Fresno County supervisorial candidate Debbie Poochigian gave her opponent Nathan Magsig a gift this week -- a small bag of rock candy and container of soap and bottle of conditioner from the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Poochigian was poking fun at some of the campaign materials that Magsig has circulated over the past several weeks. One brochure includes a picture of a pile of candy and states that Poochigian "thinks there's a candy mountain" in Sacramento that she can tap into to help solve the county's budget problems. The other states that Magsig is the only candidate that fits the definition of "local."
Poochigian presented the items to Magsig before the two engaged in a contentious exchange on the Ray Appleton radio show this week.
She said she was tired of Magsig referring to her as an "outsider."
"Four weeks ago, he started some of these demeaning ads saying that I'm not local and that I think Sacramento can solve all our problems," she said after the radio broadcast. "I am local, I was born and raised here. I've raised my family here."
Magsig was born in Vancouver, Wash. He moved to Clovis when he was 12.
Magsig said he is not implying that Poochigian wasn't born here. But he believes he has more connection to the voters in District 5 -- which covers most of Clovis and the foothill communities -- because he attended Clovis schools, serves on the Clovis City Council and works in the area.
He said those "local connections" set him apart from his opponent, who has held fundraisers in Beverly Hills, accepted campaign donations from outside the area and bragged about her connections to people in Sacramento.
"I am the local candidate because of the work I've done in the district," Magsig said.
Poochigian and Magsig are vying to replace Supervisor Bob Waterston.
Hopeful suggests gas fixIf the federal government won't rein in soaring fuel prices, Assembly candidate Fran Florez thinks the state should.
Florez, running unopposed in Tuesday's Democratic primary in the 30th Assembly District, this week proposed that the state's Public Utilities Commission regulate gasoline and diesel prices just as it regulates rates charged by water, electric and communications utilities.
"The oil companies say gas prices are high because foreign oil is so expensive," Florez, a Shafter City Council member, said Wednesday. "But we have oil in Kern County that we pump and refine and sell."
Florez said if the PUC regulates prices at the pump, "at least the oil companies would have to justify these increases, just the same way the utility companies do before their rates can go up."
Florez's opponent in the November general election, Republican Danny Gilmore, quickly dismissed Florez's proposal as political posturing. His campaign manager, Julie Griffiths, was more pointed: "I thought this crap came closer to November."
Gilmore, a retired California Highway Patrol officer, said he still recalls the long lines at the pump in the late 1970s when the government tried to regulate prices. "It wasn't fun as a CHP officer responding to these long lines where people were beating each other up and shooting at each other," he said.
Council races' tabsTwo candidates seeking to replace District 2 Council Member Brian Calhoun on the Fresno City Council are spending more on their campaigns than anyone else running for the council.
Michael Karbassi, a 24-year-old college student and businessman, spent nearly $65,000 on his campaign during a two-month period ending May 17, according to a report filed with the city clerk.
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