Blog: Vote Blackburn; Write In Parry

At the beginning of the year, I bit the bullet and decided to dive into Ancestry.com to explore the family tree. On one branch, I knew recent history, but not much of the rest of our history save for the fact there was supposedly a castle in Scotland.

I am amazed by what I have thus far learned. I’ve always been one with a penchant for politics who would stand up for my beliefs. I have since learned this may be a genetic predisposition. My 7th great-grandfather was a Scottish Laird appointed by King George to serve as the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania under William Penn and helped a young Benjamin Franklin get to England. On that same side there were ties to at least three royals of European nations. I also learned many of my ancestors were here before there was a United States.  They stood up for what they believed and fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and were even mustered in Texas for the Confederacy. So civic engagement, it seems, is in my bloodline.

It is in that vein that I come to you now and ask your votes for two important candidates for City Council in Tuesday’s election, April 9.

Alexander Blackburn is the hands’ down absolute right candidate for City Council given the issues and challenges Monrovia faces. A practicing attorney in town, Alex has a keen legal and analytical mind, is adroit at negotiations, and can deliver a swift, difficult decision if the circumstances dictate. He has invested his practice and himself in Monrovia and its future and will bring skills sorely needed given the economic challenges we now face. I believe Alex can successfully guide the City and other members of the Council in dealing with current complex legal challenges, and with his input on Council, we will be saved future potential legal threats. His negotiating skills will serve the City well when collaborating with civic leaders from other cities in the region to find creative solutions to tough issues now that Redevelopment is no more.

Alex’s name is the first one on the ballot in the area for City Council candidates. I urge you to join me in voting for him for City Council.

My other choice for City Council is a write in. You will not find his name anywhere on the ballot. Two lines below Alex’s name, below the other named candidate for City Council, there is a blank line. On that line, I am asking you to please join me in writing in the name of Robert Parry. However—and this is critical—in addition to writing in his name, you must also fill in the bubble to the right of the list of candidates beside the write-in spot.

Robert is an officer in the Army National Guard who, like my early relatives, served this nation in combat. In fact, Robert has been to the battlefront three times. When it came time to pull papers for election, he had lingering over him the strong probability that he would be sent to Afghanistan. As a result of some questionable political maneuvers here in town, in combination with the news he would not be called overseas once more, Robert opted to file as a write-in candidate, and he has done a yeoman’s job in meeting with the constituency and garnering support. He is an independent businessman, and Robert has some exciting ideas for the south end of Monrovia, where he lives, the area apt to see growth as the Gold Line rolls through town.

Please vote for Alex, write in the name of Robert Parry, and be sure to fill in the bubble next to the spot where you write Alex’s name.

Though it was a difficult decision to come to, after much research, in consultation with a number of civic leaders in town as well as with the immediate neighbors to confirm certain allegations, I cannot support the other named candidate on the ballot, and I believe that Monrovia simply cannot afford to.

Monrovia, like many cities in California, is facing new fiscal challenges now that Redevelopment is no longer an option. This calls for creative, collaborative negotiations, and each of our leaders working together in tandem with leaders of other towns. It’s also going to take some creative talents to secure funding from private financial sources.

I believe there are other ways for the second named candidate to serve this town, and I encourage him to seek them.  

I encourage all who are eligible to vote on Tuesday to do so, to please vote for Alex Blackburn, and to write in the name of Robert Parry as well as filling in the bubble beside Robert's written-in name.

May the best candidates win. I believe they are, unequivocally, Blackburn and Parry.