Diane vs Uriel ?

[Guest]

I went to the Mountain Cove forum and was impressed by both of our Mayoral canidates and think that either would do a good job. One thing that I don't get is what happens to Diane's seat on the city council if she gets elected? Currently I am leaning towards voting for Uriel because then I get both of their sevices working for the city. Am I missing something here?

Thanks to anyone who knows.
Guest

[correct]

Yes, Diane has two more years left on her council term. In that respect, her placement is guaranteed (no matter what happens, she serves for two more years.) Macias is running at the end of a four year term as City Treasurer, which he obviously relinqueshes regardless of any outcome.

So you're right, if Macias got elected to mayor, they would both be on the council together for the next two years.

[VOTER]

You might want to check out the thread that was started regarding the forum that took place at Mountain Cove in January. There is a lot of discussion there about the candidates and even comments from a couple of them. And yes I agree with you, the best scenario for us is to have Uriel Macias win so we keep Diane as well. Then all we need is for Rocha to win and Bob Donnelson to get the other seat and we would have an awsome council.

[8127719 Mr Macias campaign]

Electing Macias for Mayor is whats best for azusa. please support him and check out his website..
macias for mayor.com
His Headquarters Number is 626-812-7770...
if you would like to support him please call and have a yard sign posted in your home...

Mr. Macias has my vote!!

[web site]

I've seen it already, but what you wrote wasn't in the form of a web site address. It is actually either of these, I think (or I hope!) you'll be able to just click on it:

www.MaciasForMayor.com

or

www.Macias4Mayor.com

[money]

Uriel Macias has had $3000 in contributions compared
to Diane Chagnon $16,000
i wonder where she is getting her money?
she said she recieved some from vulcan..
maybe she got the other $15,000 from the gun club?

[Planning]

That is public record. I actually went and looked at where the money was coming from because of all the talk about it. You can see this information at the city clerks office. Actually, I was more intersted in see the financing of for City Council Members than for Mayor. Diane received contributions from residents and businesses all over this city.

Uriel received one $3000 contribution from Ruiz Mexican Foods in Ontario, a company that makes tortillas.

Actually, from what I have heard, $16k is not an unusual amount of donations for running for a position such as Mayor. It looks like Diane created a professional campaign to me. I personally did not contribute to either campaign but I do not see anything wrong with accepting contributions from supporters.

When Uriel decided to run, was it a last minute thought? There was no fundraising done for his campaign. As a person in finance, you would think that he would have planned out the finanacing ahead of time. Maybe his budget is less than $3000. I don't know how much it costs to run a campaign. $3k is like one house payment for me. And I look at $16k as less than a month and a half of of personal monthly expenses. For people that run even small businesses, $16k is not a lot of money to work with. I have a very small business and my business can sometimes eat through that in a day. Advertising and printing costs are very expensive. I spend over $5k on just one very small print job.

P.S. If you ever want to file for a position yourself, it costs $25 to file and $875 for a statement (which is optional).

[So pretentious]

You need to re-read those records. I read it, too, sir. That $3000 is Macias's own money, not a contribution as you called it (nice try). And he would not accept any contributions from corportations which he has been offered including from the Vulcan and the gun club itself. You call it ''bad planning,'' I call it having principals and sticking by them. By the way, thanks for sharing how little you value your money compared to the rest of us.

[ITS HIS MONEY BEING SPENT]

He he wants to accountable to the residents of Azusa... he does not want to be a puppet ... The money that is being spent is his money.... That is why at Forum he announce he will not ACCEPT $1 dollar if elected....meaning if he is elected... He does not want to get paid.. he is going to donate all his earnings to local programs and charity's here in Azusa... YOU DONT SEE MANY PEOPLE DO THAT...
MR MACIAS YOU HAVE MY VOTE!!!

