| 1 | Nov 10, 2009 2:17 PM | I discard all flyers without reading them because they have nothing useful to state. We should have election by district so that there is better representation of all areas of PA on the council and the mayor should be elected directly to serve for a full term. Rotation of the position of mayor leads to confusion, lack of coherence on the council, and an overall "do nothing, accept no responsibility" attitude on the council. |
| 2 | Nov 10, 2009 4:17 PM | I am no fan of the PA Post generally, but I thought their endorsements were the best. |
| 3 | Nov 10, 2009 5:13 PM | I marked NA for 6,7 and 8 because I did not use them this election, but would usually consider this a very good source of information. |
| 4 | Nov 10, 2009 5:23 PM | My first questions are:
1)What is their real agenda
2)What are they NOT saying (semi sized loopholes for propositions) |
| 5 | Nov 10, 2009 5:49 PM | Tough to get good information on candidates. PAN questionnaire v useful |
| 6 | Nov 10, 2009 6:01 PM | I received at one point a survey about important issues the candidates should address, and I looked for their responses to those, but couldn't find them anywhere. The only candidate forum I found online addressed just three issues, and two of those were strongly related. I would like to see a longer list of broader issues and candidate reactions to each of them. For example, I was unable to find the answer to how candidates stand on making safe bike routes, and particularly off-road paths (e.g., along RR right-of-way) a priority. |
| 7 | Nov 10, 2009 6:37 PM | I was greatly impressed by the long, carefully reasoned analysis in the pamphlet mailed at his own expense by a retiring council member. While it may not have directly influenced my votes, the description analysis of the problems facing the city and their possible solutions was captivating. I will retain it for reference as I watch the actions of our new council. Its central message -exhorting voters to form opinions about well defined issues and then checking the avowed opinions of the candidates in a methodical way - was something I have never explicitly thought about. |
| 8 | Nov 10, 2009 7:35 PM | The forums and coffees were the most influential |
| 9 | Nov 10, 2009 7:40 PM | For me there are two phases of campaigning: 1) getting to know who the candidates are (name/face recognition) and 2) understanding and comparing candidates on the issues. For the second phase, I discount essentially all paid advertising. |
| 10 | Nov 10, 2009 8:06 PM | Not the sources, but the candidates who chose not to put a statement in the official voters' guide. I assumed they were not serious about the race. |
| 11 | Nov 10, 2009 8:36 PM | The PAN questionnaire left out the single issue of most importance to the city: Whether the candidate understood the need for a major reduction in the number of city employees in management positions. |
| 12 | Nov 10, 2009 8:48 PM | If they went away I would not miss them. |
| 13 | Nov 10, 2009 9:31 PM | Normally I attend one of the candidate forums and try to get more diverse information than I did this time. This year was not typical for me. |
| 14 | Nov 10, 2009 10:31 PM | This election was sad because of the low turnout. But then many of our residents did note vote because they are not American citizens, or do not want to get involved or are only interested in the PAUSD or are not living here for the 'long run'. |
| 15 | Nov 11, 2009 1:37 AM | We are in trouble if we do not have a strong, separate press to unify the community with facts. |
| 16 | Nov 11, 2009 2:08 AM | The Santa Clara County Voter's Guide let me rule out about half the candidates, though it wasn't enough to make a final decision. |
