Candidates Clash at Canyon Creek

Richardson's mayoral election campaign heated up Wednesday night at the first forum for mayoral candidates Laura Maczka and Amir Omar. Interest was high as hundreds of voters overflowed the room. The candidates gave the standing-room-only crowd plenty to talk about.

First, some business that has nothing to do with the mayoral election. The forum was jointly sponsored by the Dallas County North Republican Club and the Richardson Republican Women. It was held at the Canyon Creek Country Club. Here, I'm obligated by my punditry license to insert a joke stereotyping GOP demographics: anyone who thinks that Republicans are a party of old white men, well, I can assure you that's not true. There were some women in the audience as well.

Both candidates were articulate, knowledgeable, and passionate about serving Richardson. Both have the experience and demeanor to serve as mayor. There were no gaffes to walk back or "oops" moments to be embarrassed about. Richardson will be well served with either candidate as mayor.

That said, I do have some random observations that voters might want to consider. After the jump, the forum details.

Around Town - Los Angeles

From 2013 03 16 Los Angeles

Space Shuttle Endeavour at LA ScienCenter

More photos after the jump.

Mayor: Wielding the Gavel and Cutting Ribbons

Even with the recent change to the Richardson City Charter calling for direct election of the mayor, the powers of the office are the same. The mayor is one of seven council members, with the additional roles of being the presiding officer at council meetings and representing the city on ceremonial occasions.

After the jump, how Richardson's two candidates for mayor, Laura Maczka and Amir Omar, stack up against the duties of the office.

Around Town - Pasadena

From 2013 03 15 Pasadena

Pasadena City Hall
(aka Pawnee City Hall in NBC's "Parks and Recreation")
More photos after the jump.

The Old Guard vs The Outsider

Amir Omar is a two-term city councilman, but to the city's old guard he remains an outsider.

Source: D Magazine.

The "old guard" versus the "outsider." That's the way Michael Mooney of D Magazine is presenting Richardson's mayoral election pitting Laura Maczka against Amir Omar.

Mooney telephoned me for information for his story. From his questions, it was clear that the "old guard" versus the "outsider" was how he was framing his story. It felt to me like he was calling for confirmation of his framing. After the jump, what I gave Mooney for his story.

Spring in the Steger Garden (2013)

From Flowers

Pi Day at Caltech

In the latest manifestation of self-proclaimed Caltech nerd-dom, a group of undergrads strung a chain of 15,000 colored paper loops across the campus in honor of Pi day. There are nine colors, each one representing a number. The multicolor chain should be in order, representing the digits of Pi going 15,000 digits deep.

For the uninitiated, Pi is the digit that’s mostly often simplified to 3.14 (hence, March 14) and is used to calculate the circumference of a circle. The decimal can go out forever and mathematicians have figured it out to the 10 trillionth number so far.

Source: Los Angeles Times.

From 2013 03 14 Pasadena

More photos after the jump.

Late Night Talk Show Tour

In case you wondered about the relative shortage of blog posts recently, it was because we were in southern California doing the talk show tour, among other things. For example, here we are on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno":

Source: NBC.

After the jump, "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson."

Review: The Yellow Birds

Amazon

From The Yellow Birds: A Novel, by Kevin Powers:

We were not destined to survive. The fact is, we were not destined at all. The war would take what it could get. It was patient. It didn't care about objectives, or boundaries, whether you were loved by many or not at all. While I slept that summer, the war came to me in my dreams and showed me its sole purpose: to go on, only to go on. And I knew the war would have its way."

After the jump, my review.

Review: Here's the Deal

Amazon

From Here's the Deal, by David Leonhardt:

Eventually, the country will have to confront the deficit we have, rather than the deficit we imagine. The one we imagine is a deficit caused by waste, fraud, abuse, foreign aid, oil industry subsidies and vague out-of-control spending. The one we have is caused by the world's highest health costs (by far), the world's largest military (by far), a Social Security program built when most people died by age 75 -- and, to pay for it all, the lowest tax rates in decades. The recent string of budget deadlines and crises may be manufactured. The problem is not."

After the jump, my review.