Humboldtian

Former Fortuna Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Clifford Chapman alleges in an opinion piece published Monday in the Eureka Reporter that 4th District County Supervisor Bonnie Neely is trying to manipulate the 2nd District race, in which two challengers seek to unseat incumbent Roger Rodoni.

Chapman opines that because Meghan Vogel, who managed Neely's successful 2006 re-election campaign, Eureka City Councilman Chris Kerrigan, and some other progressive campaign consultants are working on behalf of the two challengers, Clif Clendenen and Estelle Fennell, Neely is pulling the strings like she's the Humboldt incarnation of William "Boss" Tweed.

How silly. But typical of the political goofiness that seems to have gripped Fortuna lately.

If Neely were indeed working overtime behind the scenes to oust Rodoni so she can at long last clench control of the county, as Chapman alleges (yes, he really does make that claim), why would she recruit two candidates to compete for the same (progressive) votes? If "Boss" Neely is as powerful and ambitious as Chapman opines, why would Kerrigan and Vogel be working against each other in rival campaigns? Does this make sense? Doesn't this actually favor Rodoni?

The truth is that Vogel, Kerrigan and David Jervis, whom Chapman also claims is one of Neely's minions, share political philosophies with Clendenen and Fennell. All three are veteran political consultants who have worked on progressive campaigns in the past. Why would it surprise Chapman that these three would be working on behalf of progessive candidates trying to unseat the most conservative member of the Board of Supervisors?

I know all three and I understand what motivates them. They don't rely on Bonnie Neely to tell them who to work for.

Maybe Chapman is really working for Boss Neely, who is on a mission to make Rodoni look bad by manipulating his ersatz supporters into writing kooky conspiracy theory opinion pieces for the local newspapers.