Let the Wild Political Rumpus Begin

If it’s October in an election year in Albany, things are about to get silly. Late in the campaign, mysterious accusations start circulating, accusing some of the candidates of nefarious crimes against the environment and other misdeeds.

I think the odds of you seeing such accusations this year are pretty good. I also think you should take them with a grain of salt. To help inoculate against these distortions, please let me share with you something that turned up in my email inbox recently.

Citizens for Albany Shoreline (CAS) published an online newsletter dated October 4. The author was identified as Billy Dann, better known to Patch readers as “montymarket.” Dann is a longtime member of various city waterfront committees. Here is what Dann wrote:

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STILL MORE TO DO IN ALBANY

Currently the Park District is moving forward with a project to enhance the Albany Beach by expanding the dunes, installing real bathrooms, fixing the Neck and Plateau, and completing the Bay Trail through Golden Gate Fields.

The success of this and other projects requires the continued support of our progressive majority on the City Council, which is now at risk: currently Marge Atkinson and Joanne Wile have two more years to go, but our champion, Councilmember Robert Lieber, will be termed out to be replaced after the November election.

PETE MAASS & NICK PILCH FOR CITY COUNCIL

Only two candidates have been endorsed by the Sierra Club and CAS for the November election: Pete Maass and Nick Pilch.

Seven candidates are running for three open seats, including the incumbent Peggy Thomson: among the others are Mr Albert, who is the Chamber of Commerce choice and needless to say severely pro-development; and Mr Barnes, who is in UC administration and a harsh anti-environmentalist (viz: search Albany Patch for his history of acerbic comments).

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First, starting from the final paragraph and working up, let me dispense with the obvious problems. Peggy Thomsen’s name is misspelled. Second, there is no candidate named “Mr. Albert.” I think Dann is referring to candidate Tod Abbott.

Is Abbott “severely pro-development?” I think Tod is about the least severe person I’ve ever met. Abbott is a thoughtful, even-handed guy who studied philosophy in grad school and runs a local web development company with his wife. He has been active in the Albany Chamber of Commerce, but that organization is not affiliated with the national or state organizations (which do have reprehensible policies on climate change, environmental and other topics).

Dann refers to me as a member of the UC administration. This is incorrect. I am a UC Berkeley science editor and writer, but I am not a member of the administration. I can show you my paystub to verify that.

Acerbic? I looked that one up. According to one online dictionary, it means “sharp and forthright.” That sounds about right. I’ll take it as a compliment. However, there is no need to search for my Patch articles, you can find them all here.

 But am I a harsh anti-environmentalist? Hmmm… Where to start? How about my most recent alum magazine at UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry

I wrote both the feature stories, the first one on a professor who is creating a network of greenhouse gas monitors to be installed on the rooftops of Oakland schools. The second one is about a new sustainable energy course at Berkeley.

At the front of the magazine, you might notice the stunning photos of Nepal. Those were taken by College of Chemistry Dean Rich Mathies during his recent trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest.

The Berkeley College of Chemistry has a tradition of outdoorsy leaders. The most beloved was Joel Hildebrand, who taught intro. chemistry to thousands of undergrads and who died at age 101 in 1983. Hildebrand has some outside experience as an administrator. From 1937-40, he was the president of an organization called the Sierra Club. His sun Alexander was the Sierra Club president form 1955-57.

You can also check out two stories that I wrote on our website, here and here. I could cite several other similar stories, along with Patch items here and here.

I also practice what I preach at home. I have a 17-year old Subaru, which I have lovingly maintained. I’ve averaged 7,700 miles per year in my car. Due to my solar panels, I produce more electricity than I use, so I pump 1,300 kilowatt hours back to the grid every year. I commute to work on my bicycle, and walk to buy most of my groceries. Since 2004, I’ve only flown in a plane four times—roundtrips to China, to Hawaii twice, and to Seattle. Flying has a huge carbon footprint, so I try to avoid it.

So I’m not really sure why Dann calls me a harsh anti-environmentalist. But I suspect that in the absence of any facts, he simply uses pejorative label so for those who are not his candidates.

Except for candidates Ulan McKnight and Sherri Spellwoman, whom he ignores altogether. Not that anyone knows how Citizens for Albany Shoreline chose its candidates. Perhaps he can explain.

WHO NEEDS AN ENDORSEMENT PROCESS?

Dann also writes, “Only two candidates have been endorsed by the Sierra Club and CAS for the November election: Pete Maass and Nick Pilch.”

I am confused. Which Sierra Club did the endorsing? Not the Sierra Club Foundation, which does good things fore the environment but is prohibited from endorsing candidates by its 501(c)(3) status. That leaves the Sierra Club political action committees (PACs).

There is a national Sierra Club PAC, headquartered in San Francisco. There is a Bay Area PAC chapter. And there is a local Northern Alameda County PAC. I’m not sure which PAC “endorsed” Pilch and Maass, but my guess is that it is the PAC for which Pilch is a member of the executive committee. For the sake of simplicity, let’s refer to it as the local Sierra Club political action committee (LSCPAC)

Actually, neither LSCPAC nor CAS did a formal endorsement process. They never met with all the candidates nor asked all the candidates to answer questions. Every other organization that has made endorsements that I am aware of (Alameda Democrats, Albany Kids First, Contra Costa Times, Green Party) had a formal endorsement process and asked questions of all the candidates, either via email or in person.

As long-time members of the local Sierra Club chapter, Maass and Pilch weren’t endorsed as much as they were nominated. Dann needs to be a little more forthright about how and why they were chosen.

Dann also mentions “expanding the dunes, installing real bathrooms, fixing the Neck and Plateau, and completing the Bay Trail through Golden Gate Fields.” And that the “success of this and other projects requires the continued support of our progressive majority on the City Council.”

I have to wonder how Dann reached this conclusion, since LSCPAC and CAS never talked with the other city council candidates. If they did, I suspect they would have discovered that all seven support the plans of the park district. These plans seem like a great idea to me, I don’t know why anyone would oppose them. It’s free money from the park district. Who would turn that down?

GENTLE READERS, BEWARE!

So, Albany residents, as I mentioned, don’t be surprised when the accusations start flying. Hold on to your hats and don’t believe everything you read. The silly season is just beginning to heat up.