This weekend’s campaign mailer depicting Supervisor Jim DeMartini as Pinocchio was a low blow and one that I would not expect from someone who claims they want to run as a candidate with honesty and integrity.

Honesty is telling the truth and integrity is being moral and ethical – there was nothing in that campaign piece that showed me anything remotely close to honesty and integrity. Then again, the key is that these words and politics shouldn’t be put in the same category.

Negative campaigning is not my cup of tea. I believe that if you can’t tell the people why they should vote for you – what your qualifications are to hold the office that you seek – then don’t say anything at all.

Don’t get me wrong, discussion of the issues at hand and valid points of interest are all pertinent to a healthy campaign. That is why forums and interviews are important.

You can read whatever you want to into the mailer sent out by Newman Mayor John Fantazia, who is running against DeMartini for the District 5 supervisors’ seat, what you do realize is that the one common thread with the whole thing is the West Park Project.

Interestingly enough, the last time that DeMartini ran against Paul Caruso, there were no hit pieces, there were no YouTube postings, there were no court appearances by Mark Geragos – then again there wasn’t any discussions of West Park either.

Perception is a VERY BIG thing when it comes right down to it and when one looks at all of these negative hits on DeMartini, the perception is that West Park has a lot at stake and cannot afford to have an opponent on the Board of Supervisors. One can only wonder if the project’s consultants and backers are involved behind the scenes in Fantazia’s race.

That’s the perception, and those are the questions, like it or not.

One point on the mailer is that Fantazia accuses DeMartini of grandstanding on the West Park proposal. Let’s see, does reflecting what your supporters and district voters are telling you count for grandstanding?

DeMartini is representing the West Side cities that make up District 5 – Patterson and Newman – when he opposes West Park. He would be a horrible supervisor to do any differently. I don’t call that grandstanding – that is someone who represents their district well. Since taking office, DeMartini has been in Newman more times than I can even count and he attends hundreds of meetings a month around the district from city council to fire districts alike – the man is everywhere.

Frankly I find that DeMartini is refreshing – he says what he thinks to your face and doesn’t worry about being politically correct. He also doesn’t sit on the fence.

Honesty and integrity – now those words belong on DeMartini’s campaign pieces.

The last point on Fantazia’s mailer says to vote “NO” on Jim DeMartini - the last time that I checked I don’t believe that there was a “NO” vote box next to a candidate’s name on the ballot – but if there was I would certainly put it next to John Fantazia’s name.

Shame on you John!

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West Siders are not only concerned about District 5 county politics – they are also thinking outside of the box, as they say – and showing support for other supervisor candidates as well. Friday evening well over 100 people attended a fund-raising event for District 2 supervisor candidate Vito Chiesa.

The event was held at the home of Lee and Debbie Del Don and was hosted by well-known West Siders Grant and Jeannie Craven, Jim and Sharon Jasper, Wilmar and Judy Jensen, Ed and Mimi Maring and the Del Dons.

The invitation to the event contained a perfect statement made by one of the hosts: “The West Side should support supervisorial candidates from districts outside our own District 5, because we need them to join our own supervisor in supporting issues that make sense for our area. Their support is important and we need supervisors who understand farming, our values and our way of life.”

Chiesa comes from a deep agricultural background – his father, Arolando, who attended the event with wife Mary, came to the United States in 1953 and began farming on the same piece of property that they still live on today. He believes that protecting farmland and the environment is good for Stanislaus County.

Chiesa graduated from Cal Poly, served as President of the Stanislaus County Fair Board as well as a member of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau and the California Farm Bureau. Vito has worked together with his family in their business, Chiesa Ranch, and has worked across party lines to repeal the “Tractor Tax” that attacked family farmers.

So one might ask what is the real issue here – well, here we go again – perception is that it is West Park.

In years past if a majority of the residents of a supervisor’s district made it known that they were opposed to a particular issue and their supervisor took that information back to the remainder of the board of supervisors, the board respected the view of the voters and the supervisor and turned down the request or voted against the issue. West Side residents and particularly the farming community doesn’t feel that this is the case with West Park and the current board of supervisors. Despite the fact that the county’s own appointed Crows Landing Steering Committee met for several years and came back with a recommendation as well as legitimate concerns and opposition to West Park from West Side residents, the board voted to proceed forward with the West Park proposal anyway.

So where does Chiesa fit into this picture? While Chiesa has not formally come out in opposition of West Park, we have heard reports that Mike Lynch, a consultant for West Park, is also serving as a consultant for Chiesa’s opponent, Les Weidman.

There you go again with that perception issue. If Lynch is indeed involved with Weidman’s campaign, one might perceive that Weidman would be another proponent of the project should he win that race. In comes Chiesa - a supporter of agriculture and the family business and who is using the consulting services of Carl Fogliani of Sacramento – he is the best hope of West Side farmers to keep West Park at bay or at least have all of the pertinent issues addressed.

The next few weeks will certainly be interesting ones here is Stanislaus county – my hope is that the candidates do have integrity and stick with the issues!