Lathrop voters reject vicious campaign

The election is over and Lathrop's Mayor Kristy Sayles won handily in a 4-way race but the sour grapes and animosity continue. According to the Manteca Bulletin, Sayles' bitter foes are calling the paper and demanding that they look into the mayor's "sins." They can't fathom how someone as "immoral" as they claim Sayles is, could have won a second term. They apparently also can't fathom how their venom and vicious attacks helped her get re-elected.

How many of us can say that we've led exemplary lives, free of mistakes and embarrassments, that would withstand the scrutiny that Sayles and her family endured for many months? She lied about her age when she was 16 or 17, she wrote a check that bounced when she was 20. She's been married 4 times. Does any of that disqualify her for public office? No. She accepted thousands of dollars in campaign donations 2 years ago from developers but didn't roll over and do what they demanded. Should she return the donations as some have suggested? Wouldn't that indicate that the developers only donated to her in expectation of favors in return? Is that what Lathrop wants?

Obviously not. Her detractors say that she didn't win a "majority" so the vote was really "against" Sayles, not for her. In America, votes "against" a candidate don't count, only votes "for" and more Lathrop citizens voted for Sayles than her closest competition. Robert Oliver and John Rock, both of whom were running against Sayles, denounced the website that tried to take her down, but only in the last week or so before the election. Why didn't they denounce it earlier? Both had been enthusiastic posters on the site in the beginning, joining in and encouraging others to "burn the witch" for her sins. Did they think people wouldn't remember? I find it particularly distasteful (and hypocritical) that Oliver is crying that Sayles ran a "negative" campaign and called him "waterboy." Boo hoo.

The second highest vote-getter in the race for mayor was J. "Chaka" Santos. Though Santos didn't participate in the smear website, he was very vocal in his criticism of the mayor on issues but came across to the public as being a very angry person. People might respond well to anger if there's been some grave injustice and the angry candidate is rallying to right it, but I don't think people thought Sayles had done such a bad job in the past. Santos' anger and theatrics at city council meetings didn't sit well with most voters.

In the end, it was Kristy Sayles who prevailed. Maybe it wasn't a landslide, but she certainly beat her closest rivals by a resounding margin. The citizens of Lathrop rejected the brutal and anonymous campaign against her. They also rejected the quieter campaign against Martha Salcedo, city council member who was called Sayles' stooge and accomplice. Salcedo won re-election hands down. In contrast, incumbent Steve Dresser was beaten by newcomer Chris Mateo but only by a few votes so we'll have to wait for the final results on that one.

I can't help but think that the vicious campaign against Sayles has made her a stronger person and probably a better mayor. She kept calm and held her head high when so-called friends and colleagues shunned her because of embarrassing gossip posted on an anonymous website.

My mother (bless her soul) used to tell me that whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger and that adversity builds character and my mother was always right.