In a development that is reminiscent of the bitter political battles characterizing the council era dominated by a circle of long-time political insiders, lawn signs placed by the “Elect Rick DeGolia” campaign around town have been reported missing. All of the missing signs had been placed at the request of, and with the permission of, the homeowners.
Writing to supporters, Rick chose to take the high ground regarding these thefts. He suggested that while he didn’t know who was doing this, that part of the possible motivation was to generate controversy in his campaign that they could then capitalize on. Instead of responding with an approach that gets negative press, Rick wrote: “I think that the right solution is to replace the signs as quickly as possible . . . . The best response to this theft is quickly increase the number of signs that were out there.”
“The reason that they are doing this is because they are threatened: I got my signs out early and I only put them in locations where I received permission from the property owner. Someone obviously feels threatened by my candidacy. I have been endorsed by a very broad range of Atherton residents. I have been told that this is the broadest support that someone has had in 30 years. I am proud of that. The right way to fight back is to fight back in numbers, not in the press.”
Rick has now ordered and received another 100 signs and, while Rick is not willing to engage in the same old “fighting with accusations in the press,” he continues to campaign with a very vibrant and active schedule of resident-hosted events where he meets and talks with an increasingly broad cross-section of the community. We invite you to come meet Rick at one of these events and we thank those of you who have gotten to meet Rick for making contact with your friends and neighbors about Rick’s positive campaign. We welcome all supporters and we will continue to provide those who would like a lawn sign placed or replaced at their home.