[article]

The azusa online web site has a story about last night's debate and Macias not accepting any of the salary, it says who are the community groups he wants to give to. Go to this address and find the part that says 'Macias to donate stipend' and then go to that........

newazusa.proboards40.com/index.cgi?board=local

[Planning]

Dear So pretentious

Excuse me, I do value money. But I also believe in spending it when necessary. My business was profitable from the very start and it has grown every year since. That is not possible to do by wasting money. And I never said anything about bad planning. I was just wondering when Macias decided to run.

Dear ITS HIS MONEY BEING SPENT,

I respect your opinion, but I do not agree with it. I do not personally believe that accepting a donation from a resident or business necessarily makes a politician a puppet. If I were in a city office, which I have no desire to ever do, I would make my decisions based on what I felt was best for the city. Who gave me what in donations would not come into play. And I have seen enough city council meetings to know that Diane would do the same. At the same time, Macias, who has a good reputation as City Treasurer, would also probably not base his decisions on who gave him money. And according to the last forum, Macias did say he was accepting donations from residents. Which is good, I think that he needs more than a $3,000 contribution.

[repulsed]

Oh, look, you used that word 'contribution' again, and you didn't even acknowledge your previous 'mistake.' As if you didn't know that Ruiz is the company that Macias is the CFO of and that that was his salary check, not a corporate contribution.

You sure you're not subtly campaigning for Chagnon? Because personally, I know who went to the city clerk's office to pull campaign financial papers. That's part of public record, too, since you have to fill out a form to get them. One of the people that did that is part of a small group here at MC that are zealously supportive of her.

It's unfortunate but consistent with the usual smear tactics that you keep trying to misrepresent Macias's own personal salary as a corporate contribution. Fortunately, we're not stupid. Once more, if the audience reaction at last night's forum is any indication, the whole phony rumor spreading, mafia-like lawn sign tactics, dropping negative innuendos about Macias -- who has proven himself a class act -- is not doing your candidate any favors.

[Azusa resident]

I attended the candidate forum last night. I was very impressed with Macias, especially when he announced that he would donate his stipend to local CBOs. Below is the post from the Azusa Online site:


Macias to Donate Stipend to Non-profit Groups

Azusa Mayoral Candidate Uriel Macias announced during Thursday night's candidate forum that if elected mayor, he would not accept a salary. The entire amount, approximately $8400 annually, would instead be donated to local Azusa non-profit groups and service organizations.

"I want to make sure these vital organizations have the necessary funding to continue the great work they do for the community," Macias said. "My reason for becoming your mayor isn't to take nor expect anything from the community; It's to give back to a place that has already given me so much."

Local organizations that would receive equal portions of the stipend include the San Gabriel Valley Mountains & River Conservancy, Veterans Memorial Flag Committee, Seniors Home Delivered Meals program, Sister City, Neighborhood Homework House, Azusa Police Explorers, and the Azusa Golden Days committee, among others.

Macias adds that he wants to work closely with community groups, as he does with his potential city council counterparts. "I want to bring the residents, schools, and business community together. Azusa has been divided too often and as a result has not had the growth and redevelopment we need. I plan to lead in a way that unifies our entire community, redevelops our Downtown and the Foothill Shopping Center, as well as encourages higher education."

"I intend to work together with the entire city council to fast-track the redevelopment projects that have been only talked about for the last ten years."

Uriel Macias, a lifelong resident and corporate CFO, has served as Azusa's City Treasurer for the last four years.

[Voter]

wow... I guess there is no better way to get your point across that you want to give back to the community! That's pretty impressive. I think they both did a good job at the forum from what I saw, but it's pretty hard for Dianne to shake the fact that she has taken money from special interests for her campaign. I also realize that campaigns take money and are expensive but I guess if you care enough about the city to not only give up your stipend but also not take money from special interests it's hard to beat. Besides Macias seems to make a lot of sense with his ideas. I have nothing against Dianne but I like the idea of having new blood in the council to get things going a bit more.

