Who You Should Vote for on June 3 — and Why

by Jack McCurdy

Summary: They tried to get a measure on the June 3 primary ballot seeking to recall mayor Jamie Irons, but that effort flopped. However, the recall is still alive in different form. The reasons for seeking his recall are likely being used in an attempt to defeat Irons in his bid for reelection against former City Council member Carla Wixom. And possibly, also indirectly, defeat Matt Makowetski, who is running for the Council and shares Irons' views on key matters.

But the odds are against it having any impact in winning votes because of the outstanding record that Irons, Christine Johnson, and Noah Smukler have compiled in office, the most prominent being getting the city moving in developing a critical water reclamation facility in the aftermath of endless delays by the previous council, of which mayoral candidate Carla Wixom and council member Nancy Johnson were members and who never spoke out in favor of urgency in building the facility.

The people who tried to get a measure on the June 3 primary ballot seeking to recall Mayor Jamie Irons failed badly — and embarrasingly. But the recall as an issue still may loom large in the primary election. Why? Because it is very likely being used against Irons in his reelection bid.

The grounds for seeking to place a recall measure on the ballot are failed and gone, but the issue on which the recall was based — that he led the way to dismiss City Manager Andrea Lueker and City Attorney Rob Schultz without good cause — is being used as prime arguments to defeat Irons' reelection. There is virtually nothing else to use against him. And there is a whole array of reasons, based on facts and evidence, to keep him as mayor for another two years.

Irons and Council Members Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler have achieved some very significant accomplishments, such as moving ahead to revise the city's local coastal plan and open the way for determining the future of the power plant property, as well as nearing a start to build a new water reclamation/sewage plant. The plant will provide domestic water for residents at a crucial time when the availability of state water to the city as its main source is growing more and more uncertain.

So recall is alive and well, but in a different way. And in a different context. Not as another move to recall Irons, but the reasons behind seeking to place a recall measure on this ballot constitute ammunition — at least in the eyes of some of the other candidates in the election — for defeating him for reelection. Even though Irons has showed how those charges were groundless. (See: Irons Responds and Flyer Falls Flat)

The bottom line is that Irons and the council were not required to state their reasons for dismissing city employees like Lueker and Schultz because such employees serve at the lawful will of the council. Many would probably like to know why they were removed, but to state reasons when it isn't required opens the possibility that the city could be sued over the grounds for dismissal, which could cost the city — and taxpayers — significant amounts of money. For no reason.

It is almost certain to be the main weapon that supporters of mayoral candidate Carla Wixom and City Council Member Nancy Johnson, seeking reelection, are using to win. And also to defeat council candidate Matt Makowetski, who is an Irons supporter and opponent of Nancy Johnson for her seat (although since council member George Leage is not running for reelection, his seat could be won by Makowetski without affecting Nancy Johnson's chances for being reelected). Among the three council candidates, the top two vote-getters will win seats — if they receive a majority of votes cast. Otherwise, they face a "runoff" in the general election next November 4.

While Nancy Johnson may not have joined others in voicing support of the recall of Irons, she did repeatedly and strongly state her criticism of Irons for supporting the departure of Schultz and Lueker, which, in effect, placed her directly among the recall advocates.

But Makowetski could be deprived of a seat if John Headding, another council candidate, is elected along with Johnson. Headding has said he supports Johnson and is undecided about who he supports for mayor. He has said he was neutral on the recall of Irons. But he is president-elect of the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce, a hotbed of Nancy Johnson supporters and Irons critics. Makowetski is a teacher and has proven his leadership as chair of the City Public Works Advisory Board. Headding says he has not sought public office before.

So how do all those facts leave election prospects?

With incumbent council members Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler having two more years on their terms, all they need is one person elected among the mayoral and two open council seats in order for them to keep the majority that has made such significant progress over the past year. Just one elected to those three seats would secure the authority needed to achieve more significant progress like that attained by Irons, Johnson, and Smukler. That one person could be Irons or Makowetski.

But if the Wixom, Nancy Johnson, and possibly, Headding camp sees too many risks in campaigning on the recall issue — fearing that people will be turned off by its negativity, possibly because of the insults and epithets hurled at Irons as well as Christine Johnson and Smukler at council meetings late last year (See: Council Majority Attacked) then they have no alternative but to rely on "reach out" to residents/voters campaigning. That is "meet and greet," which can be very effective.

But if they go that route, they are almost sure to fail because the Irons/Makowetski side has proven expertise in winning votes by going door to door, phone banking, and using flyers to explain what they stand for — with many volunteers to do it. And why they deserve their votes — they have a proven record of accomplishment.

Wixom and Nancy Johnson have just the opposite — from being part of the council that Irons, Christine Johnson, and Smukler replaced in 2012. That council accomplished almost nothing.

Wixom and Nancy Johnson can't campaign on the record of the previous council (headed by the late former mayor Bill Yates — of which Wixom [her name was Borchard at the time] and Nancy Johnson were members) — because of its failure to make progress on a new wastewater treatment plant at a cost of untold millions to the city, among many other things, all of which helped immensely to get Irons, Christine Johnson, and Smukler elected in the June 5, 2012 primary, the first time anyone has been elected in a Morro Bay primary.

This primary election is all about business people seeking to reward their own vested interests versus with Irons and Makowetski who are committed to protecting and enhancing the interests of residents, protecting Morro Bay as we know it, and enhancing the community's beauty and safety. Note that Wixom and Headding are business owners and Nancy Johnson is closely aligned with those types.

Therefore, the Journal strongly and proudly endorses and urges you vote for Jamie Irons for Mayor and Matt Makowetski for City Council.

Your comments are welcome. Send them to Slo Coast Journal Comments.