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Pat Gilardi
Three candidates are seeking two seats on the Cotati City Council: George Barich, Pat Gilardi and Mark Landman.
The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorsed Gilardi and Landman on Oct. 25. A copy of the editorial is attached below. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right decision? Disagree with the choice? Post a comment to share your thoughts with other members of the community.
Want to know more about each candidate?
CLICK HERE to see how the candidates answered the WSC questionnaire on local issues.
CLICK HERE to watch a video of the candidates’ Sept. 30 debate.
PD Editorial: Moving on
Cotati will keep going forward with Gilardi, Landman
Mark Landman
The contest for two Cotati City Council seats on the Nov. 2 ballot is, first and foremost, a referendum on one man.
George Barich was elected to the council two years ago, winning a seat by a margin of just five votes. He was recalled barely a year later, capping 12 tumultuous months of personal squabbles with council colleagues and some more substantive disputes about city services and how to pay for them.
We opposed the recall, though not because we supported Barich. To his credit, he articulately makes the case for fiscal restraint at City Hall. But he created needless drama and overstepped his authority during his brief council tenure. We don’t have any reason to believe it would be different if he returned.
Cotati needs to move ahead, not rekindle old battles. To accomplish that, The Press Democrat recommends Pat Gilardi and Mark Landman for City Council.
Let us be clear, Gilardi and Landman are more than just alternatives to Barich in this election. Along with their council colleagues and dedicated city employees, they’ve taken significant steps to right Cotati’s finances and position the smallest of Sonoma County’s nine cities for economic development.
In many ways, Cotati is a role model for its larger neighbors and the rest of the state.
There is an atmosphere of teamwork and shared sacrifice at City Hall, evidenced by city workers who took voluntary pay cuts of 12 percent to 14 percent as part of a package of spending cuts that convinced Cotati voters to approve a five-year, quarter-cent sales tax increase. City employees subsequently agreed to pay a share of their health insurance and retirement costs for the first time, helping the city further its goal of rebuilding budget reserves while maintaining, and in some cases expanding, basic public services.
The council also has completed work on specific plans for the northern gateway along Old Redwood Highway, where Peet’s Coffee and Tea plans to open soon, and along East Cotati Avenue, where the city is poised to benefit from the restoration of rail service in Sonoma County.
Gilardi, a council member for 10 years, brings a business perspective and an understanding of Cotati residents’ desire to maintain the town’s character. Landman, a retired firefighter who was appointed to the council a year ago, understands the need for fiscal restraint and the value of the city’s employees.
Cotati moved quickly past the recall controversy, which was settled with a 2-to-1 majority voting to remove Barich from office. Voters rejected Barich’s views again in April, when he campaigned against the sales tax increase.
Give Barich points for persistence. For the council race, his platform is unchanged — budget cuts, eschewing state and federal grants and making Cotati more business friendly by, among other things, repealing the formula fast-food business ordinance and the ban on drive-throughs.
Barich’s ideas are worthy of debate, but the messenger has been rejected twice in 12 months by Cotati voters. Council members Pat Gilardi and Mark Landman are the best choices in the Nov. 2 election.
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Is there any truth to the rumor that George Barich is going to find another ill fitting wig and spend Halloween trying to trick people into believing that he is the ghost of that former “Boy Wonder” of the Republican Party Harold Stassen? Very scary for some! But a real treat for those of us who know our history.
Speaking of history- when it comes to using an alias, I’m just following in the footsteps of Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and many other founding fathers. As pointed elsewhere this week, when dealing with someone as nasty and vituperative as Mr. Barich, it only makes “Common Sense.” Which by the way, was the nom de plume of Thomas Paine.
In that same forum, I noted that the honorable Mr. Karraker referred to the Cotati City Council and its current supporters as lemmings. Well, I’ve always been told that if life hands you lemmings you should…… Make Lemming Aid! So maybe I should contact that “cabal of progressives” (which actively includes several lifelong Republicans) and kick in a few bucks to their campaigns.
I’ve long since voted so this is over for me. And just in time since I must turn my attention to the baseball gods- who the oracle at Delphi fortells are very cranky and need placating. I think a shrine of peanuts and cracker jacks and good, cold beer should do the trick- don’t you? As Jacques Barzun said “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.”
Diogenes Sinope: You say you are not responsible for the website filled with innuendo, half-truths and lies that you are so fond of.
Your statement may or not be true. What is glaringly true is that you won’t reveal your identity.
Whatever you and your vindictive cabal of progressives may think about my political beliefs, you can be assured that I honor them enough to put my name behind them.
If you’re unsure what honor means, it’s in the dictionary, between Honolulu and Honshu.
Crybaby Hypocrite Alert!
How ironic (and disturbing) that George Barich, that supposed defender of first amendment rights and poster boy of free speech had the gall to attempt to suppress my right to free and unfettered postings on this website when I questioned (not stated) the source of his campaign funding in light of his criminal history and the current state investigation into his alleged illegal cash campaign contributions.
To make a long story short, the “crybaby candidate” complained to the editor who temporarily took down my comments- which were later approved but unfortunately subsequently lost during weekend maintenance.
But that’s not important. What does matter, and what the public should know, is that George Barich (who for years has published totally unsubstantiated gossip on his own blog) has been unmasked as the political hypocrite he has always been. Obviously, Voltaire’s famous quote and political honesty are both foreign concepts to him- as they are to some of his “ignant” (sic) followers.
Now a few things:
1. It is highly doubtful that I am who some of you think I am.
2.The website http://www.whoisgeorgebarich.org was not my idea, nor do I have anything to do with it. But I commend whoever has finally taken off the polite Cotati gloves that allowed him to get elected in the first place.
3.If you go to the Penal Code section mentioned on the flyer I received in the mail today, you’ll find that expungment doesn’t mean criminal records and files are totally obliterated. Just check the Penal Code section referenced (like I did) and you’ll learn that for the rest of his life George has to admit he is a convicted felon and he can never have guns or ammunition- just like every other convicted felon. Plus, if he’s ever arrested again his “expunged” record can be used against him.
If Ms. Garcia and the rest would start getting their info from the records instead of from George (who has a vested interest in preventing the truth from coming out), they’d realize how gullible and uninformed they’ve been.
4.Ms. Garcia is right about one thing however. The truth will always come out- and apparently has already done so via the mentioned website. When and if the simple,undeniable truth becomes a “dirty trick” as George claims (note-he’s personally failed to refute a single fact contained there), we will be in bigger trouble than I ever thought possible. God help us then.
As for that reap,sow thing. George has made many enemies in many arenas through the years – political, personal, and business. He has apparently sown plenty of pot seeds (see his no contest pleas at http://www.whoisgeorgebarich.com), as well as discord. Perhaps he should think about that before he breaks any more laws, thumbs his nose at city ordinances and resolutions or attempts to spread slander about the innocent.
Remember the lantern is always lit- night and day.
That’s a big NO to either of them. George Barich is the only candidate ready, willing and able to do the job. These two= more of the same. Hopefully they won’t have to resort to threatening local businesses, like was done during the recall.