If next Friday, Halloween, you hear a knock at the door and upon opening it you don’t see anyone standing there, don’t be too quick to dismiss it as a trick.
Before slamming the door shut take a moment. Look to your left. Your right. Listen. If you hear breathing chances are outgoing Sweetwater Union High School board member John McCann may be standing in front of you dressed as the Invisible Man.
In choosing his costume this year McCann might have taken inspiration from events in his life.
At a City council Candidate forum this month, McCann was a no-show claiming a scheduling conflict.
Practically speaking there wasn’t a pressing need for McCann to participate in a debate with his opponent Steve Padilla, who also is running for seat 1. McCann beat Padilla in the June primary and conventional wisdom suggests
Republicans like McCann generally have an advantage over Democrats like Padilla in November’s run-off because Republicans tend to outnumber Democrats at the polls. That’s good news for McCann, visible or not.
Padilla, on the other hand, may have trouble choosing between two costumes.
Given his remarks to the U-T and The Star-News, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the former mayor dressed as Brenda
Lee, the American icon who sang her way to forgiveness with the 1960 hit “I’m Sorry.”
The conciliatory tone is the closest I’ve heard Padilla come to apologizing for what he described as “bone headed” decision-making and what the daily newspaper (which has endorsed McCann) has characterized as unethical behavior.
Padilla’s alternate costume might be that of a bell boy because the silver tongued politician is carrying a lot of baggage.
It was during his last months as mayor Padilla was caught in one mini-drama after another, whether it was for accepting money for meetings he wasn’t attending, asking for payroll advances despite his hefty salary, making use of a personal bodyguard at city expense, or dropping support of a controversial development project once it became a massive political liability, he left a trail of missteps and baggage behind him.
To round out this collection of tricky treaters, are Chula Vista voters, who should consider dressing as clergy — deacons, monsignors, nuns and popes.
That Padilla and McCann (who has his own history of questionable decision-making)have made it this far into the campaign suggests that the people who vote in this city are a forgiving bunch.
