Editorial

By Franklin Stover

The June 3 election last Tuesday just happens to coincide with the day the Humboldt Beacon goes to press. And while we were working feverishly to put the paper out for Thursday June 5, voters were casting their choice of county supervisor in three different voting districts. By now, you probably know the results of all three races.

For two weeks prior to the June 3 election, the Beacon ran every letter it had received that was in reference to the election. None were left out, and to accomodate readers, we extended the deadline for letters to the editor so that no one would feel left out.

Most of these were positive in support of a particular supervisorial candidate; a couple letters were mean-spirited. One of these were unintentionally run twice in the same issue. What an embarrassment. Last week, we filled nearly two pages with letters. With the election over, letters to the editor will be reduced to a trickle.

As I write this, it's Friday May 30. But on Wednesday, a day before this edition hits the streets, the election results will have been tabulated. Unless there's a tie, we'll know who our county supervisors will be. It's a few days before the polls open, and I'm musing if it's possible to predict a winner in the district 2 election based on letters to the editor. Is that silly?

Of course, it's not scientific, but it might be fun to do a comparison, like looking over the saved slips of paper from old fortune cookies to see if anything actually came to pass. So let's take a look at the last two weeks of letters to the Beacon. We'll treat each letter of support as if it's a vote. By this method, Estelle Fennell received 4 votes, Clif Clendenen - 12 votes, and Rodoni - 7 votes. One vote was cast for John Vevoda in the district 1 election. (I thought it a little peculiar that supporters for Vevoda or incumbent Smith almost completely overlooked the Beacon. We have subscribers in district 1, you should know.)

I'm quite sure that the only thing these results indicate is that the Clendenen camp feels more at home writing letters, while Fennell supporters, who are largely from southern Humboldt, may have tended to underestimate the power of the press at the other end of the district and wrote letters instead to the Redwood Times.

I can only guess at why we didn't get more letters for Rodoni, but we did our best to encourage people of all persuasions to write for their candidate. But as one wise person once put it, 'talk is cheap.' Of those who write letters, how many of them go out and vote? Obviously, I have nothing to gain by my meaningless prediction and there's no way I could influence voters after everyone has cast their vote.

With the election over, don't stop asking yourself what the real issues are. Elected officials need your input because they can't do everything all by themselves. Be the eyes and ears of your county supervisor, whoever makes it in the 2nd district supervisor's chair, and don't let party loyalty ruin your chance to work with some fine people.