[WHERES DIANE]

Guess what? neighbors.... Next Sunday residents here at Mountain Cove are trying to host another forum for people who could not attend the first forum... I was all excited until I heard that Diane Chagnon will not be there because she did not want to be there..I was so angry!!! I mean she did say at the mayoral forum that she will be a full time mayor right? then she said that the city wants her to visit a family here in azusa... Well couldnt the city send someone else like Dick Stanford or Dave Hardison? Diane the resident need you there..
Mr Macias has already accepted the invitation!!

[Vested]

Posts: 1
Re: Azusa Mayoral Race in 2005!
« Reply #3 on: Today at 3:28pm » <br>
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While I have nothing against Mr. Macias, it is clear to me that Ms. Chagnon is the best qualified candidate for the position of Mayor of Azusa. Ms. Chagnon has years of invaluable experience and knows the intricacies of the City of Azusa intimately. She understands the issues and knows the players. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there that I would like to help clear up. First, the money Diane received from Vulcan was not in fact from the company but instead it was donated by the employees. She has not found it necessary to defend this contribution because there is nothing to defend. Accepting campaign contributions in no way means that Diane is going to attempt to grant special favors or feel indebted to those who contributed versus those who did not. I gave money as a private citizen because I felt that she is exceptionally qualified and a consummate professional. I expect no return on my investment except that she do what is in the best interest of all citizens and stakeholders in the city. All professionals in her position raise money in an effort to better educate the public about their qualifications, etc. There is NO wrong doing associated with this practice-- it's standard business....Furthermore, Diane did vote in favor of rezoning the gun club. The final vote was unanimous 7-0 She abstained on the vote dealing with the map issue as did Mayor Madrid due to a possible vested interest in property located in the general area at issue. Moreover, a lot has been said about the lack of progress during Diane's tenure but let's not forget that Diane's desire to redevelop the downtown area and stimulate the local economy by bringing in new businesses and new developments has been met with resistence from the current Mayor and other council members. Diane was supportive of the Mountain Cove Development and the Monrovia Nursery project. Supporting these forward thinking projects wasn't easy for her due to the aforementioned resistence and traditional local governemental bureaucracy; however, through her persistence and strength of conviction she has managed to make progress in Azusa even in the face of adversity. Finally, Mr. Macias is clearly very ambitious, intellegent and eager to please; however, Diane is without a doubt more qualified for this position based upon her experience and political know how. She relates to all residents of Azusa regardles of race, religion or socioeconomic status and has the ability to be available to residents on a full time basis. I do believe that Mr. Macias will be ready to serve in this capacity in a few years, perhaps after he has served as a council member. But at present, the citizens of Azusa deserve a seasoned veteran that will work dilligently to bring the "most improved city" to fruition. We have come too far to entrust our city's future to a trainee.

[Vested]

In response to the post regarding the forum in the lodge this Sunday, it is important to note that not all candidates i.e., council, treasurer, mayoral, etc. were invited to attend just those that the organizers endorse. That it NOT a political forum in the true sense. I know that Diane was willing to attend however, the date was in conflict with a prior engagement [city business] with Mr. Roacha. Please don't spread malicious untruths about Diane. She cares deeply about this community and when I say community I'm not just referring to Mountain Cove.

[oph]

I think Mr. Macias has proven himself more than ready for the mayoral position, without a shadow of a doubt. ''Progress'' HAS been frustratingly slow in the last 10 years, and trying to pin it on one or two other people (not Chagnon) makes no sense. A minority vote on the council does not stop progress. The truth is that the Downtown, the Foothill Center, and the quality of life issues in many neighborhoods were low on Chagnon's list of priorities. As has been mentioned before, multitasking obviously isn't her strong suit.

