Dear Friends and supporters,
As you probably know by now, 608 valid ballots remained last Wednesday and the final count revealed the outcome: a loss for our campaign by a mere 32 votes.
And while defeat is never fun, our campaign did something truly outstanding and I want to make sure that every last supporter recognizes it: we ran a grass-roots campaign on a shoestring budget and came within inches of a well-entrenched incumbent. In fact, it was the 2nd closest council race in Santa Clarita’s history!
Even more incredible are the challenges we overcame: the incumbents ran as a slate in order to to take advantage of a $45,000 (reported so far) infusion from a Political Action Committee largely funded by the dubious G&L Realty – that’s 150% of G&L’s expenditure on Laurie Ender’s campaign in 2008! Plus, with 11 candidates running for three seats and one very similar name on the ballot, it is truly remarkable that we came within 32 votes of a win on our first try! This campaign was an incredible testament to what a few committed people can accomplish!
Make no mistake, we fired a serious shot across the bow of our elected leadership. Our citizens are beginning to pay attention – our city is ready for representation, not more buildings, parks, and streets named after our council members.
So, let me close out by giving credit where credit is due: THANK YOU! For weeks I’ve received calls from supporters all around (and outside) the city who let me know they were talking to friends, emailing neighbors, “bullet” voting, and writing letters to our newspaper, our Chamber, and even our congressman. You made all the difference. We may have lost by 32 but the status quo got a loud wake-up call – and next time we’ll outnumber them!
I look forward to staying involved with the issues that affect our homes, our business, our kids, our seniors, and our future. I hope you will stay in touch with me too (my personal email is included below), as I want to continue to hear your concerns and better understand what matters to you. When I stop doing that, I’ll quit running – until then, stay tuned for 2012!
To my supportive family, committee members, contributors, volunteers, and voters… From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for a job well done.
David Gauny
