The Proctor Is In: AP Blows Our Cover

Curses, Publius! Our anonymity is destroyed. Aaron Proctor has posted our mug shots online.

The Proctor Is In: Pasadena Weekly Edition

We haven't updated you on Aaron Proctor's latest in the past day or two, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been active. Between a memorial tribute to Paul Little, a hilarious profile of Todd Ruiz, and surviving a City Council meeting, Proctor's been his usual frenetic, peripatetic self.

While we were focusing on things like alleged corruption in Pomona (and not getting banned from city email), it seems like some other folks are finally giving Proctor his due. Proctor officially joined the Human Relations Commission, Ruiz wrote him up on Under the Dome, and the Pasadena Weekly even gave him a blurb.

It's that last one that caught our eye. Curious title for their story: "Proctor's in at City Hall." That's odd. Proctor's in...Proctor's in...where have we heard that before? We've seen it somewhere, I just can't put my finger on it.

The Proctor Is In: Electomania

The Proctor is in and he's going crazy. In the past seventy two odd hours, the man's been immortalized in psychadelic cartoons, put fork to mouth at the epicenter of Barbecuegate, and announced a professional wrestling match. Amazing.

You could call him Pasadena's most colorful political figure, but that would have been like calling Kurt Vonnegut a colorful author; that is, inexcusably lame. Check AP's latest at Barbecuegate: The Invasion, Fan Mail, Cartoons and Professional Wrestling.

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.

AP and the ZD

Is Aaron Proctor the next Zuma Dogg?

Pasadena Briefs - 4.10.07

Pregnant aquifers! Bra-flinging at the City Council! The Proctor Is In! Let's roundup the latest local headlines and blogodoggerel...

Ray! World Premiere at Pasadena Playhouse: You heard that right. Take that, Broadway (and you, too, Center Theatre Group). -- Phil Gallo, Variety

Local Homeless Face Tough Conditions: Three years of declining numbers notwithstanding, it's not easy being homeless in Pasadena, particularly for families. -- Cortney Fielding, PSN

Is District 6 Paris?: Not the last time I checked, but that hasn't stopped Ron from making the comparison. -- Pasadena District 6 Blogger

Aquifer Bursting with Water Baby: The San Gabriel Valley Aquifer is so full of water the basin has swollen a full two inches (causing more seismic activity than earthquakes as of late). That has to leave some gnarly stretch marks. -- Fred Ortega, PSN

Aaron Proctor - One Man Funny Machine: His headline should be invitation enough. Top Ten Rejected Attempts to Make Pasadena City Council Meetings More Exciting. -- Aaron Proctor

Bras Flood City Council Meeting!: Okay, that's a complete lie. In fact, it's Wokcano with all the bras (who woulda thunk?) and the only people screaming Bill Bogaard's name...well, no one was screaming his name, but there are some neato pictures over at Eye Level Pasadena. Not as neato as a bar full of bras, but still check them out. -- Eye Level Pasadena

The Proctor Is In: Double Feature

You can't slow this guy down. He's waist deep in casting casting Pasadena Elections 2007: The Movie. Yes, that's William H. Macy, and yes, Proctor has him portraying Salzer. See the rest of the cast thus far at his blog.

The Proctor Is In: Salzattack

Aaron Proctor always seems to be at the nexus of political controversy in Pasadena. So, should it be any surprise that he and Salzer have crossed paths? From the sound of it, they nearly crossed swords as well.

...I was standing outside, having a cigarette, and chatting with my girlfriend Kelli and my friends Roxy, Damon, and Nora. Robin Salzer walks by and one of us (I believe me) jokes about how we wished there was somewhere we could get a good BBQ sandwich. I turn to Robin and call his name several times (as do a few of my friends) and he continues on his way until he starts talking to someone else, completely ignoring us as we were about 5 feet away from him.

Brutal. Politicians should be warned: ignore AP at your own peril, particularly if there happen to be any steel cages nearby.

The Proctor Is In: Bogaard's Power Play

Speaking of commissions, apparently Bill Bogaard is looking to put AP on the Human Relations Commission. No word on what nefarious purpose could possibly be motivating this apparent attempt to silence his main political oppponent. Certainly behind that bland public persona lies a man capable of the most devious scheming, one who would stop at nothing to achieve political mastery of the city of Pasadena, even to the point of embracing his enemies. And yet the truth could be even more sinister: has AP gone over to the dark side?

Or, more prosaically, Bogaard's being the nice guy everyone makes him out to be.

In other news, this marks the formal beginning of a new feature at Foothill Cities: The Proctor Is In. The chronicles of Bogaard's arch-nemesis deserve a title, but we want to give you a chance to be immortalized on our blog: if you can come up with a better title, we'll give ours the boot and enshrine yours as the new header.

So, fire away in the comments (and remember the definition of "better" corresponds precisely with our definition of "best")) and let us see what you got.