Comments about Ron Basso, candidate for the Sebastopol City Council

[fresno_bob]

Ron Basso (I worked for him) is a f**king whacko! to elect his is as much a mistake as electing G.W twice! He fired people for S**ts and grins! If elected, you will see a new era of G.W.

He was once, publically drunk. His wife, Mary, a chinese woman, refused to let him in the car. It was pounding rain! He asked her if this was "Chinese Water Torture"

Ron Basso is an ass and does not get my vote!

He will be the George Bush of Sebastopol!

Vote for him, if you have no brain!

[Barry]

Ron Basso (I worked for him) is a f**king whacko! to elect his is as much a mistake as electing G.W twice! He fired people for S**ts and grins! If elected, you will see a new era of G.W.

He was once, publically drunk. His wife, Mary, a chinese woman, refused to let him in the car. It was pounding rain! He asked her if this was "Chinese Water Torture"

Ron Basso is an ass and does not get my vote!

He will be the George Bush of Sebastopol!

Vote for him, if you have no brain!

I consider this message inappropriate and disrespectful; however I'm not going to remove it in the interest of keeping public dialog about local elections "uncensored".

As is the case with most all public attacks that are posted here, my sense is that this says more about the poster (Jeffrey Day) than its target. In this case, it sounds like Jeffrey is a "disgruntled former employee", or is close to someone who is.

In addition to welcoming all thoughtful and respectful comments from our community regarding the various local elections, I am also going to solicit questions and concerns from the community to prepare a questionnaire to send to the candidates for the Sebastopol City Council and the Santa Rosa City Council and publish their responses. And as time allows, I will also offer to do a short video interview with each of them.

[fresno_bob]

I have received numerous posts of many WOMEN who support my views! You, Barry are a bunch of a** kissers! Ron Basso is a waste of time and votes! I WAS an employee of him and can see how he works. I wish you all the best, come election time. Ron Basso is a a**ho!@

Ron was nothing without his wife, Mary. I would vote for her! Ron...not so much!

Mary was Ron's brains behind the operation! Ron is a nutbar!

[Praksys]

RE: WACCO post concerning Ron Basso

In this mornings New York Times (August 28) op-ed columnist Bob Herbert has an article titled, ‘America Is Better Than This’. He quotes Martin Luther King, “Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter.”

The day before leaving town to visit my home state of Michigan, I had a chance to have a conversation with Ron Basso for the first time, while seated at the Hopmonk bar. I had heard he was running for City Council so I asked him why. I liked his answers, and no doubt, he has ‘paid his dues’ and contributed to the community that he cares about.

As my Grandmother used to say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say sonny, don’t say it.” Well, to be honest, that is not always so easy or practical. Perhaps we could have some balance and mix it up a little though?

Constructive criticism is one thing; a vindictive personal attack on an individual citizen running for office I find a little disturbing.

Is it really necessary to give space for someone to personally vilify a political candidate? It is possible and desirable to treat others respectfully and act civilly towards those with whom we disagree.

Cheers,
D. O.

[theindependenteye]

I don't know the person in question, but I'm concerned whether I myself qualify as being a f**king whacko. I too was, well, a few times, publicly drunk in the course of my 68 years. My wife at various times during our 50 years together has been angry with me, and I too would probably be nothing without her. Definitely I've had employees who were either my mistake or theirs. Does that qualify me?

Respecting your inalienable right to bring a barroom-style rant to this forum. Just to ask if there's a bit more detail as it relates to the business of the city council, rather than whether someone would like to marry the guy.

Peace & joy--
Conrad

[Dixon]

Hey, Fresno Bob--

If you have something substantive to say about why we shouldn't vote for the guy (and the one instance of purported public drunkenness doesn't seem like a compelling reason), by all means lay it on us! For the vehemence of your personal attack on the guy to be appropriate, there must be some really bad things you could specify about him, rather than just calling him names. The absence of such specific criticisms in your rant suggests to me that you have little in the way of reasonable critique to add to the discussion. As has been suggested by others here, your favoring of invective over rational critique reflects much worse on you than on this Basso guy, whoever he is.

[diotima]

I don't know the person in question, but I'm concerned whether I myself qualify as being a f**king whacko. I too was, well, a few times, publicly drunk in the course of my 68 years. My wife at various times during our 50 years together has been angry with me, and I too would probably be nothing without her. Definitely I've had employees who were either my mistake or theirs. Does that qualify me?

Respecting your inalienable right to bring a barroom-style rant to this forum. Just to ask if there's a bit more detail as it relates to the business of the city council, rather than whether someone would like to marry the guy.

Peace & joy--
Conrad

I agree with Conrad that each of us is fallible, deserving of tolerance and empathy, and has the capacity for redemption. If Ron Basso has experienced an epiphany in the years since I left his employ, then I want to apologize in advance for what I am about to say. For his own sake, I hope that he has explored his personal demons and found a more soul-satisfying path. If he weren't running for an office of public trust, I wouldn't even consider sharing this in a public forum.

As I write this, several years after having the misfortune of being employed by Ron Basso, my heart is pounding. It took a long time to recover from the experience, and even now the memories are painful. When this thread was brought to my attention by a friend who lived through the nightmare with me, I'm ashamed to admit that my first impulse was revenge. A few days have gone by since then, and that ugly impulse has crawled back into its dark corner. However, for the sake of a town I love, I feel compelled to share what I know.

