Christopher Shannon wrote: "When discussing public transportation, Ashby said Tretheway ignored the petition of 500 people to not run Light Rail down Truxel Boulevard." I heard 5,000 people signed the petition. Chistopher, please check on that. ----- POSTSCRIPT May 18, 2010: Thank you Christopher for your followup (below)! I now accept the 500 number.

Uh-oh Paul, bbbbmer slapped the dreaded "honey" moniker on you. And he got the last word. He really showed you! Not. Seriously though, I'm beginning to suspect bbbbmer is a shill for Ray Tretheway's campaign; or, he's trying to curry favor with Dan Roth (Tretheway's Chief of Staff). There's got to be a Stonewall Democrats connection...Roth has a lot of clout in the StD's, so naturally they would support Tretheway. It makes sense that bbbbmer by extension would attack Ashby, the candidate most likely to unseat Trethway and Roth.

Jim, bbbbmer is male. Ohh wait, I get it -- you made a tongue-in-cheek reference to his sexual preference. Clever.

Rhonda, the swimming pool issue you mention was in Natomas Park. Ms. Ashby is not associated with Natomas Park. [I've removed my smart-aleck remark -- I apologize for that]

Rhonda, quality of life applies to everyone, not only low income residents. The reality is that low income residents are largely dependent on developer fees and tax revenue paid mostly by people like me and local businesses. Pandering exclusively to the poor is a great way to alienate that tax base and send your bread-and-butter packing to Roseville or El Dorado Hills, killing the local development and businesses. Unfortunately that's been the status quo in Natomas for the past 7 or 8 years. On the other hand, give those folks a reason to stay (quality of life) and you'll get more tax revenue to support poverty and youth initiatives. It starts with crime prevention, and a strong police force is an important piece of the puzzle. Ashby understands this, and although she has a diplomatic and pleasant personality, she's also no pushover. I can't say that for our incumbent.