In the final weeks of the campaign, the supervisor race reached a new tenor of ferocity—particularly in the form of mailers: both campaigns have issued political pamphlets that cut down their opponent.
Novato dairyman Dominic Grossi’s campaign released at least two mailers in the last week; one called Dennis Rodoni, the Olema contractor with a long history of serving on boards, a “20 year bureaucrat” and reiterated that he was not endorsed by the Marin Democratic Party or by any current county Democratic leaders. The other mailer featured an ominous photo of a man looking out of his window beneath the words, “Dennis Rodoni is hiding the facts about his record and his actions.” That mailer also included a paraphrased statement taken from the Light’s endorsement of Mr. Grossi that twisted the original meaning, stating “He (Rodoni)… use(s) exaggeration and legal action to bully citizens and the county.” The Light’s endorsement was referencing environmental groups with whom Mr. Rodoni was sympathetic, not the candidate himself.
Mr. Grossi told the Light he was not aware of the misquote, and defended the mailer. “Irrespective of a graphic to draw the attention to the reader, the mailer was accurate and factual. That being said, had Rodoni not gone on the attack the week prior, my campaign may have refrained from moving forward with the mailer,” he said.
That attack from Mr. Rodoni’s campaign called into question Mr. Grossi’s experience and values. The mailer is split into halves, with the colorful side highlighting Mr. Rodoni’s past community involvement and the bleak opposing side accentuating Mr. Grossi’s previous Republican-party affiliation. It also mentions that Mr. Grossi has not voted in the last three county elections. Mr. Rodoni, whose campaign has also released other aggressive mailers, did not respond to our most recent calls for comment for this article.
Phone calls have upset other voters. Beth Perry, a former Stinson Beach resident who now lives in Mill Valley, said she received a call last month from a campaigner for Mr. Rodoni who initiated the call with the question: “Did you know that Donald Trump is a Republican?”
“It wasn’t a good start because, how do you know what [party affiliation] I am? [The caller] didn’t ask who I was voting for, and it put me on the offensive,” she said. (About the mailers, she opined, “These shiny pieces of paper killed our trees.”)
Then there are campaign signs. Thieves and vandals have targeted both candidates’ signs, the most recent tactic against Mr. Grossi’s signs involving stickers with the words “illegal” and “too big.” Under Marin County code, political signs may only be placed by a property or business owner on his or her private property. Caltrans prohibits signs on rights-of-way along its highways and anywhere else on state property without approval.
During the primary race last spring, a county road maintenance supervisor told the Light that the election cycle had generated more signs than he had seen during his 26 years working for the county.
Mr. Grossi, speaking with the Light, proposed a truce: “I think it would be good for Dennis and I to publicly agree to discourage anyone from stealing or vandalizing signs.” Mr. Rodoni later concurred. “Certainly, I would agree,” he said.
According to Supervisor Steve Kinsey, sign wars happen “all the time, in every district, in every election.” The aggressive mailers, he said, just mean “that voters have to be more involved in researching the substance behind the mud.”