Voice of the People: Lincoln News Messenger

Republicans cautioned not to fall for dirty tricks
Al Sharief, Lincoln
Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:46 AM PDT

Aaron Klein is the poster boy for bad politics.

When Mr. Klein decided last year to run for the position of trustee of Sierra Community College, he did not offer good ideas or credentials to qualify him for the post. Instead he traveled the low road of politics by accusing the college president of various charges that were found to be false by the grand jury later this year.

Unfortunately he was meanwhile elected and went on with his buddy Jerry Simmons to create havoc at the college that resulted in losing a very good president at a great cost to the taxpayers.

Now Mr. Simmons has decided that he needs to move on to a new position and he is running for county supervisor. Mr. Simmons and Mr. Klein are at it again, accusing the incumbent of being not conservative enough and that he is responsible for tripling the county budget. Maybe the budget has increased because of the rapid growth of the county rather mismanagement. Based on Klein's and Simmons' past record I would be very careful not accept their charges at face value.

As a Democrat I would not usually concern myself with Republicans turning on a Republican but since the outcome of the Republican primary will decide the supervisor's race, I would like to caution all Republicans not to fall for Mr. Klein and Mr. Simmons dirty tricks.


Consider track records of Simmons, Klein
Jim Datzman, Lincoln
Thursday, April 13, 2006 10:09 AM PDT

Regarding the article in the News Messenger (April 6, Page A18) titled "GOP Committee Backs Simmons in District 2," accented in the article is the comment "Unprecedented move comes on heels of contentious meeting."

Why does this not come as a surprise that the term contentious meeting would be associated with the political strategies employed by Jerry Simmons and Aaron Klein?

Several months ago both Jerry Simmons and Aaron Klein, as members of the Sierra College District Board of Trustees, were spending their time creating havoc in the district with their claims about mismanagement and their lack of trust in the administration at the college.

They finally got their way, but at no small cost to Placer County taxpayers.

Now both Simmons and Klein are setting their sights at a new level with Jerry Simmons' attempt to unseat incumbent Supervisor Robert Weygandt.

The article includes the predictable kinds of comments by Aaron Klein questioning the conservative credentials of the supervisor and a statement that "The county budget has tripled in the last six years" as a suggestion that Weygandt is not responsibly performing his duties.

I would not be surprised during the next six weeks or so to find our mailboxes filled with slick fliers produced by the Simmons campaign in an attempt to attack the integrity of Robert Weygandt.

I hope that voters will be wise enough to consider the source as well as the track records of Jerry Simmons and Aaron Klein.