The Proctor Is In: BBQgate

Aaron Proctor's take on Robin Salzer's possible violation of election rules is up at his blog. He's calling it Barbequegate, and his response is hilarious.

To bring you up to speed with the latest D1 controversy, the Pasadena Weekly broke the story just this week. Apparently, Robin Salzer, way back in the primary election, offered anyone a free meal so long as they showed his election doorhanger and a voting stub. The offending hanger, which happily proclaims "It's Robin's treat," reminds folks that "Robin needs your vote!" but that's as close as it gets to suggesting a tit for tat relationship between vote and food. Several hundred hangers were left on doorknobs around District 1.

It's not surprising that this didn't sit well with some people. But it is surprising just how, er, unwell-sitting some people found it.

“I looked at them and went through the roof. They were door hangers and they had a picture of him on it and it said bring your election stub and this door hanger to Robin's and we will give you a treat,” Isenberg recalled. “I was very offended by it.”

That's community activist Maria Isenberg. Why exactly she found it offensive to be given a free meal isn't clear. I can imagine being outraged if you thought Salzer was trying to buy votes with pulled pork sandwiches, but offended? I can't say I'm onboard that train of indignation.

But what about this whole free meal thing? Would it really change someone's vote knowing that regardless of how they vote, one of the candidates will offer them some cole slaw? I'm skeptical. In fact, the whole idea seems quitely likely to backfire. If I were a bitter enemy of Salzer's, I would take no greater delight than in voting against him and eating his food for free.

The story seemed uncontroversial enough that the Weekly itself did not print the portion of their Salzer interview that covered it. It's only in the wake of Isenberg's irritation that it has become an issue. Of course, there's always the possibility that this relatively minor kerfuffle has been inflated to conceal some nefarious plot on the part of ol' Boring Bill. Perhaps the hounds should sniff a little closer to City Hall to see if some story has been overlooked during this brouhaha. (Never miss an opportunity to imply that Bogaard's up to something.)

Regardless, what's truly important is that Dr. Proctor (Ph.D. in Status Quo Battling) has come up with his own doorhanger, which is gold.

UPDATE: The invaluable Aaron Proctor has reminded our silly selves that Salzer's battling for the District 1 City Council seat, not the D2 spot as we had previously indicated (the post has since been corrected). Sorry, Paul, no harm intended.