Cinco De Mayo Forever
On April 21, 2018, at 9:30pm, in the heart of Bessemer, there was a loud banging happening outside of my house. It sounded like somebody on Ricky Muniz Alley was slamming a crappy car door, twice, really hard, with 8 seconds in between the two slams, but it startled me. I wondered, "Am I going to die? I cannot! I must keep typing! I must capture the snapshot of Pueblo City's 1st Mayoral Forum in the postmodern era in print!"
At least the random burst of gunfire has subsided. The gunshots in Bessemer haven't been as frequent as when I first moved in over a year ago. A few days ago, some extended pickup truck was driving crazy fast all over the place, first in the alley, then on Spruce Street, and then it was gone forever.
xxx
Of course, we should pardon Jack Johnson. He drove past state lines, and had sex with a white woman, a white woman who consented, willingly. Jack Johnson was a proud boisterous Black man, having sex with a white woman, in the early 1900s, 60 years before segregation was over.
xxx
About 50 people were there, for about 2 hours starting from 3:30pm, on the 4th floor of the Rawlings Library building, the main library in Pueblo City, & the best goddamned library in the entire nation, no, the entire universe, for the very first Postmodern Mayor's Forum for Pueblo City on April 21, 2018.
Janet "Miss Cinco De Mayor" Wilson, the Canadian-American, was there. Gradisar was there. Jackie was there. Cinco De Mayo is soon, next Saturday. Not this Saturday. But next Saturday. Jackie Massey is the Oklahoma cowboy who just rolled into town, & he's the only one really talking about poverty, & the homeless, & the working classes, & he's right about Ranked Choice Voting, aka IRV. Bo Ortiz is right. Nick Gradisar is wrong. Jackie Massey "bitch-slapped" Gradisar over his expensive & cumbersome runoff election, & I thought Gary Clark did too, when he talked about giving the military veterans the right to vote, but I wasn't too sure afterwards, because it didn't sound like he understood the difference b/t the 2 systems being proposed. When Gary Clark mentioned his war service, he got an impromptu congratulatory clapping on his 2 tours of duty. Nick Gradisar, the Architect of the brand new Mayor system, & the massive gutting of Pueblo's 1954 Charter, was there too. He actually brings legitimacy to the whole thing. So thx Gradisar for helping to build this House of Revolutionary Change.
I hope Nick's ready for that. Change. Also democracy would be nice too. IRV is legendary, & progressive, & historic, & generations upon generations of future Puebloans will thank the Puebloan people of 2018 for finally giving them a fair democracy, a democracy that welcomes 3rd parties & non-duopoly Independents, & not an unfair electoral system that protects the stagnated 2 party dictatorship like Gradisar's French Runoff Election. Larry Atencio is another establishment insider, who was also there, who also brought more legitimacy to "The Taylor Voss & Noemi Morales & 1 Other One Show". Steve Nawrocki & Lori Winner are also "establishment insiders" running for Mayor, even though their City Council tenures, therefore bona fides, ended last year, but neither Steve, nor Lori bothered to show up. Melissa Madrid, Nestor Machado, & Brian Dorsey also boycotted the event, which will be repeating 4 more times in the next coming months.
Charlotte Perez was there, radiating, with her braided pigtails, & confident, & proud, and she spoke really well. I'm not sure what Charlotte can accomplish as the Head Chief Executive over this Pueblo city-nation, but it's clear that Charlotte Perez cares. Charlotte Perez has great feelings of love for Pueblo, being born here in St. Mary-Corwin, & having family & friends here, & all. They all seem affable enough. Gary Clark & Nick Ayers were there. I'm not sure why. Both will be a part of Pueblo's future, so at least both Gary & Nick shows gumption & initiative. I do like them all. It's their policies that piss me off. Even though I know that neither Nick Ayers, nor Gary Clark has a snowball's chance in Hell of capturing the popular voice of the Puebloan people in order to become Mr. Pueblo Dictator God, I won't oppose Nick Ayers like a crazy person. Nick Ayers had some interesting ideas, when he was able to spit them out, but I disagreed with most of what he said. Since he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, then why get all stressed out & flustered over opposing him? Personally, I'd like to hear him say he's being premature, & gracefully bow out, but perhaps he feels like he's got something to say, and he wants folks to hear him. So, let him speak, but when the debate stage is overcrowded with the lucky 13 individuals, and nobody can get a word in edgewise, we may have to limit the stage to those who top the polls.
None of the 7 Mayoral hopefuls who bothered to show up have declared a War on Poverty yet, which Amerika hasn't had for nearly 60 years now, since LBJ, nor has any of them declared a War on the War on Drugs yet. These 2 issues have me itching to jump into the race if to only shine a spotlight on just those 2 issues. Ending the War on Drugs is the only solution that will work. We must End the War on Drugs & begin a War on Poverty... then Maximize our Switzerland "Harm Reduction" plans, to curb the weakness of the human condition, to clean up the heroin needles strewn about, or those being burnt out on capitalism, or to curb the flow of STDs.
I got until August to make my decision. All of the candidates have power right now, in terms of introducing new ideas, & dictating The Public Narrative in their attempts to "finding the pulse" of Pueblo. If I had the energy, I'd find homeless families living around & about Pueblo City, talk to them, interview them, & press the City to finding them some Housing. I'd write about them, & their struggles & plight, and hopefully, their successes, as I'd want my spotlight & words & antics to actually lead to solutions to the problems of Pueblo, to give the poor kids a chance, & not just for my own selfish vanity, in order to end up as mere campaign stunts and/or promises.
