Brentwood Mayor Bob Taylor, in his trademark “third person” voice, sent me an email this morning letting me know that he plans to run for re-election in November.

“Rumor has it, the mayor of Brentwood is seeking re-election for a second term … having checked with the source, it is totally true,” Taylor wrote. “A side comment, if Mayor Robert ‘Bob’ Taylor is elected, he will be Brentwood’s last two-year term mayor and will be the first four year term mayor due to a ballet initiative making the term a four-year obligation.”

The filing period opens today for nonpartisan seats on dozens of East Bay boards, including most of its city councils, school boards, special districts, BART and the East Bay Regional Park District.

The National Transportation Safety Board has posted its preliminary report on the fatal June 28 airplane crash of Oakley residents Erik and Tanya Nunn and Craig and Michele Wilson.

Click here to link to the NTSB web page and enter the aircraft registration number, N4063W, in the appropriate field in order to read the preliminary report.

It’s a bare-bones account of the crash that occurred outside of Las Vegas near Mount Charleston, Nevada. It offers no speculation or conclusions about the cause of the accident. The NTSB can take up to a year or longer to determine the cause of a plane crash.

According to the report, the Piper PA-32-300 hit the ground around 2:50 p.m. about 20 minutes after pilot Erik Nunn, who was a run-off candidate for the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, took off from the North Las Vegas Airport. Nunn received his pilot’s license on Sept. 11, 2006.

Fueling records at the airport show that Nunn had fueled the plane with 43 gallons of 100-octane fuel on the day of the accident.

Two witnesses saw the Piper before it crashed, including a U.S. Forest Service employee who told investigators the plane passed just below his residence, located about 7,550 feet in elevation on the side of Mount Charleston. The aircraft was flying “straight and level, did not appear to be gaining altitude and that the engine noise was ‘full throttle.’ ”

A second woman near the same location said the “engine was running and that the wings appeared to be rocking. She looked away and heard a popping sound, and when she returned her gaze, (she) observed a fire erupt in the area.”

The plane struck a tree roughly 40 feet off the ground on a 10-degree uphill slope at the base of Mount Charleston at an elevation of roughly 7,600 feet. The leading edge of the wing section had a “12-inch circumferential indentation that corresponded to the diameter of the tree trunk,” the report said.

There is no mention in the report of the plane hitting a power line, which was stated in several news accounts of the crash. (Click here to read a Las Vegas Review Journal story and see photos.)

At the time of the accident, the NTSB report said, the skies were clear, winds were 11 knots gusting to 18 knots, visibilty was 10 miles and the temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

Investigators had the wreckage removed from the site for investigation, according to the report.

Renowned singer-songwriter and music producer Linda Ronstadt has confirmed she will attend a kick-off reception and fundraiser Thursday for San Pablo City Council candidate Cecilia Valdez.

Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, Richmond Councilman Tony Thurmond and Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia will be there, too, but with Ronstadt as the main attraction, who really cares? (Just kidding. But really, I have no idea if Tony, John and Mark can carry a tune but perhaps someone will persuade them to attempt a verse of “Love is a Rose.”)

The event is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the La Strada Restaurant, 2215 Church Lane in San Pablo. Valdez is seeking contributions to her campaign, of course. To RSVP, call 510-417-0004 or send an email to Cecilia_Cecy_Valdez@comcast.net.

Valdez says Eugene Rodriguez, director of Los Cenzontles, introduced her to Ronstadt. The singer serves on his organization’s board of directors.

“(Ronstadt) and I met the end of May,” Valdez wrote to me in an e-mail. “I am a volunteer at Helms Middle School and invited her to attend an end of year party and meet the mothers and teachers and staff. She came and we all had a great time. I then invited her to my campaign kick-off event and she said she would like to come.”

Three seats are up on the five-member San Pablo City Council in the Nov. 4 general election including those of incumbents Sharon Brown, Joseph Gomes and Leonard McNeil. The filing period for local council seats is Monday through Aug. 8.

Contra Costa County Democrats will host on July 19 a grand-opening of the party’s 2008 campaign headquarters at 1501 N. California Blvd., Suite A, in downtown Walnut Creek.

Come by and visit from 3-5 p.m., and chat with local Democratic candidates including, among others, Assembly District 15 nominee Joan Buchanan and state Senate nominee Mark DeSaulnier.

The campaign office will serve as the hub of the party’s Contra Costa efforts including the support of local Democratic candidates as well and the local campaign of presumed party nominee and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.

The office will be run mostly by volunteers from the county’s Democratic Clubs that comprise the United Democratic Club, which raised the funds to pay for the office.

For more information, visit www.lamorindademoclub.org/wordpress/

UPDATE 8:17 P.M.: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED PER THE ORGANIZERS.

The Concord Chamber of Commerce and the Concord campaign consulting firm of Big Picture Coaching will host a workshop on July 12 for prospective political candidates.

Click here for a PDF flyer about “Ready Set Run: An Introduction to the Nuts and Bolts of Running for Office.”

“I’ve seen candidates pull papers one day and drop out the next day,” said Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Keith McMahon. “That told me that potential leaders don’t understand the process. I also think people are intimidated sometimes by the idea of running a campaign. We want to help demystify it.”

The introduction to running for public office will feature a workshop, “Elements of Winning Campaign,” by Mary Jo Rossi, owner of Big Picture Coaching, followed by lunch and panel discussion with Concord Councilman Guy Bjerke, former state Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla and Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer.

