As you heard here Thursday morning, yes, Sissi Bruch is running for County Commissioner.
Well, probably.
Per the article in today's PDN, Sissi is quoted as saying "I'm going to go ahead and apply, and if (Doherty) runs, I'll withdraw."
Oh, good lord.
It's called a phone, Sissi. You use it to communicate with other people. As in, calling Mike Doherty to talk to him about this before announcing you're going to run. I know you have a phone, Sissi. I know you can get Mike's work number, and probably his home number. Hell, even I have his home phone number somewhere. Wouldn't it have been smart to just call the man? Wouldn't that have demonstrated, you know, your ability to plan? Barring that, couldn't you have just walked across the street from City Hall to the County Courthouse?
You've certainly demonstrated this jump in first, ask questions later approach to things on the City Council, Sissi, and it generally doesn't amount to much or sit well with people. It also costs money to sign up to run for Commissioner, so whether you intended to or not, you've also just announced that you're perfectly happy to waste money on these poorly thought out endeavors. So this is not exactly an auspicious start to your (maybe) campaign.
What a bone-headed statement to make. And it just cost her my vote.
ReplyDeleteStick with your job with the Tribe, Sissi, please!
For the record: As I stated in the previous posting here, I assumed that any Democrat who would be running would check in with Mike Doherty first. Obviously I was wrong, and gave Sissi too much credit.
ReplyDeleteTypical.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of behavior is why Sissi hasn't been able to get anything done on the Council.
Yet she's using her position on the Council to try to jump to the County Commission.
Does she really think she'd be able to get anything done there?
Get a clue, CK, and give Sissi the benefit of the doubt here.
ReplyDeleteMike Doherty is a very cagey politician who, among other things, loves his name to be in the spotlight. I absolutely believe that Sissi did contact Mike, and couldn't receive a firm answer from him. Likely he more or less dared her to file, saying that he would make his decision after he saw whether others might come out as candidates. He also could have told her to go ahead; that he would likely be retiring from the post, but he wanted to control the timing and staging of the announcement.
I think Sissi's remarks demonstrate a diplomatic and statesmanlike approach to the issue of why she would consider running against an incumbent.
Please don't let me start thinking that trashing Sissi like this represents sexism. It's beginning to feel like that to me. Or will you defend by claiming that readers like me are just not intelligent enough to understand that your post is intended to be taken as sarcasm?
First of all, at least one of the people very much involved in this blog is a woman. Which is not to say that women can't be sexist. But still...
DeleteYes, yes, Mike's a cagey politician - but that's part of the problem here. Perhaps it's too linear or literal minded of me, but, in my view, you're in or you're out. You're running, or you're not. Now, I can see waiting a bit to see who runs for what seat when there are multiple City Council seats at stake - that makes a certain amount of sense. But this is one seat.
The way this is playing out makes BOTH Mike and Sissi look wishy-washy. Again, Mike are you running or not? Sissi's running, but only if Mike is not. Given that these two are on friendly terms and can easily talk to each other, this all seems very foolish to me. It also makes them both look like they are trying to position themselves to achieve some personal advantage, rather than being driven to run by a call to public service and all that. You are free to disagree.
Now, worst case scenario: Two or three (Mayor Monohon's still out there, too) fairly good Democratic candidates all run at once, and have to go through a draining primary that will only benefit the one Republican candidate who's running. I'd like to avoid something like that.
I also just hope that Sissi has done more behind the scenes work than it appears, because of the recent history the local Democratic Party has of trashing their own female candidates. I'll say it again: Matthew Randazzo may be gone, but the people who put him into power are still around (Steve Tharinger, Kevin Van De Wege), and are still not to be trusted. Once again, you are free to disagree with me.
Believe it or not, I like and respect Sissi, but that doesn't mean I won't acknowledge her shortcomings. She'll need to be sharp and tough if she goes down this path, because the knives will absolutely come out from her opponent - and possibly from within her own party.
CK, I agree. Having a number of Dems running against one another isn't a wonderful scenerio. (As much as I don't support party affiliations as a criteria for a good candidate.)
DeleteI think this campaign should themed as "transition".
The longer version would be "Change, or die".
This community needs to understand that what it has been doing, what is has been hanging onto is not working. People are leaving.
My concern with all this is this...If what CK has told us is true (and he's been right on thus far), then Bryon Monohon is also planning on throwing his hat into the ring. If that's the case, there might be a deal in place where he's been unofficially chosen/endorsed by the Democrats, Mike Doherty has promised to support his candidacy, and thus, Sissi will end up looking out of the loop and foolish.
DeleteI know we're dealing with maybes and what ifs right now, but that's the position we've been put in. I wish these people would talk to each other, and then just be straight with us, the voters. Right now it really does feel like there are things going on, deals being made, that we know nothing about - even though it all concerns us and our public servants.