| 17 | Nov 11, 2009 7:18 AM | I think PAN has done an excellent job in bringing candidate information to voters, through the Questions and Answers piece. I appreciate the effort to stage coffees and such, but frankly they are a waste of time and money, UNLESS you make it clear to each candidate who attends, that the program's moderator will insist on clear direct and meaningful answers just as you do in the Q&A piece. Tell each one they will b interrupted if they start speaking glittering generalities. If this ever happens, I might attend them again. |
| 18 | Nov 11, 2009 5:38 PM | I used the SCC Voters Guide
and my common sense to pick candidates that reflected my opinions on who should be representing me. I wanted strong finance and legal backgrounds to be able to keep the city on a tight budget. None of those people got elected except for Larry Klein. Name recognition is the key to being elected to the city council. |
| 19 | Nov 11, 2009 5:52 PM | LWV Forum : too many candidates who had nothing to say, however, deterred real investigation of the viable candidates, sadly. |
| 20 | Nov 11, 2009 6:23 PM | Older people do not seem to get "electronic distribution". As these folks pass on, the mode of information distribution will shift to electronic. |
| 21 | Nov 11, 2009 6:35 PM | Candidates endorsed by unions did not receive my vote. Many elected officials endorsed any and all candidates, compromising their credibility and that of those they endorsed. |
| 22 | Nov 11, 2009 7:24 PM | n/a |
| 23 | Nov 11, 2009 7:25 PM | PA Weekly coverage was generally very useful. Coffees and other candidate gatherings where one can talk/listen to several candidates at once are also very useful. |
| 24 | Nov 11, 2009 7:45 PM | Candidate supporters: I received 1 phone call from a supporter of Gail Price who could not answer a question about her voting record on the Mandarin Immersion program. Not a very well-informed supporter and did not help win my vote for Price. |
| 25 | Nov 11, 2009 7:59 PM | I would normally watch a candidate forum on Cable TV if I know about it. |
| 26 | Nov 11, 2009 8:08 PM | In terms of endorsements, they often helped me decide which candidates I should not vote for. As an example, if such & such organization or individual is supporting this candidate then I don't want to vote for the candidate. |
| 27 | Nov 11, 2009 8:27 PM | n/a |
| 28 | Nov 11, 2009 8:54 PM | I thought the Weekly's endorsements were well thought out and fair.
I used as many sources as I could to research candidates. |
| 29 | Nov 11, 2009 9:42 PM | While I read the papers, I didn't necessarily follow their endorsements. If I didn't like the bias of the particular paper I voted against their candidate choices. So their endorsement worked in the negative. |
| 30 | Nov 11, 2009 10:44 PM | I mostly used the candidate mailings to peruse the list of supporters (1d and 1e) |
| 31 | Nov 12, 2009 12:29 AM | I thought the Weekly's profiles were very well done and felt I got a good sense of the candidates from them, whether I tended toward or away from the individual. |
| 32 | Nov 12, 2009 1:40 AM | I think it's a waste of paper for the same pamphlet with the same information to be delivered, mailed and given to me in various formats. At least, mail a different one than put on doorstep and don't put more than one of the same printing there. |
| 33 | Nov 12, 2009 1:48 AM | I would reconsider supporting any candidate that calls my home phone or rings my doorbell uninvited. |
| 34 | Nov 12, 2009 2:02 AM | I wish I could have attended candidates forums but they were on days I had other commitments. This is not meant to be critical of the days they were held; it was just a bad coincidence I couldn't attend. I have done so in other years and find them very helpful. |
| 35 | Nov 12, 2009 3:41 AM | I was unable to go to the candidates forums and would have liked to watch it televised but couldn't get the info when it would be televised. I was trying unsuccessfully to get it through Paloaltoonline and the Media center.