Here's my Top 12 Ranked Choice list for Pueblo's 1st 5 Year Mayor (April 23, 2018):
1- Janet Wilson
2- Jackie Massey
3- Charlotte Perez
4- Nick Gradisar
5- Larry Atencio
6- Steve Nawrocki
7- Melissa Madrid
8- Nestor Machado
9- Brian Dorsey
10- Gary Clark
11- Nick Ayers
12- Lori Winner
At least the random burst of gunfire has subsided. The gunshots in Bessemer haven't been as frequent as when I first moved in over a year ago. A few days ago, some extended pickup truck was driving crazy fast all over the place, first in the alley, then on Spruce Street, and then it was gone forever.
xxx
Of course, we should pardon Jack Johnson. He drove past state lines, and had sex with a white woman, a white woman who consented, willingly. Jack Johnson was a proud boisterous Black man, having sex with a white woman, in the early 1900s, 60 years before segregation was over.
xxx
About 50 people were there, for about 2 hours starting from 3:30pm, on the 4th floor of the Rawlings Library building, the main library in Pueblo City, & the best goddamned library in the entire nation, no, the entire universe, for the very first Postmodern Mayor's Forum for Pueblo City on April 21, 2018.
Janet "Miss Cinco De Mayor" Wilson, the Canadian-American, was there. Gradisar was there. Jackie was there. Cinco De Mayo is soon, next Saturday. Not this Saturday. But next Saturday. Jackie Massey is the Oklahoma cowboy who just rolled into town, & he's the only one really talking about poverty, & the homeless, & the working classes, & he's right about Ranked Choice Voting, aka IRV. Bo Ortiz is right. Nick Gradisar is wrong. Jackie Massey "bitch-slapped" Gradisar over his expensive & cumbersome runoff election, & I thought Gary Clark did too, when he talked about giving the military veterans the right to vote, but I wasn't too sure afterwards, because it didn't sound like he understood the difference b/t the 2 systems being proposed. When Gary Clark mentioned his war service, he got an impromptu congratulatory clapping on his 2 tours of duty. Nick Gradisar, the Architect of the brand new Mayor system, & the massive gutting of Pueblo's 1954 Charter, was there too. He actually brings legitimacy to the whole thing. So thx Gradisar for helping to build this House of Revolutionary Change.
I hope Nick's ready for that. Change. Also democracy would be nice too. IRV is legendary, & progressive, & historic, & generations upon generations of future Puebloans will thank the Puebloan people of 2018 for finally giving them a fair democracy, a democracy that welcomes 3rd parties & non-duopoly Independents, & not an unfair electoral system that protects the stagnated 2 party dictatorship like Gradisar's French Runoff Election. Larry Atencio is another establishment insider, who was also there, who also brought more legitimacy to "The Taylor Voss & Noemi Morales & 1 Other One Show". Steve Nawrocki & Lori Winner are also "establishment insiders" running for Mayor, even though their City Council tenures, therefore bona fides, ended last year, but neither Steve, nor Lori bothered to show up. Melissa Madrid, Nestor Machado, & Brian Dorsey also boycotted the event, which will be repeating 4 more times in the next coming months.
Charlotte Perez was there, radiating, with her braided pigtails, & confident, & proud, and she spoke really well. I'm not sure what Charlotte can accomplish as the Head Chief Executive over this Pueblo city-nation, but it's clear that Charlotte Perez cares. Charlotte Perez has great feelings of love for Pueblo, being born here in St. Mary-Corwin, & having family & friends here, & all. They all seem affable enough. Gary Clark & Nick Ayers were there. I'm not sure why. Both will be a part of Pueblo's future, so at least both Gary & Nick shows gumption & initiative. I do like them all. It's their policies that piss me off. Even though I know that neither Nick Ayers, nor Gary Clark has a snowball's chance in Hell of capturing the popular voice of the Puebloan people in order to become Mr. Pueblo Dictator God, I won't oppose Nick Ayers like a crazy person. Nick Ayers had some interesting ideas, when he was able to spit them out, but I disagreed with most of what he said. Since he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, then why get all stressed out & flustered over opposing him? Personally, I'd like to hear him say he's being premature, & gracefully bow out, but perhaps he feels like he's got something to say, and he wants folks to hear him. So, let him speak, but when the debate stage is overcrowded with the lucky 13 individuals, and nobody can get a word in edgewise, we may have to limit the stage to those who top the polls.
None of the 7 Mayoral hopefuls who bothered to show up have declared a War on Poverty yet, which Amerika hasn't had for nearly 60 years now, since LBJ, nor has any of them declared a War on the War on Drugs yet. These 2 issues have me itching to jump into the race if to only shine a spotlight on just those 2 issues. Ending the War on Drugs is the only solution that will work. We must End the War on Drugs & begin a War on Poverty... then Maximize our Switzerland "Harm Reduction" plans, to curb the weakness of the human condition, to clean up the heroin needles strewn about, or those being burnt out on capitalism, or to curb the flow of STDs.
I got until August to make my decision. All of the candidates have power right now, in terms of introducing new ideas, & dictating The Public Narrative in their attempts to "finding the pulse" of Pueblo. If I had the energy, I'd find homeless families living around & about Pueblo City, talk to them, interview them, & press the City to finding them some Housing. I'd write about them, & their struggles & plight, and hopefully, their successes, as I'd want my spotlight & words & antics to actually lead to solutions to the problems of Pueblo, to give the poor kids a chance, & not just for my own selfish vanity, in order to end up as mere campaign stunts and/or promises.
Here's my Top 12 Ranked Choice list for Pueblo's 1st 5 Year Mayor (April 23, 2018):
1- Janet Wilson
2- Jackie Massey
3- Charlotte Perez
4- Nick Gradisar
5- Larry Atencio
6- Steve Nawrocki
7- Melissa Madrid
8- Nestor Machado
9- Brian Dorsey
10- Gary Clark
11- Nick Ayers
12- Lori Winner
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