“Racism” … “fraud and an attempt to deceive the voters” — the charges and countercharges swirling around the Ward 4 City Council race sound as if they were lifted out of last year’s presidential election and not a local political contest.
But the word best describing would-be candidate Eliud Alcala’s brief foray into politics is pathetic.
The notion that Alcala could not meet the minimum requirement to get his name placed on the September 12 city preliminary ballot by gathering the certified signatures of 100 voters is absurd. Assembling those names meant spending consecutive Saturdays and a few weeknights going to ward events and walking neighborhoods introducing himself and asking for signatures.
Alcala filed 180 signatures with the City Clerk’s office in his bid to get on the ballot and challenge Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci. City election officials rejected one third of those signatures for a variety of reasons. But that is where the problem began, not ended, for Alcala.
Colucci supporter and former Ward 4 Councilor Robert Tucker alleged 24 of Alcala’s remaining 118 signatures were forged. The Election Commission on Monday examined affidavits submitted by 23 people contending they never authorized their signature’s inclusion on Alcala’s nomination papers.
The commission kicked Alcala off the ballot but his supporters will probably embrace the long-shot idea of challenging the commission’s decision in court and hoping for some form of judicial relief.
The saddest part about Alcala’s short-lived bid for office is the mockery it makes of local politics. Elections are an opportunity for residents who think they can make a difference in public office and who are concerned about local problems to present to voters a case for why they are best suited to solve those problems.
Once the drama over his signature submissions unfolded, Alcala and his supporters quickly made the controversy about Colucci, describing the 27-year council veteran as an entrenched politician who circled the wagons as soon as someone dared to challenge his hold on a council seat.
On its surface, this characterization is somewhat believable: Tucker is a pint-size political Darth Vader who knows Lynn inside and out. Samuel Vitali, his lawyer, knows City Hall so well he could be dubbed the “12th councilor.”
But the reality is that Alcala simply wasn’t ready for prime time. If he really wanted to get on the ballot and appeal to ward voters for their support, he needed to do it the hard way: Walk the neighborhoods off Union and Ocean streets and the Highlands hills introducing himself and talking to residents.
He needed to attend ward functions, get to know people involved in local concerns and meet the people active in Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and Ford School functions.
The reality is that ward councilors run for reelection from a position of power. They are the people who get the phone calls about streets needing plowing, unsightly or abandoned homes in neighborhoods, and street repairs. By the time a ward councilor serves two years — never mind 27 — they have a reputation for being attentive and responsive or they don’t.
Alcala could have provided Ward 4 voters with an interesting and spirited campaign if he had framed out his issues and made a list of ward needs. Unfortunately, all the evidence at hand suggests he tried to take a lazy shortcut onto the ballot and got caught in the act.