For the future it would be nice to be able to get this info easily. |
| 36 | Nov 12, 2009 4:53 PM | 6a) For previous council races I have attended forums and found them very useful so please give those attention. I did not attend any this election because there were candidates that were running again and I had already listened to them and knew there background. Karen Holman, Dan Dwykel, Victor Frost, plus the incumbants had run for the counsel before. Gail Price and Nancy Shepard were known entities as well in the community. Greg came well recommended by neighbors that we respect. |
| 37 | Nov 12, 2009 5:23 PM | I discount Daily News and Daily Post-- they seem heavily oriented to manufacturing controversy even where there is none. Door to door canvassing seems rarely to produce any content other than the fact that the candidate is cheerful and knows how to shake hands |
| 38 | Nov 13, 2009 12:05 AM | I would be very supportive of any regulations or agreements that would limit funds spent on campaigns. It is a serious loss for the community if innovative, bright people who are not "well-connected", chose not to throw their hats in the ring because they know they won't have the "requisite" funds. I am always so pleased when candidates with unlimited funds spent on campaigns lose their elections! |
| 39 | Nov 13, 2009 12:35 AM | I basically read what the candidates were for and decided if I liked their premise |
| 40 | Nov 13, 2009 3:23 AM | Online candidate adds in PA Weekly offensive: |
| 41 | Nov 13, 2009 5:33 AM | I was bothered by the fact that the unions spent a lot of money on some of the candidates, e.g., Shepherd. But the union mailers were a strong influence. I did not vote for any candidate that had union support. |
| 42 | Nov 14, 2009 1:01 AM | I was appallled by the campaign literature paid for by the AFL-CIO. Any candidate who accepted their endorsement or support did not get mine. So, in a negative way, I was able to clearly remove three candidates for consideration. |
| 43 | Nov 14, 2009 1:11 AM | More TV candidate forum repeats or ability to view on line 6b (may have been done, I
just didn't know or wasn't able to replay on line). |
| 44 | Nov 14, 2009 3:13 AM | Reading this survey, next time, I will go to the candidate websites - can't believe I didn't do that this time. I would also like to have gone to a forum to see the candidates in person and ask questions. |
| 45 | Nov 14, 2009 2:26 PM | Jack Morton's informaiton publication was helpful and appreciated |
| 46 | Nov 14, 2009 3:06 PM | The most valuable are candidate websites and forums where either issues can be addressed indepth or questions are asked by a 3rd party source. Also candidates online answers to questions are good (Pans was great). What is revealing is to compare and contrast candidate responses forum to forum or with their written positions. |
| 47 | Nov 14, 2009 5:32 PM | for the first time in a long time, I didn't participate in any campaigns, and I chose to vote by mail. I made my decisions very early in the campaign by attending 2 candidate forums, and cast my ballot very early. Thus, I didn't pay attention to anything else that was going on. In retrospect, I wished I had not cast my ballot so early as I would've voted a little bit differently as I saw the candidates a little bit differently later in the campaign season. I think I will continue to vote absentee, but not as early in the campaign season. |
| 48 | Nov 14, 2009 6:18 PM | I voted for two people I really wanted and then voted for three people who I did not expect to be elected but who said things I liked. I never felt that I knew enough about most of the new people to feel clear about what they would do if on the council. |
| 49 | Nov 14, 2009 6:49 PM | When some of these sources tell why they support a candidate it indicates why I should not vote for that person. |
| 50 | Nov 14, 2009 6:56 PM | I was out of the country for 3 weeks right before the election and didn't have as much exposure to election materials as usual but found the web sites of each candidate extremely useful. |
| 51 | Nov 14, 2009 7:50 PM | I was struck by the lack of courage of most candidates in declaring outright if they were for or against Prop. A and HSR. This applies to flyers, ballot information, and at public forums. Those few candidates who spoke up unequivocally for the positions I wanted to see represented got my vote. |
| 52 | Nov 14, 2009 9:22 PM | I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on this, so I tend to focus more on sources that come to me rather than ones I have to seek out. |
| 53 | Nov 14, 2009 10:43 PM | I am outraged about the uncontrolled spending, corruption, city employee's salaries and benefit especially when you compare all that to our neighboring cities...
It seems to me that there is no accountability to the way our city functions, no services in return to all the taxes that they keep inflicting on us.... |
| 54 | Nov 15, 2009 6:16 AM | When researching candidates, I looked for ones that did not accept SEIU support and ones that were opposed to the Palo Alto business tax. |
| 55 | Nov 16, 2009 4:55 AM | this was the first election i skipped in years. with so many candidates, and an off-year election, really hard to find the time (sadly) to be well-informed, and it's also hard to see how the council really makes a big difference, compared to the city manager |
| 56 | Nov 18, 2009 10:53 PM | Smart Voter.org provides a wide range of information for me and I can use it to help others. |