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AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL CANDIDATES
Morongo Basin, Ca.- Dear Candidates, Do you have $25,000.00 to spend on your campaign? In the past, some candidates spent that amount on their small local election campaign to print glossy color political ad mailers and purchase radio air time. Were you invited to an “Invitation Only” fund raiser looking for big donations? Did you answer no to these questions?…..Welcome to the club. There are decent and honest candidates that want to serve our community that need to get their message out to the voters. I do not feel the glossy mail outs with the “feel good” photos are truly addressing the issues. And one should ask the question, who is bankrolling that candidate and what do they each gain or expect from that candidate if elected?
Welcome to the new era. Welcome to Cactus Thorns! A well-informed public strengthens democracy, by focusing on the public interest and doing away with insider agendas and self-serving politics.
This Blog had it’s beginnings in Twentynine Palms about ten years ago that was originally formed for political reasons. Through the years, it has evolved to become the largest political Blog in the Morongo Basin reaching over 195,000 readers with news stories and special interviews by local contributors. And your cost to reach these voters? Zero, Zip, Nada.
When I post on this Blog, I often receive emails and telephone calls from readers across the Nation, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and especially from the thousands of readers in this area. There are reporters from the large national newspapers and local news agencies that follow this Blog on a daily basis. After I have posted my story, it is very easy for me to forward any story with the link to my Facebook account and place the link in my email with the following request: “Please forward this email to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same.”
Another nice feature about this Blog is the story is picked up by Search Engines that refer to the story when your name is searched. The cost to you? No charge.
Guess what. Your Candidate statement or story expressing your views are not reduced to a 30 second blurb, limited to 300 words or less or tossed out into the compost pile. Your post on Cactus Thorns travels the World Wide Web through the Internet without any expiration date…..cost to you? No charge.
Our Nation is in a Recession and I’ll admit, money is really tight in my household. How are you doing? Do you have too many days in the month? At the end of the month, I always observe how much money is being spent to buy gas at our local stations; $10, $15, and $8. Ooops! Here’s one for $65 to fill up a company truck using a company gas card. At $3 a gallon it can take a toll on the budget. If you have extra money to burn or “some special interest donors” backing you, then you have not even read my story up to this paragraph and you may be out of touch with the voters. This election will be different.
I am not complaining. This is the reality of our modern times. I feel very blessed that I have an opportunity to voice my views, concerns and reports on Cactus Thorns. And yes, I am posting my Candidate Statement and opinions because I am running for public office. My cost? No charge.
Candidates, please seize this opportunity to get your views, opinions and story posted on this Blog, Cactus Thorns. There are voters and elected officials that are actually reading and printing out these posts! As you will note below this open letter, the more you post, the more there is a reference to your previous stories with just a click on the link. Your cost? Nada.
Thank you Dan O’Brien for extending your invitation to the candidates to post on your Blog and thank you to the thousands of readers following my posts.
Sincerely,
Margo Sturges, HDWD Candidate
Note: Margo Sturges has written many articles for Cactus Thorns and is the founder of Citizens4Change.info. Email contact: MargoSturgesYV@aol.com “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”- George Orwell
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Hello I am Mark Clemons candidate for the 29 Palms City Council. I have had both individuals and special interest groups show interest in funding my campaign. I have to say thank you very much for the show of support, but no thanks, you will always have access and consideration. Any questions please ask here on this blog or facebook. I don’t want to have any obligations other than the obligation to the city and the citizens as a whole.
I would like to say thanks to Dan for access to the information conduit the 29 citizens desperately needed, thanks again for this blog. Until this blog was established we the people had no other means for reliable daily local news, or a place to speak out against the actions of the establishment.
Here is my campaign statement
It is time for 29 to change from a city that sends staff and council on costly jaunts to see how other cities spend tax dollars, to a city that leads the way in providing a fair and frugal government. It is time for a change from selective code enforcement, to only having codes that can be uniformly enforced. It is time for council to give staff rules to follow, instead of tools to manipulate. What a change it would be to see council lead the staff instead of following staffs ill-conceived recommendations. It is time for a council that demands nothing but verifiable facts from staff, and then directs staff on the behalf of the citizens they are elected to represent.
There are hard financial times ahead. If we don’t make some changes now it will come back to haunt us. The private sector can no longer finance 110% retirement plans for public employees or pay excessive salaries that top several state governors.
With your vote I will protect your tax dollar from the special interest cliques, strive to make 29 a leader in municipal governance, represent the view that the best government is a small, frugal, unobtrusive government.
Hello Mark. I am very glad to see you post your campaign statement on Cactus Thorns. Please continue to write articles about yourself to let the voters know who you are.
I agree with you regarding the bloated retirement plans that are currently sinking several cities to include the Postal Service. I suscribe to 5 newspapers to stay plugged into the State, National and International current events and I do not see any relief around the corner regarding this financial meltdown. I agree with you, this is a time to hold on tight and really protect the tax dollars of the citizens.
Now, will your next post be your suggestions on how to do this?
Thanks, seems we are reading some of the same pages. The difficulty factor will depend on the other four members setting with me. I will do my best to convince the council that we don’t have to follow other cities leads; we can be the model others follow, by saying no to the extravagant expenditures like 1.4 million dollars to consultants for an updated general plan. These consultants produce little or no value for the taxpayer. The state mandating we have a general plan is a boondoggle by lobbyist representing tax dollar ticks, mostly ex-government employees and ousted politicians. I think there is a hypnotic effect of the flow of tax dollars on the elected ones, most city administrators and politicians alike see these types of expenditures as an opportunity to at some point stick their fingers in the flow of tax dollars. Most can’t wait to get to the trough.