Just when you thought we’d exhausted our supply of post-election
commentary, here comes another.
Just when you thought we’d exhausted our supply of post-election commentary, here comes another. Don’t worry, we’re not going to berate (yet again) those who didn’t vote. If we did, more than likely we’d only be preaching to the choir, because those who vote tend to be those who pick up the local newspaper.
But we can’t let the election season fade into the holiday season without noting the inherent cynicism of mayoral candidate Ellyn Atkins, who recently revealed to the San Jose State Spartan newspaper that she ran for mayor primarily for purposes of researching her honors thesis.
Too bad Atkins wasn’t forthright enough to let Dispatch reporter Zeb Carabello know this when he interviewed her in August, shortly after she filed papers with the city clerk.
“When I picked up The Dispatch the other day and read about the candidates for mayor, they all seemed the same,” she said at the time. “I think the more choices, the better, and I think I can bring some new ideas to the city.”
That sounded to us like earnest remarks from a serious candidate, but in retrospect, they weren’t.
Too bad Atkins didn’t let on to Dispatch reporter Eric Leins when he filed a deatiled individual profile of Atkins in October that she was following up on a course she had taken at San Jose State, “Community Involvement and Personal Growth.”
We feel like we’ve been conned. We thought Atkins was a serious, grassroots candidate. She wasn’t. Now we are officially taking her to task for wasting our time, her fellow candidates’ time and your time.
The revelations in the Spartan shed an interesting light on Atkins’ reasons for opting out of several candidates’ forums. After the Sept. 17 Gilroy First! debate, Atkins charged that questions were not focused on issues. She called the format “distasteful,” “disturbing” and “unproductive” and refused to participate in further debates.
We can now describe that reasoning as disingenuous, duplicitous, and slightly unethical. Instead of being honest, she made up an excuse, attacking the format of one debate. It was a cheap political maneuver that reflects poorly on Atkins’ character.
Some have pointed out that what Atkins did, filing papers for office without any real intention to serve, was harmless, no worse that what a hundred also-rans did in the recall election for governor. We disagree. The recall candidates who weren’t serious didn’t pretend to be serious, and that election played out on a national stage to a national media that could easily absorb such posing.
We treat the local elections as deadly-serious business. Given the way she casually gamed the system, it’s doubtful that Atkins could ever be treated as a realistic candidate again.
