Interview with possible City Council candidate Fred Shorett
Fred Shorett, a self-employed salesman, is the first possible candidate to file papers for a possible run at succeeding Neil Derry as the 4th Ward's City Council candidate.
Shorett, 59, is registered as a Republican but repeatedly stressed during an interview that the council seat is non-partisan. He also said that he decided to run after reading the news that current 4th Ward Councilman Neil Derry had defeated Dennis Hansberger for a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
In general, Shorett presented himself as someone whose primary interests are improving San Bernardino's appearance and image, being business friendly, increasing the police presence within the 4th Ward (northeast San Bernardino) and calming the political disputes that have characterized San Bernardino politics.
Shorett did not want to issue any opinions on two of San Bernardino's bigger news stories since the summer - Operation Phoenix and the dispute between Police Chief Michael Billdt and the police union. He said he doesn't know all the details on those issues, save for what he reads in the newspapers. He also said repeatedly that he does not want to point fingers at any city figures.
Here are some notes from the interview, which will be part of a future story:
On the city's appearance:
"I think the biggest problem that we have in the city right now is we need to really clean it up, and I mean literally. Street sweeping. Fix up potholes," said Shorett, who repeatedly employed the metaphor of giving San Bernardino a new coat of paint.
Also, "Why is a businessman in San Clemente, driving to his second home in (Lake) Arrowhead, why is he going to consider moving here or starting a business here?" This was in reference to a person driving up Waterman Avenue and seeing unkempt parcels.
On his plans for working with other council members, if elected:
"I don't think that I'm any kind of messiah that can bring everybody together, but what we need to do is work together for the good of our community," he said.
On the economy:
"Obviously, we're going to be hit hard by reduced sales tax and those kind of things," he said. "The best thing we can do is clean up our image and get projects off the drawing board and moving."
Sounds from the beginning that he has the City's best interest at heart. the Council can use someone like that....The information below is not relavant to Mr. Shorett' article. It is just an observation made this Wednesday morning...
Wednesday October 01 2008
This early morning’s commute was peppered for 4 hours by a 450 lb gorilla on a talk radio station. Sensationalism was the attempt of this DJ and radio commentator. The subject of this bore was the ridiculing of Sarah Palin’s children’s names.
This 450 lb gorilla’s agenda was to have commuters and home listeners call in to offer their contemptuous names that Governor Palin could have used. To my surprise, there were people who fell into this scheme and laughed along with this commentator as he mocked the Governor and her family.
I can remember this type of behavior in the preteen and early teen years as kids sought to engage in not so bright humorous behavior, but to have adults engage in thistype of behavior like vultures gathering over roadkill is really over the top. This Los Angeles KFI radio station Bill Handle is an idiot that he has to marginalize and attack Governor Palin’s minor children.
Speaking of vultures, the moderator of the vice presidential debate is a woman who has a monetary stake in Obama winning the election. She has written a book extolling the virtues of Obama and is set to be released on the day of the election. Now, why would the committee of presidential debates allow this woman to be in that position of asking “gotcha” questions. If Obama wins, she has money coming in for years. If she can swing any kind of leverage for his campaign, it is in her interest. Funny how one sided the news media is. If this were a person writing a book to be released about either of the McCain-Palin team, ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN, MSNBC, and all the associated anchors, comedians, and pundits would be all over it