I think MOST of the deals in this town are behind closed doors, with a wink and a nod. It has been this way for as long as I've been here. The meetings are of the "in the parking lot" variety, not where the sunshines. I think voting out all the bastards is the only way to send a clear message. I'll am more likely to vote for the name I've never heard of, now. Screw the status quo.
DeleteIt's news to me that Sissi and Rob got divorced. And it's news that she's got a kid here going to Peninsula College. Reading between the lines there, it looks like she may have some family issues that have made her feel stuck here for the foreseeable future, so why not try to climb the ladder.
ReplyDeleteDid it occur to you that Sissi's ex-husband may be living in Michigan or elsewhere, and that Sissi's personal partnership locally could be something other than marriage? What does her personal life or marital history have to do with whether she would be a good candidate for elective office?
DeleteI am shocked at the degree of venom being expressed in this forum toward an educated professional woman who has lived here for a relatively short time but who is nonetheless willing to stick her neck out to offer a fresh approach to public office-holding. Deja vu, Dale Holiday?
I don't see venom here so much as A) Disappointment that Sissi hasn't stood out more against the general backdrop of stupidity in City Hall, and B) Concern that she is walking blindly into a potentially very ugly situation. If she wants to be a change-agent at the County level, then it sure would have been nice if she'd been more of one on the City Council. And this whole situation with Doherty does seem very strange.
DeleteSissi's "fresh approach to public office-holding" while on the City Council has been the same stale, tired "go along to get along" approach. At this point does anyone truly believe that her votes on the County Commission would be any different?
DeleteI would suggest that having three Republicans on the County Commission would give people enough incentive to vote out McEntire and Chapman in future elections.
Anon 12:03PM - You got it. Sadly, I think it will have to get a lot worse (and more Republican is part of that) here before it will get better.
DeleteThere are days that I find it hard to believe it could get worse here. No jobs, no culture, no trees, corrupt politicians and moronic politicians driving moronic policies, Turd Tanks and Biomessess on our shoreline...Port Angeles makes it very hard to love Port Angeles.
DeleteI'm surprised that Peter Ripley has never considered running for County Commissioner.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sissi, it doesn't sound like she wants the seat all that much.
To the poster who keeps writing in about Sissi's name...It's her name. She's not going to change it. So it's not an "issue" we can ever hope to have addressed. If you were to keep bringing it up so much it did become an issue, it would be, at best, a distraction, and at worst, a sexist insult - and distraction.
ReplyDeleteSo - a very well educated woman who has lived and worked in a number of different cities in the USA and who has professional skills relevant to a post in local government announces her candidacy for elected office, and the first knee-jerk reaction of the majority here is to slam her for perceived missteps in her public statement or her personal life?
ReplyDeleteHow I wish that this post had been headlined: "A breath of fresh air! She just might be able to pull it off!"
The comment could have gone on to tout Sissi's qualifications, and the fact that her Guatemalan roots just might excite Hispanic west end voters who are tired of being discriminated against and who are repelled by the likes of Bryon Monohan and Bill Peach.
Please, people.
Respect Sissi's courage, and give her more credit. Set her up for a fighting chance instead of foretelling doom and defeat.
A) Her statements concerning her campaign are fair game. She's a public figure, talking to the press about her own actions.
DeleteB) I don't see people slamming her for her personal life here. I've seen some queries, and some insights offered, but no slams.
C) I would be interested to know how many of the Latino people living in Clallam County are registered to vote, and how many vote in the primaries. Because if there is a Democratic primary, that's where it will all come down.
D) Many of us do respect Sissi, and her education, etc. - but we've been extremely disappointed by her lackluster performance on the city council. With her brains and experience, yes, she set the bar high, but then failed to reach those heights on most occasions. We know she's just one vote; we weren't expecting her to single-handedly change the way the city operates. But one voice can still speak up. She hasn't done much of that.
And she's had it good, too. The people on the council are dopes, yes, but they none of them are particularly vicious. McEntire and Chapman are vicious. It's fair to ask if she's ready for that level of punishing resistance after a few years of occasional, gentle disagreement.
2010 demographics:
DeleteWhite alone - 16,696 (87.4%)
Two or more races - 705 (3.7%)
American Indian alone - 624 (3.3%)
Hispanic - 524 (2.7%)
Black alone - 326 (1.7%)
Asian alone - 212 (1.1%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 13 (0.07%)
source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Port-Angeles-Washington.html#ixzz31Rhsi400
2.7% and 524 people won't win a race
I'd say Bill Peach is pretty happy after reading that interview with Sissi in today's PDN as it tells him that she'll run a lightweight, milktoast campaign filled with missteps, misstatements and walk-backs galore.
DeleteOn the other hand, this could all be rope-a-dope, float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee tactics on her part, leading Peach down the garden path to his doom at the debates where she throws him under the bus with her brilliant debating skills.