I don't find her to be a unifying force in the city. Instead of reaching out to people who have disagreed with her, she's opted to write them off. The issues we faced like Monrovia Nursery, Rosedale before it, the Headstart problems, the Veteran's Memorial Flag committee, the police department picketing, just to name a few? Those all could have been handled better had certain councilmembers taken a better approach. Chagnon was one who chose the path of condescending or ignoring (and thus disenfranchising) people who complained. As much as she tries to supress it, this side of her ineveiteably emerged in both debates.... that it's important the she seem ''smarter'' or ''better'' than the next person. That is not a desirable trait at all to be mayor.

I feel Macias has proven himself for many reasons. I consider it as asset that he lives a life like most working people do. Chagnon has the nerve to use that she's a homemaker compared to be Macias being a CFO against him? How delusional is that? He's done an amazing job as City Treasurer while holding his profession. His real-life experience is an asset to his being mayor. The fact that he refuses to accept money from special interest groups demonstrates a firm commitment to residents, and that he won't even accept a mayoral salary and plans to turn it over to Azusa community charities speaks volumes of the man's character.

I'm not really interested in hearing excuses about ''this is how campaigns are supposed to work'' or ''this is why Chagnon voted or didn't vote on this'' etc. All I want to hear the truth, and I also look at the actions of the candidates. You may hold it against him that he doesn't play the usual political games, but I LIKE that Macias doesn't behave like a typical politician. Macias has proven conclusively that he is the most trustworthy, sincerely committed person to be mayor, and that he has our best interests at heart.

[Update]

On Sunday Feb. 27th a group of Mountain Cove residents will be hosting a coffee at the lodge for three of the city council candidates. These candidates are Joe Rocha, Bob Donnelson, and Angel Carrillo. Please join us for sandwiches and other goodies this Sunday the 27th from 1:30 P.M till 3:00 P.M.

As far as the Mayoral Forum...

We did try to schedule a Mayoral Forum to follow the candidates coffee on Sunday, however it was not possible due to a schedule conflict for Dianne Chagnon. Therefore, the mayoral forum portion will not take place. However, in liu of this forum, please feel free to attend the upcoming coffees for Dianne Chagnon on Wed. Feb. 23rd and one for Uriel Macias on Thursday Feb. 24th. both of these coffees will take place at the lodge from 7 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.

These coffees will be a great opportunity to get to know these candidates better and ask any of the questions you might have.

See you there! ;D

[IFYOUWANTSOMETHINGDIFFERENT]

OK LOOK PEOPLE!! IF YOU ARE HAPPY WITH HAVING TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY TO ANOTHER CITY TO EAT AND HAVE FAMILY NIGHT THEN VOTE FOR DIANE... SHE TRY'S TO SAY THAT SHE HAS MORE EXPERIENCE THAN MR. MACIAS... OK DIANE YOU HAD 11 YEARS TO BRING BUSSINESS TO AZUSA... YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING...WITH THE REST OF THE CITY COUNCIL... PEOPLE ALL OVER AZUSA NEED THE CITY HELP.. BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THEM? TEST SCORES ARE LOW... STREETS NEED TO BE REPAIRED.. WE NEED A NEW LIBRARY.. WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OUR SENIORS.THERE OTHERS AREA HERE IN AZUSA THAT THING NEED TO BE DONE.. NOT JUST YOR NEIGHBORHOOD. .WE NEED TO REDEVELOPED DOWNTOON.. FOR THE PAST 11 YEARS NOTHING HAS CHANGE... ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE.. CHAGNON SAYS SHE HAS 11 YEARS
OF EXPERIENCE.. TO ME ITS A WASTE OF TIME...
SORRY BUT THATS HOW I FEEL!!

MR. MACIAS GOOD LUCK!!!

YOU HAVE MY VOTE

[Canyon Heart]

Vested said:

In response to the post regarding the forum in the lodge this Sunday....... I know that Diane was willing to attend however, the date was in conflict with a prior engagement [city business] with Mr. Roacha. Please don't spread malicious untruths about Diane.

