Experience the difference as candidates prepare for election

BARSTOW — City Council candidate Timothy Saenz spent the first weeks of his campaign reading.

The rookie candidate picked up his papers, filled them out, dropped them off and then found himself with a manual of rules and regulations to sift through before he could even start campaigning.

“It’s all new,” Saenz said. “It took probably two weeks to get through that manual and understand it.”

Council candidate Willie Hailey took the month since dropping off his papers to improve his personal image.

“I got a haircut and shaved,” he said.

As the campaign for two open City Council seats and the mayor presses into the final 60 days, many of the candidates have fliers made, signs up and plans in place. There are seven people running for the two Council seats vacated by Joe Gomez and Steve Curran: Saenz, Hailey, Richard Villegas, Manuel Gurule, Marvin Ellis, Carmen Hernandez and Herchel Deaton. Three people, incumbent Lawrence Dale, Nathaniel Pickett and Gomez will be seeking the mayor spot on Nov. 4.

The field features several experienced candidates who said that building upon past success or failure has help them get a better start this season. Gurule, who has run several times for City Council and mayor and winning a spot on the council in the past, plans on using his experience alone to power his campaign. His strategy was to just sign up and let his record do the persuading.

“The people of Barstow already know where I stand on the issues,” he said. “There’s basically nothing that I have to prove or explain to the voters.”

Many candidates used signs and other pieces of campaign paraphernalia, Hernandez called them, as a measure of how organized they were. Dale was the first candidate to get signs up around Barstow with his opponent Gomez and Hernandez following shortly after. But even the seasoned Dale and Hernandez, who both currently hold office, are doing things differently. Hernandez is going to be holding more one-on-one meetings with voters, and Dale has developed a Web site for the first time.

“Each time you campaign, you look at what you did last time and what you didn’t,” he said.

Ellis said he is running things similar to his 2006 bid for City Council but  wants to get his name out there more through a series of open public meetings. He said that was one area where he faltered during his last campaign.

“I just want to get out and make sure people know who I am,” he said.

Villegas called it old fashion and discounted the effectiveness of signs. He said the best way to connect with voters was to talk, face-to-face with people in town. In an e-mail to the Desert Dispatch, Villegas wrote that while yard signs and advertisements might help people remember names at the polls, meeting voters gives a candidate a sense their thoughts and feelings about Barstow.

In the spirit of small town politics, many of the candidates have chosen to keep their campaigns small. Campaign headquarters are the candidates’ homes and kitchen tables; supporters are family members and long-time friends. Many candidates also act as their campaign managers, developing strategy and coordinating meetings all while spreading their ideas around Barstow.

Dale has once again teamed up with Hermie James to manage his campaign. She worked with Dale on his last bid for mayor.

“She keeps me lined up,” he said. “Keeps me straight.”

Pickett, also running for mayor, is relying on Suzanne Summer to keep him organized. Summer has worked on past campaigns with former mayor Katy Yslas-Yent and learned the perseverance and hardships that a candidate must face. She said her main role is too support Pickett even during the tougher days of the campaign.

“We’re in a fight right,” she said. “We’re in a race. We’re trying to win.”

Gomez also worked with campaign consultants but decided to go solo for the election. He said he learned a lot from the pros but wanted to take on the campaign himself to show Barstow his strength.

“If I’m going to be the leader of this city, I need to run my own campaign,” he said.

Many of the City Council candidates said they choose to run their own campaigns in order to stay close to the voters. Hailey said Barstonians are need to see the candidate personally and not listen to a spokesman or representative. Saenz said the personal connection is something unique to small towns.

“I think if you have someone else do it you lose that home town touch,” he said.

Most of the candidates took this past weekend off, electing to spend time with family and friends before devoting a large part of the next to the campaign.

City Council candidate Herchel Deaton could not be reached for this article.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4121 or aaron_aupperlee@link.freedom.com