Gays and Lesbians who support Jim Maresca

[Wayne]

The recent posts by two straight women, posted on the “Rue Furch for Supervisor” thread, implying that Jim Maresca is anti-gay could not be more wrong. It is interesting that they feel entitled to speak for the gay community. As a gay man who knows Jim well and supports his candidacy I can speak quite well for myself, thank you.

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My business is close to the Chamber of Commerce office and I was able to observe Jim at close hand while he was Interim Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce. I am a member of the West County Community Action Committee, the local sub-committee of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights that sponsored the Hate Stops Here campaign. I know Jim as a person dedicated to equal rights for everyone, especially gays and lesbians. He would occasionally seek my input when he was not sure he fully understood a gay oriented issue. I found that his heart was always in the right place.

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Jim was highly supportive of alternative lifestyle events, including Lazy Bear Weekend. Under Jim’s direction, the Chamber of Commerce extended great efforts to find lodging for those who wanted to attend. He was also very supportive of Women’s Weekend and was even asked to judge one of the contests.
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As for the poster several years ago, it was tacky. Jim was responding to many members of the community, gay and straight, who felt the poster was inappropriate. I shared their opinion. His cordial negotiations with the promoter of Lazy Bear Weekend led to an agreement that the Chamber could have an opportunity to comment on the subsequent year’s graphics before they were published.

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Please folks, let us all work together as honorable citizens of this county to elect our next supervisor. I call upon all candidates to directly address this type of hateful and untrue rhetoric. Hate comes in many forms, no candidate, surely not Rue, would /should tolerate her name being associated with this “Karl Rove” type of campaigning.
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[ChristineL]

I apologize if it seemed I was speaking "for the gay community". My verbal exchanges with Mr. Maresca in another Guerneville group seemed to have been a very different experience from yours. From my experiences, I will hold to my general impression.

I want to be clear that I'm basing my overall opinion from things he said to me, and a few others who were present, and I am not offering an overall gay community point of view, nor claiming to represent them. I also had not realized how adament and extreme I was in my wording. There are others that have spoken with me, who had similar exchanges with him and would tend to agree with my point of view.

As far as the banner goes, I hold no opinion as it was taken down without my ever having noticed it.

I'll pay more attention to my wording in the future, make sure it's clear that I'm speaking from my point of view and be more careful to not just be reacting to someone else's post.


The recent posts by two straight women, posted on the “Rue Furch for Supervisor” thread, implying that Jim Maresca is anti-gay could not be more wrong. It is interesting that they feel entitled to speak for the gay community. As a gay man who knows Jim well and supports his candidacy I can speak quite well for myself, thank you.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
My business is close to the Chamber of Commerce office and I was able to observe Jim at close hand while he was Interim Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce. I am a member of the West County Community Action Committee, the local sub-committee of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights that sponsored the Hate Stops Here campaign. I know Jim as a person dedicated to equal rights for everyone, especially gays and lesbians. He would occasionally seek my input when he was not sure he fully understood a gay oriented issue. I found that his heart was always in the right place.

<o:p></o:p>
Jim was highly supportive of alternative lifestyle events, including Lazy Bear Weekend. Under Jim’s direction, the Chamber of Commerce extended great efforts to find lodging for those who wanted to attend. He was also very supportive of Women’s Weekend and was even asked to judge one of the contests.
<o:p></o:p>
As for the poster several years ago, it was tacky. Jim was responding to many members of the community, gay and straight, who felt the poster was inappropriate. I shared their opinion. His cordial negotiations with the promoter of Lazy Bear Weekend led to an agreement that the Chamber could have an opportunity to comment on the subsequent year’s graphics before they were published.

<o:p></o:p>
Please folks, let us all work together as honorable citizens of this county to elect our next supervisor. I call upon all candidates to directly address this type of hateful and untrue rhetoric. Hate comes in many forms, no candidate, surely not Rue, would /should tolerate her name being associated with this “Karl Rove” type of campaigning.
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