Malicious to suggest that she was using it as an excuse not to debate Mr. Macias again? I don't think so. First of all, the mayoral debate was unrelated to the gathering for the council candidates you referred to. So please, to you, stop implying anything negligent about the debate's organizers. Second, it's quite reasonable to suggest the Chagnon is avoiding that third debate that she had already tentatively agreed to.

Macias has clearly bested her at both their previous debates, and on top of that Chagnon has embarrassed herself by trying to come out sounding smarter (and instead succeeding at sounding condescending). Then she ends the debate looking really angry and shaking when she realizes that her 'I'm smarter than you' tactic ironically turned the audience against her. So it's fair, not malicious for any observer of a public figure such as Diane to conclude that she wants to avoid another round with Macias.... Aside from all that, excuses seem to be par for the course for Chagnon (think gun club, Vulcan, Dowtown Azusa, Rosedale project). So again, looking at the facts, it's a reasonable observation to make. (By the way, that so-called unexpected event she's going to was not for Joe Rocha but for a private citizen of Azusa that she could have passed on seeing as there's an election and all... but nice try AGAIN at linking her with Joe who does NOT support her)

Malicious might be the previous post that tried but failed to mislead people into believing that Uriel Macias was accepting special interest contributions..... when it was actually his own personal money they were talking about. Or it might be the ones that called him a pawn of someone he has almost nothing to do with. Or maybe the ridiculous one falsely implying he was against Monrovia Nursery development when he was totally for it. I guess there's a special saying that applies here for Chagnon's campaigners: if you can't say anything bad about the opponent, just make something up.

I don't want a campaign or a mayor that's going act divisively or cut off people who disagree with them. I want a mayor who is going to move the whole city forward together. The mayor should act inclusive not EXclusive. That's the big difference for me, and that's why I'm voting for Macias.

[Azusa Resident]

I would like to address the original question of what will happen to Diane's council seat if she is elected to the position of mayor. You have two council positions to fill. Rocha's term is up and Stanford isn't running. Obviously, the two people with the highest number of votes will fill those positions. If a current coucilmember (Diane in this case) is elected mayor, that councilmember's seat would be filled by the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes, inotherwords, whomever comes in third. I believe that action has to be approved by the new council. That has been the past practice in this situation, with one exception, but that was years ago and I don't even want to go there! Hope this answers your question. You can always check with the City Clerk and see what she has to say about it.

[not necessary]

I don't think there will be a need to address that, especially since it appears Macias has made some great strides in the past few weeks. I expect that Chagnon's council seat will be filled for the next two years..... by Chagnon herself.

[bad speller]

who are the save azusa committee? If one looks at the absentee ballot app. with the gun club issue on it you will notice that Diane's name is not listed either for or aganist. this leads me to believe that she is playing both side of the fence. Or perhaps she is part of the SAVE AZUSA COMMITTEE. looking further into this issue.

[MCresident]

The best scenario for the city council is plain to see. If Dianne Chagnon wins, we loose Uriel who I think is an excellent asset for the city. If Uriel wins, we get two great people in the council for t he price of one. I think Joe Rocha is almost certain to win. Hopefully the other seat will go to Donnelson, who I think seems like the most sincere or Carrillo who, although young, seems to have lots of energy and good will towards the people of this city.
If Dianne wins, however, Uriel is unlikely to be appointed as I doubt Dianne would be that gracious.
This scenario would then leave another seat open to someone like Hanks or one of the other less than admiralable candidates on "the vote for these " list of that disgusting gun club mailer. That kind of make up of the council would be disastrous as you would constantly have to deal with a disgruntled council member and one who would listen to special interests like the gun club over it's own citizens. I know it would seem like a bit of a sacrifice for Dianne but it's the better future of the city we are after, not individual egos here.
So egos aside, if we really think about it the only choice is Uriel for mayor, we keep Dianne as Mayor Pro Tem, Dave Hardison, Joe Rocha and Donnelson or Carrillo. That's what is best for the city hands down.