Attendees will learn about the paperwork required, tips on how much money it costs to run campaigns, crafting a platform and fund-raising, McMahon said.

The chamber is co-sponsoring the event as the inaugural of its newly formed Contra Costa Political Institute in order to help attract qualified, business-friendly candidates to run for local and countywide offices in Contra Costa, McMahon said. Future institute programs, based on local interest, could include candidate debates and workshops on related subjects.

“We hope to encourage community minded people to run to make government for accountable and give a voice to business,” McMahon said.

The event will be held from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Heald College’s multi-purpose room, 5130 Commercial Circle, in Concord.

It is open to all political persuasions and anyone with an interest in the subject but space is limited. The cost is $45 for chamber members and $65 for non-members. To RSVP, call the chamber at 925-685-1181.

Former state Assemblyman and one-time Contra Costa supervisor Joe Canciamilla will spend the next six months exploring a possible statewide run for attorney general in 2010.

Canciamilla, a Pittsburg man who dropped out of a potentially contentious state Senate Democratic primary in June, has formed an attorney general exploratory committee and will make use of the roughly $400,000 left in his aborted Senate campaign.

“It’s one of the few down-ticket races, other than governor, that actually has some authority,” said Canciamilla, reached via cell phone earlier today. “Most of the other statewide seats (controller, treasurer, insurance commissioner) have very little ability to do anything or they are used only as political stepping stones for other offices.”

Of course, Canciamilla’s prospects depend heavily on a decision by the state’s current one-term Attorney General Jerry Brown,who is widely believed to be considering a run for governor in 2010. Under term limits, Brown could alternatively seek a second, four-year term as attorney general.

“I’m not crazy,” Canciamilla said. “I won’t run against Jerry. But I can’t afford to wait until Jerry makes a decision. I have to be ready to move.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Vacation is fabulous but there’s a price for everything. In my case, it was 1,500 emails in my basket upon my return this morning after two weeks’ absence.

The email system administrator advised me mid-day Sunday that I was out of space and threatened to reject incoming messages. Yeah, like that happened!

I’m slowly wading through the mail and I am working on several updates for the blog for later today.

Many thanks to the folks who let me know in my absence about the tragic death of Erik Nunn, Contra Costa supervisor candidate, in an airplane crash near Las Vegas. I learned of the horrific accident after I picked up a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle at the KOA campground store at Lake Trinity. (Unfortunately or fortunately, I had no cell service in the campground and couldn’t access my phone messages. And my computer password at the Times had expired and I couldn’t read my e-mails, either.)

Erik’s photo was on the Chronicle’s front page and I initially thought it was a campaign story. I had to read it several times and even then, it didn’t sink in until I returned home and read the accounts of the memorial services.

Erik and I had our differences on the campaign trail — I had criticized him for a campaign mailer he sent out — but I am truly saddened by his death, the loss of his wife and his two friends. I cannot even imagine the inconceivable grief their seven orphaned children must be feeling.

I encourage everyone to make a contribution to the accounts set up at the Bank of the West for the benefit of the children of Erik and Tanya Nunn and Craig and Michele Wilson. Anyone wishing to make a donation may do so at any Bank of the West branch: Nunn Children Trust Fund, Bank of the West Account No. 105156251, or Wilson Children Trust Fund, Bank of the West Account No. 105156269.

READ MORE FOR DETAILS ON CAMPING IN THE FIRE ZONE. Read the rest of this entry »

The next court date in a lawsuit challenging the disposition of the estate of the late Sen. John Nejedly has been set for Nov. 3 and in the meantime, the various parties have agreed to participate in mediation.

Nejedly’s eldest son, Contra Costa Community College Trustee John T. Nejedly, has accused his brother and sister, Contra Costa Central Sanitary District member Jim Nejedly and Contra Costa Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho, of conspiring to turn his elderly father against him.

But according to court documents filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, the late senator intentionally stripped John T. of a share of the estate, which consists largely of a home on 13 wooded acres in Walnut Creek, after their relationship soured under the pressure of his son’s marital problems, drug and alcohol abuse. The senator also sought to keep the Walnut Creek property intact rather than see it subdivided.

John A. Nejedly died at age 91 on Sept. 19, 2006.

San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson’s lead over retired Livermore businessman Robert Rao appears to be holding although it had narrowed to 257 votes today as county election offices complete their counts of mail-in and provisional ballots. (Click here to see the Secretary of State’s latest results page, which matched the results of all the county web sites as of today.)

If Wilson prevails, he will owe his win to Contra Costa County, where his superior name identification over his nearly unknown challengers won him 9,832 votes. He tied for last place in Alameda County, finished third and fourth in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties respectively.

Wilson will need more than geography to help him on Nov. 4. His Democratic challenger is also a San Ramon valley resident with a high level of name identification, San Ramon School Board Trustee Joan Buchanan.

The Lamorinda Democratic Club will honor state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, and Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, at a spaghetti dinner on June 20.

Hancock won on Tuesday the Senate Democratic primary in the seat held by outgoing Sen. Don Perata, while Torlakson will leave the state Senate after eight years. He won on Tuesday the Democratic nomination in Assembly District 11, where he is expected to easily win election for a third and final term in the Assembly.

The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Orinda Community Church, 10 Irwin Way, in Orinda. The costis $25 per person.

Read on for the full press release: Read the rest of this entry »