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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Election 2008 Dozono is Certified

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz on Wed, Mar 5 at 4:40 PM

I just got the memo from Auditor Gary Blackmer: Sho Dozono has been certified as a publicly financed candidate, and is eligible for $161,171 in public funds.

The memo is lengthy (you can download it here), and outlines the Auditor’s thoughts on the poll, and when Dozono was a candidate.

Blackmer sticks to the question of whether or not Dozono was a candidate when he says he saw the $27,295 worth of poll results on December 21. “If you were not a candidate when you received the poll results, the value of the poll would not be counted against the [$12,00] In-Kind limits,” the memo says.

The conclusion is the same as Blackmer’s prior statements on Dozono’s candidacy:

The Auditor finds no evidence that your activities and statements prior to January 2008 were anything more than those of a private individual gathering information and conferring with others to help decide whether to undertake a mayoral campaign. Thus, based on the factors and reasoning set forth in the Initial Determination Letter, the Auditor finds that your name was not expected to be on the ballot and you were not a Candidate under City Code until January 2008.

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Comments

One thing Sho Doz No is plenty of dirt on Gary Blackmer, apparently -- like the true story behind the horrible, horrible beards of the city hall elite.

Posted by Toilet Joe | March 5, 2008 4:54 PM

Figures. One thing is that the mercury has been awesome at covering the issue no matter how oblique it is.

Posted by Justin | March 5, 2008 5:19 PM

Figures. One thing is that the mercury has been awesome at covering the issue no matter how oblique it is.

Posted by Justin | March 5, 2008 5:19 PM

Actually, in an effort to appear something more than snarky after actually reading the memo, I will confess to being slightly puzzled by the auditor's findings with respect to the poll.

I will confess to being extraordinarily naive about US politics, what with the whole money as speech thing and all, and it galls me terribly to rule on the side of one of the Weak Week's political hatchet pieces, but if our culture (and "clean money" related city code) is such that a high-profile lobbyist can contribute thirty grand in in-kind contributions to an individual who is being touted in the media as a possible candidate for political office, and obtain a ruling that s/he was not at the time a candidate, and therefore able to accept Bergstein's gift, then there is no such thing as clean money for the purposes of politics, and there is yet another aspect of the relevant code standing in sad need of being updated.

And I am left puzzled why there are so many qualified candidates running for the other commissioner slots, and such a weak field for mayor, given all the potential money being thrown around.

Posted by Toilet Joe | March 5, 2008 5:37 PM

And I should clarify that I actually thought that the voter-owned elections idea was a good one initially, but after Boyles and Dozono, I am left discomfitted.

If we want actual clean, local elections, there is plenty to be fixed before this comes up for a vote by the city's electorate.

Posted by Toilet Joe | March 5, 2008 5:40 PM

Go Sho!

Posted by Sho is a great example of VOTE elections | March 5, 2008 11:57 PM

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