Dear Stephanie,

Congratulations and thanks for conducting an amazingly effective - probably
the best - campaign for the City Council.  You were, with out a doubt, the
top debater at the forums, the one who reached the most voters and inspired
the hardest working team of campaign volunteers.

I was surprised, maybe even shocked, that you were not among the first
three who received the most votes.  Perhaps I didn't give enough weight to
factors such as age, time as a M. V. resident, business connections and the
little consideration given to your dogged efforts to learn the ropes by
intensely studying the Council's business for two years.

I think three things are obvious: 1) The electorate gives much more
importance to incumbency than I anticipated; 2) Age is a big factor; and,
3) Bias for the male gender is still with us.

I'm also thinking that there might have been somewhat of a backlash from
being one of the two best funded candidates. (Witness where  the two with
the most funds finished - according to the incomplete vote count.)

Thanks for inspiring us and for all the good comradery and fun.

You've got a bright future!

Gradually recovering from many of the results of Blue Tuesday,

Fred

P.S. How about a get-together to - pardon the expression - conduct a
postmortem of the City Council race.?


At 00:28 03.11.04 -0800, you wrote:


>Dear friends,
>
>Thank you so much for all your support for my campaign for Mountain View
>City Council.  The results are in, and unfortunately I did not manage to
>secure one of the four seats.  It was a very close race.  The final count
>was:
>
>MATT PEAR               11,432  21.18%
>NICK GALIOTTO           9,336   17.30%
>TOM MEANS               8,414   15.59%
>LAURA MACIAS            8,400   15.56%
>MARGARET ABE-KOGA       8,207   15.21%
>STEPHANIE SCHAAF        8,109   15.02%
>
>Although I am disappointed to lose the race, I have great respect for the
>winners and I feel confident that Mountain View will be in good hands for
>the next four years.  I am also proud of the campaign we ran, and feel
>honored to have been a part of the democratic process.  I hope you all
>feel the same way about your contributions to my campaign.
>
>I particularly want to thank my wonderful campaign committee for all their
>hard work - Valerie, Tian, Pat, Fred, Bruce, Steve, Ken, Sara, and Mike
>all did a fantastic job.
>
>I will certainly continue to be involved in the community, although I'm
>not yet sure in what form - ideas are welcome!
>
>Thank you again for everything you've done.  I have been incredibly
>touched by the generosity of people's contributions over the past six
>months.
>
>Sincerely,
>Stephanie
>
>P.S. All lawn signs must be taken down within 10 days of the election.  I
>will be going around town collecting signs, so don't be alarmed if yours
>disappears.  However, I'm sure my list is incomplete, so if a week passes
>and your sign is still up, please take it down so the campaign will not be
>fined!  Let me know you still have one and I'll come by to pick it up.
>Thanks!
>
>