Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Blackwater 5 Recalled!!

Rarely does an election for a planning group make the news. But yesterday anticipated recall election of the Potero Planning Group had been a national story for some time. The planning group's decision last December to recommend to the County Board of Supervisors for approval a proposal that would allow the mercenary outfit Blackwater USA to build a 400+ acre training facility out near the Mexican border attracted protests almost immediately. The ensuing debate over what was dubbed Blackwater West became framed in the overall political debate over the role of mercenary outfits in the war in Iraq.

Yesterday, all five incumbent members of the planning group were recall. The vote wasn't even close, most of the members lost by a margin of 2 to 1 in the mail only ballot.
“It should send a loud and clear message that Potrero does not want Blackwater in the community,” said Carl Meyer, a leader in the recall campaign and an anti-Blackwater candidate.[Link]
In their typical arrogant manor, Blackwater USA vice president Brian Bonfiglio was quoted in the UT that the recall election outcome doesn't effect the company's plans to build in Potero. “I don't care one way or the other,” Bonfiglio said.[Link]

The activists who worked hard in the recall effort must continue to remain vigilant in their efforts. Blackwater USA has deep political connections and will still try to force their way into developing the facility out in East County.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blackwater's reaction is like that of a small child who, when they can't get what they want, say that they never wanted it in the first place. Classic.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to all the true progressive patriots in Potrero that fought Blackwater... AND WON! This is great news, and hopefully is only the beginning of a larger effort to stop Blackwater and these other private contractors from doing any more damage to our national security using our tax dollars.