Peters/Coffey press conference: Setting the Record Straight

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, by Amy Lepine

Interesting read this afternoon in Megan Burks' post, on CityBeat's Last Blog on Earth about the joint press conference of Scott Peters and Dan Coffey.

I was not surprised to hear of Dan's withdrawal from the race; I would have been surprised to hear that he had actually filed. But what did catch my interest was a quote by Scott:

“I talked to all the candidates and said, ‘I think it’s best to stay united.”

I have had exactly one conversation with Scott. It was at the recent Chamber of Commerce "Candidate School", a very very worthwhile event attended by an eclectic group of business people, activists and attorney types. As a panel member, Scott addressed the need to hire to one's weakness. Apparently people tell him he is not the warm, "hugging type" so he hires people who are.

At the lunch break I introduced myself with the icebreaker line that I don't think he comes off cold, that he's warm enough for me. We continued to joke for a few moments, and before we excused ourselves, Scott said he'd like to talk to me sometime "about this", referring, I could only assume, to the race. With a grin, I told him he could talk about endorsing me in public, I would not be offended. Then with all seriousness, I told that I welcomed the opportunity to talk with him. I gave him my card, and told him to call.

I never heard anything more from Scott. I have never been approached by the Peters' campaign and asked to "unite".

Announcing a new feature: Setting the Record Straight

Hi all,

From time to time on the blog, Amy will come on to address occasions when certain opinions, statements, positions or other tidbits are attributed incorrectly to her.

In a fit of novel wordsmithing, we decided to call this: "Setting the Record Straight".

Check back soon, Amy's first post is forthcoming.

Joanna Jacob,

Campaign Manager

The Last Underdog Standing

We learned this morning, bright and early, courtesy of CityBeat writer Eric Wolf's posting on the Last Blog on Earth, that Dan Coffey planned to drop out of the City Attorney's race today.

This means, that out of the three candidates identified as "The Underdogs" in a Voice of San Diego feature on February 22, only Amy remains in the City Attorney race!

Meet the Candidates and Feel the Burn!

Come on out and join Amy and me!

Next Thursday, March 13th, Amy and I will be attending a "Meet the Candidates Mixer" hosted by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, together with Community Partner Asian Business Association of San Diego, and sponsored by The Burn Fitness Club, the location for the event.

Candidates scheduled to attend, as of today, according to Chris Cate of the SDCTA, are:

SD City Council District 1: Sherri Lightner, Marshall Merrifield, Phil Thalheimer;
District 3: Todd Gloria, James Hartline, Stephen Whitburn; District 5: Carl DeMaio, Bob Ilko; District 7: April Boling, Bill Daniel, Marti Emerald
SD City Attorney: Dan Coffey, Amy Lepine, Brian Maienschein, Scott Peters
SD Mayor: Steve Francis
75th Assembly District: Nathan Fletcher
77th Assembly District: Joel Anderson
78th Assembly District: Auday Arabo, John McCann, Arlie Ricasa
52nd Congressional District: Duncan D. Hunter, Brian Jones, Bob Watkins
53rd Congressional District: Naomi Bar-Lev
El Cajon City Council: Bill Wells
Superior Court: Evan Kirvin

Check our Events page, for more details on the Mixer. The event will run from 5:30 - 8:00. Deadline to RSVP is by March 10th. (Free for SDCTA and The Burn fitness members, $20 for non-members, which includes hosted wine, beer, soft drinks, and appetizers)

HERE IS THE FULL VIDEO OF AMY'S PRESS CONFERENCE

Hear Amy's entire speech on the courthouse steps, then step inside the City Clerk's Office, with Amy and me as we submit the nomination paperwork. Then, Amy announces that she is the first candidate to file, and "Now people know we're serious!" to rousing cheers from her supporters.

This footage is courtesy of Kevin LaChapelle, one of our dedicated team of volunteers, and founder of PowerMentor, a volunteer project dedicated to reducing the culture of violence and crime amongst area young people by developing and equipping mentors to fostering positive relationships to produce change. Click on Kevin's name, to see and hear more about his program. we are so blessed to have him on our Lepine for City Attorney team.

Check back to this site often... we are going to be documenting Amy's run, every step of the way!

And, by next week, we should have some other members of our blogging team up and running, so get ready for some fresh perspectives and new faces from the campaign.

Sincerely,

Joanna Jacob, Campaign Manager

A Truly Grassroots Kickoff

IT IS OFFICIAL!

Surrounded by supporters, on the steps of the Hall of Justice, Amy Lepine made it official today, formally announcing her candidacy for City Attorney of San Diego.

After taking some questions from the press, Amy and her posse of supporters and staff, marched on over to the City Clerk's office to turn in the nomination paperwork. I hung out with her in the City Clerk's office while the elections clerk, Denise, went over Amy's paperwork, and gave her the official equivalent of a thumbs-up, circa 1:00 p.m, telling Amy her paperwork is in! Thanks Denise!

We also confirmed that Amy was the FIRST CITY ATTORNEY CANDIDATE to file her paperwork with the City Clerk.

Now we wait while the signatures are counted... the next step will the the drawing at the City Clerk's office. We found out today that the order for the candidate listings in the official city ballot, is done by random lottery, involving picking names out of a hat. Candidates are invited to attend the drawing. We informed the City Clerk staff that Lepine for City Attorney is totally in on the drawing !

Our fantastic volunteers hit the pavement for weeks to gather signatures, and get us to this day, one day ahead of schedule (Deadline is tomorrow for all candidates to submit their nominating paperwork to the City Clerks's Office)

What does a grassroots campaign mean to me?

Going from this:

Volunteers meeting at Amy's house to discuss signature gathering in February
photo by Aaron Thompson

To this:

Amy leading her supporters, 500+ signatures under her arm, from the Hall of Justice to the City Clerk's office to file her paperwork, one day early!

photo by Aaron Thompson

In case you missed it, will be posting some video footage of the press conference a, check out some more great photos of Amy's announcement here, courtesy of our talented volunteer, Aaron Thompson. And if you are interested in volunteering for the campaign, and marching in the future, join our corps by signing up in one of the ways listed on our website!

Sincerely yours,

Joanna Jacob, Campaign Manager

UPDATE: Here is the video. You can also find it in my newer post, from March 6th.

JOIN US THIS WEDNESDAY!

For the past weeks, Amy and her fantastic volunteers have been gathering signatures from San Diego voters, nominating Amy to be listed on the ballot for City Attorney in the June 3, 2008 primary.

We are very pleased to announce that Amy has gathered more than the 200 signatures required to get her on the ballot, and will be filing her paperwork on Wednesday, March 5th, one full day ahead of the deadline!

At 12:15 p.m. this Wednesday, March 5, we will be holding a press conference on the steps of the Hall of Justice, at 330 West Broadway, in downtown San Diego, to formally announce Amy's candidacy. Immediately following, we will march en masse to the City Clerk's Office, with Amy, to submit her paperwork, and to officially kick off the campaign! Check out the press release, with commentary from Amy!

Please join us! Members of the public are welcome to attend both the press conference and to join the march. For more details, join our mailing list, and we will send you all the information you need to join us on Wednesday. Don't worry if you can't make it downtown - I and my blogging team will be documenting the event, and posting photos and our impressions here immediately following the march!

And, make sure to check our website regularly for more exciting events and announcements.

Sincerely,

Joanna Jacob,

Campaign Manager