[cool raul]

yup !! 11 years time to move on.. bring on Macias and lets move forward.!!!

you have my vote!!!

[McResident]

Did anyone else go to the coffee for Uriel Macias? I was surprised to see how many people went. I was glad to see many new people from other parts of the city. I was also glad to see many people who were as impressed with him as many of my friends and I am and many new converts. If you look at both candidates with an open mind it's hard not to see that Macias is the better choice! And he is a bargain to boot since he plans to donate his stipend to the community if he gets elected! You can't ask for more than that !

[MCMom]

I went to the first coffee for Diane Chagnon and learned a lot about her. I was impressed by the amount of knowledge that she has as well as the dedication she has given to this city; and the support that she has from politicians around the State, including Assembly Member Ed Chavez, who flew down from Sacramento in order to show his support for Diane Chagnon at her coffee that she had. And when I mean that he flew down here, I mean that it was the only reason why he flew down here. He had to fly back the next morning. He read about the coffee in the paper and wanted to show his support for Diane. Assemblyman Chavez said that he has known Diane for years and would strongly support her as Mayor. If the city needed help with anything, all that Diane would need to do is call him and he would do everything that he could do to help.

It is very generous that Uriel wants to give the money from being Mayor, something like $9k a year, all to charity, but I think that it is worth paying someone $9k a year to have an experienced person as Mayor. And by experienced, I mean someone that fully understands the issues of this city, who already has established professional relationships with the people that the Mayor will be working with, and who is experienced as an Azusa city councilperson.

[Another mom weighing in]

I think Uriel Macias has more than proven his experience. He has four years as our City Treasurer forging the same relationships, and he is a lifelong Azusan. He is the CFO of a major corporation, which more than edges out his opponent on the professional experience front. The fact that he's going to donate his salary when he's elected mayor, and that he's refused offers of contributions from special interest groups, makes a bold statement about where his loyalties really are. The trust factor is a bigger issue to me. I don't like that Chagnon has been exclusive about who she chooses to consider or listen to. I know some people don't mind a pretentious attitude toward others, but this is the mayor we're talking about. They're supposed to represent everyone and build connections between the community, not disenfranchise those who have criticized them. I've observed this kind of behavior from Ms. Chagnon, but from Macias I have only seen a sincere, inclusive outlook.

About Chavez, somehow I doubt he showed up for her coffee unexpectedly on a whim. I also know that one of Diane's campaigners has close ties to Chavez and moved mountains to get him involved. Frankly I'm not overwhelmed by it. I find the politicizing, partisan-thumping saturation of Chagnon's campaign kind of bizarre. She's running for mayor, not the presidential nomination.

I like Macias's focus on the community and connecting with the residents, not political games or name dropping. He truly wants to bring Azusa together, and he wants to get things done. Most people are now very aware that Chagnon originally ran for council over ten years ago on the promise of revitalizing the downtown. Well she never kept that promise... I heard the same promise when I moved hear a few years ago, and even I'm tired of waiting. I can only imagine the frustration from the residents who've been here longer than 10 years.

Chagnon's campaign speaks nothing of change. On the contrary, it keeps pitching how great everything is and that we should just stick with business as usual. Well newsflash, it's most certainly not great.

Too much in Azusa has been neglected, and from what I've observed and listened to, Macias has real plans to move us forward. He recognizes that we've fallen behind, that other cities have passed us right up. I want someone who recognizes that we need change and has a plan of action. Macias is that candidate, and that's why I'm voting for him as our next mayor.

[JAFO]

This Sunday at the lodge at 1:30 P.M there is going to be a coffee for 3 of the council candidates. Joe Rocha, Bob Donnelson, and Angel Carrillo will be there to answer any questions and visit with anyone who cares to join in. Please come to get to know these candidates better. It's almost election time and the city's future depends on the representation that the chosen few give to it's residents. Please get involved to make a difference in the city's future for the coming years. ;D