But I doubt it.
Anonymous 2:53 PM: Thanks for the stats. And obviously, those are Port Angeles stats, not County stats. And obviously, not everyone is registered to vote, or votes if they are. Your point is well taken.
DeleteAnonymous 6:50 PM: Thanks for using the phrase "rope-a-dope."
Clallam county 2010 demographics are not much different.
DeleteClallam county:
71,404 people residing in the county
(but only 47,157 are registered to vote -- so 40% are of voting age).
87.0% were White,
5.1% Native American
1.4% Asian
0.8% Black or African American
0.1% Pacific Islander
1.8% of some other race
3.8% of two or more races
5.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
5.1% of the population (roughly 3,600 individuals/40% would be 1,440 registered voting Hispanic/Latino individuals) won't do "diddly" in a race.
So, the big "wooo" Latino/Hispanic vote won't wing anything any way, in any race. I never get what people mean when they say the "west end" has so many ethnic minorities. NO. Not at all. (Geez, what planet are ya'll from?)
Those are census numbers...some how I don't think the untold masses of uncounted, undocumented are included nor will they magically throw a vote for Sissi because she has such strong Latino ties (except in some imaginations of the general population). Plus, I doubt that the illegal aliens would vote (but who knows).
98.5% of the votes you're fighting for in Clallam County are white votes. Tribal members don't vote for the most part, and all the other "other" groups are here in such small numbers. And yes, I too wonder about this so-called connection Sissi has to Latino culture/voters. She doesn't project that at all. Especially when she's voting with all the old white guys on the Council.
Deletesexist? We live in a society that is sexist. (I am female. I know this, from first hand experience). Sissi being wishy-washy is typical for females, and her name doesn't help. I'll let it drop, but you, sir, are the one being sexist here. It's actually a constructive criticism.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a candidate, ANYWHERE, actually saying "I will, if they don't". This is appalling, and embarrassing (as a woman) to hear. Distressing in that it is typical of the "oh gee, I want them to LIKE ME" that permeates the entire psyche of women. The fear of going up against a man, any man, is common with women, because it is part of the underlying feeling, suspicions that women don't, cannot, and will never match up. We are what we believe, I guess.
ReplyDeleteNot surprising for Port Angeles. This is just indicative of the crappy "leadership" of our so-called politicians (really minnows in a drop of water). The only reason the dirty politics works is because everyone is so afraid. ("Oooh...don't piss off THEM")
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, for years the only source of information was the newspaper (maybe the radio, but only if you could stomach that load of syndicated nonsense). The newspaper has been a joke for as long as I've been here. Its slanted, and the people who like to think they "run things" like to use it as their mouthpiece. (A bunch of uneducated old men.)
Considering that we have more people living in poverty (17.8%), which is considerably higher than the US average (15%). The eduction (BA) is considerably lower than the US average -- (13.9% compared to the US average of 20.2%) it's no wonder that people don't chose all that well when it comes to political office. (data: http://www.city-data.com/city/Port-Angeles-Washington.html)
Oddly enough, if you look at the data we are nearly equally divided Republican (48.5) vs. Republican (48.9) which just shows the misconceptions we have because of that poor excuse for a news rag.
Republican vs. Republican???
DeleteSpy vs. Spy?
DeleteIt would be easier to respect her courage and her education, experience, if she didn't open mouth and insert her foot, first. Plus, if she had been anything other than another weak "yes, sir" knee-jerk council member. Making waves is respected. Wanting to be "liked" is so boring.
ReplyDeleteLet's just be sure there are no unchallenged races, none anywhere.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I sent an email to Sissi, along with a handful of questions, with the hope that she'd answer them and then I'd post her answers (complete and unedited) here. Hopefully I'll hear back from her. If I do, you'll be the first to know.
ReplyDeleteOne ringy dingy.....two ringy dingy. Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?
ReplyDeleteObviously there are priorities more important than answering questions potential supporters ad voters may have.
DeleteActually, I've heard back from Sissi, and she says she'll get her answers to the questions I sent her back to me ASAP. Obviously, she's busy with a lot of different things right now, so I'm happy to have heard back so soon. Stay tuned for more...
DeleteI commend Sissi Bruch for her service on the City Council. I think she has been an effective voice for many people in that role. I'd like to see her expand on her good work there with a second term.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned about her prospects in the County Commissioner's race. Having seen so much of the self-destructive behavior of the Democratic party during recent years first-hand, I am understandably concerned about how they will handle having yet another competent woman as a candidate. As we all know, this has proven problematic in the past.
Much of that trouble was due to Matthew Randazzo, who was very slick, but ultimately even more destructive. A great many of us are wary, given that those who groomed and encouraged Matthew are still involved with the Democrats.
So good luck, Sissi, and thank you. Just be careful.