Joe Kerr Is No Joker

Democrat Joe Kerr is a retired firefighter and union official who’s running for California state Senate in District 38. His Republican opponent in the June 7 primary is Matt Gunderson, a former owner of Orange County car dealerships and a newcomer to politics. Kerr’s Democratic opponent is Catherine Blakespear, the mayor of Encinitas and chairwoman of SANDAG, San Diego County’s transportation planning agency. 

Kerr has been described as a lunchbox Democrat. That means he’s a traditional, old-school Democrat who’s not aligned with the extreme ‘progressive’ wing of the party that has taken over politics in California.

According to his website, “Kerr is a second-generation professional firefighter who served with the Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Fire Department for over 34 years, including 27 years as a fire captain. He was the first President of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, the former Vice President of the California Professional Firefighters, as well as a former Vice President of the Orange County Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO).”

Kerr says he is “running because we need leaders who will make decisions not based on political favor or expediency, but on doing what is right for our citizens.” He cites public safety, creating affordable housing, preserving single-family neighborhoods, achieving economic equity and recovery, and addressing homelessness, climate change, drought, and devastating wildfires as priorities.

Further, Kerr says he is “a common sense, creative problem solver with a proven, 25-year bipartisan track record of working with legislators on both sides of the aisle.” During his career, Kerr “sponsored over 200 pieces of public safety legislation that were signed by five governors and two presidents.”

While taking an aspiring politician at his word might be risky, Kerr sounds like the real deal.

Encinitas Activist Keeps Vow to Vote Against Blakespear

“For months, even years, I’ve been saying I’d never vote for Blakespear,” said Encinitas activist Larry Gomorka. “She’s been a total disaster for Encinitas and San Diego County, so there’s no way on Earth that I’d vote for her for state Senate. Putting her in a Senate seat would be spreading her local disaster statewide. And she’s power hungry and politically ambitious, do it’s a good bet her next run would be for governor or the federal Senate.

“I voted for Joe Kerr,” said Gomorka, “as much a strike against Blakespear as support for Kerr. He’s a decent, qualified guy and I’m sure he’ll do a good job of representing his constituents, which is something Blakespear has never done. She beats her own drum and has never given so much as a nod to following the residents’ wishes.

“Blakespear has high name recognition in San Diego County, where about 70% of District 38’s voters live and where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 3%,” said Gomorka. “She has also raised a lot of campaign money — more like bribes, really — so the chances of her being one of the top two finishers in the June primary are high.

“If it becomes Blakespear vs. Gunderson in November, that would create a personal dilemma for me and, I suppose, many other voters,” said Gomorka. “I’ve never voted for a Republican, and I sure wouldn’t vote for Blakespear. I hope circumstances don’t force me to break a good lifelong habit.”

 State Senate Candidate Blakespear’s Mailer Amended

Did Blakespear’s Bollards Cause Leucadia Cyclist’s Death?

Shortly before noon on Saturday, November 28, 2020, a PODS delivery truck and a westbound cyclist collided as the truck turned right from Leucadia Boulevard into Moonstone Court. Bystanders aided the cyclist as they awaited EMS. Paramedics treated the victim during transport to Scripps Hospital La Jolla, where he died of his injuries.

The cyclist was Jennings Worley, 62, a Ph.D. physiologist. According to Physics Today, “Jennings was a collaborative and influential scientist with over 30 peer-reviewed publications who translated his deep understanding of ion channel biophysics and pharmacology to drug discovery.” 

The publication added that despite his accomplishments, “what people will likely remember most about Jennings is that he was wonderfully kind, humorous, and dedicated to science and the people around him. He only celebrated others’ successes, never his own.”

According to his obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune, “Jennings was a beloved father, husband, son, brother, friend, scientist, but most of all he was an exemplary man and human being.” Jennings' most recent work was in discovering life-saving treatments for cystic fibrosis.

As part of Mayor Catherine Blakespear’s focus on increasing bicycling safety in Encinitas, the city had installed bollards — hollow green plastic posts about 3 feet tall — between the right traffic lane along Leucadia Boulevard and the bike lane next to the curb. The gaps between the bollards were about 10 feet. At Moonstone Court, the row of bollards extended close to the street’s corner.

Some cyclists commented that the bollard close to the corner forced the truck driver to make what cyclists call a “right hook turn.” That angle made it impossible for the driver to see Worley in his right-side mirrors. Photos taken at the scene shortly after the accident (see below) appear to show that the driver turned into Worley’s path, giving him no escape and causing him to fatally crash into the truck’s side.

Without bollards or had they stopped farther east of the intersection, the driver would have been able to see Worley in his right-side mirrors and to judge whether to slow and let him pass or to turn right ahead of him.

Other cyclists said the bollards were not a factor. The collision would have happened with or without them.

Since the tragic accident, two or three bollards east of the Moonstone Court intersection have been removed and the road striping across the intersection has been altered or removed. That seems to say the city acknowledged the bollard placement was at fault.

 

Blakespear Scours Dark Web for District 4 City Council Candidate

That damn Bruce Ehlers. If I can’t find a candidate to run against him in District 4, he’ll take the seat unopposed, without even suffering exposure in the campaign and a debate. That will make it look as if his argument was right, and I was wrong to ax him from the Planning Commission.

Hackers have busted me scouring the Dark Web for a District 4 candidate. There are a lot of smart, comfortably wealthy people in District 4, so you would think it would be pretty easy to find a candidate whose thinking is the opposite of Ehlers’. That means a candidate who would continue my spectacular legacy as a council member and a three-term elected mayor.

If Ehlers wins District 4, Julie Thunder wins District 3 and Cindy Cremona is elected mayor, they’ll be a majority, push Tony Kranz and Kellie Hinze off in a corner like dunces, and start listening to the residents rather than the BIA, developers, my PACs and other special interests.

That would be disastrous. My record of effective, innovative leadership, of building broad coalitions to solve local problems would go down the tubes. Gosh, that new majority might actually build enough affordable housing to meet the city’s RHNA numbers! Those three candidates are real people, not politicians. They would actually represent their constituents.

Thunder is on a roll, I can’t imagine enough people voting for Kranz or Jeff Morris to make either the next mayor, and Cremona is a solid candidate, so my target is Ehlers. I’ve already undermined him by axing him from the Planning Commission, so he’s my bet for breaking up the potential majority.

If you live in District 4, want to run for City Council and I haven’t contacted you through the Dark Web, give me a call or shoot me a text or email. I need a candidate!