worked on getting out postcards, and getting newsletters out earlier than usual so that our endorsements could be communicated to Sierra members prior to elections. An extra-special thank you is in order for our Political Committee Chair Janet Stanko, who spent countless hours organizing volunteers, interviewing candidates, and making our political committee as effective as it could be. Thanks, Janet!

Legislative/Politics