If the citizens of Sebastopol are willing to accept a leader whose character reflects a pattern of self-serving, dishonest, ruthless, divisive, and downright cruel behavior toward his employees, then Ron Basso is your man. Although he may have many fine qualities, his behavior in an organizational setting was destructive.

Within days after being hired, a group of his employees took me aside to warn me that I was being used, and insisted that everything Ron Basso had told me about his concern for improving morale was a lie. They told me that he thrives on pitting people against each other in order to control them. They told me that I had been hired to replace a manager who had refused to fire an employee (her choice--any one would do) for the sole purpose of instilling fear into the rest of the staff. I was concerned and confused, because Ron had told me that improving morale was his highest priority. His assurances about that value were so convincingly expressed that I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the problem rested with the employees who were "filling me in." Unfortunately, over the next few weeks I learned that I had been naive, and that Ron Basso is a very good salesman.

Never, in all my working life have I dealt with someone so ruthlessly duplicitous. After decades of experience with a multi-national corporation and a regional big box retail chain, I thought I had seen it all. But by the time Ron Basso was finished with me, my faith in the innate goodness of individual humans (as opposed to soulless corporations) was seriously shaken. He actually seemed to enjoy the pain, humiliation, fear and confusion he inflicted on his entire staff. After 20 years with one company and 15 with another, I only lasted 6 weeks with Ron Basso.

It took a long time before I could even bring myself to walk past his building on Main Street. Seeing his name on that lovely building has seemed like a travesty ever since. In fact, my only consolation after moving away from dear Sebastopol has been the physical distance that protects me from the shadow that Ron Basso cast over my life for that brief period.

Those who read this account will wonder if I'm just another disgruntled employee with an axe to grind. That's perfectly reasonable and understandable. Nevertheless, I can't in good conscience avert my gaze and withhold testimony as Sebastopol makes this very important decision. I trust that there are others who know that what I'm saying about Ron Basso's character is (or was) true. I also sincerely hope that there are those who have nothing but kind things to say about him. I don't want to believe that he doesn't have many wonderful qualities, but I worry about his potential for a severely negative impact as a member of the city council.

From the smallest town councils to the highest seats of power, this nation is suffering a series of crises caused in large part by the lack of honest, honorable leadership. If we want to create communities and a society that work for the common good instead of a favored few, then we need to be careful about the character of those we entrust to make decisions on our behalf.

It is my fervent hope that Sebastopol will be as wise as it is compassionate and tolerant in its choice of council members.

[Dixon]

Now that's a little better than the screed that opened this thread. While still short on specific examples (except for the example of his having fired someone for refusing to fire a randomly-picked person to put fear into the employees), at least there's a bit more specificity, and the attempt to be even-handed and to eschew invective makes diotima's post more convincing than Fresno Bob's. Having said that, I'll also thank Fresno Bob for being the one to broach an important issue.

I agree with Conrad that each of us is fallible, deserving of tolerance and empathy, and has the capacity for redemption. If Ron Basso has experienced an epiphany in the years since I left his employ, then I want to apologize in advance for what I am about to say. For his own sake, I hope that he has explored his personal demons and found a more soul-satisfying path. If he weren't running for an office of public trust, I wouldn't even consider sharing this in a public forum.

As I write this, several years after having the misfortune of being employed by Ron Basso, my heart is pounding. It took a long time to recover from the experience, and even now the memories are painful. When this thread was brought to my attention by a friend who lived through the nightmare with me, I'm ashamed to admit that my first impulse was revenge. A few days have gone by since then, and that ugly impulse has crawled back into its dark corner. However, for the sake of a town I love, I feel compelled to share what I know.

If the citizens of Sebastopol are willing to accept a leader whose character reflects a pattern of self-serving, dishonest, ruthless, divisive, and downright cruel behavior toward his employees, then Ron Basso is your man. Although he may have many fine qualities, his behavior in an organizational setting was destructive.

Within days after being hired, a group of his employees took me aside to warn me that I was being used, and insisted that everything Ron Basso had told me about his concern for improving morale was a lie. They told me that he thrives on pitting people against each other in order to control them. They told me that I had been hired to replace a manager who had refused to fire an employee (her choice--any one would do) for the sole purpose of instilling fear into the rest of the staff. I was concerned and confused, because Ron had told me that improving morale was his highest priority. His assurances about that value were so convincingly expressed that I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the problem rested with the employees who were "filling me in." Unfortunately, over the next few weeks I learned that I had been naive, and that Ron Basso is a very good salesman.

Never, in all my working life have I dealt with someone so ruthlessly duplicitous. After decades of experience with a multi-national corporation and a regional big box retail chain, I thought I had seen it all. But by the time Ron Basso was finished with me, my faith in the innate goodness of individual humans (as opposed to soulless corporations) was seriously shaken. He actually seemed to enjoy the pain, humiliation, fear and confusion he inflicted on his entire staff. After 20 years with one company and 15 with another, I only lasted 6 weeks with Ron Basso.

It took a long time before I could even bring myself to walk past his building on Main Street. Seeing his name on that lovely building has seemed like a travesty ever since. In fact, my only consolation after moving away from dear Sebastopol has been the physical distance that protects me from the shadow that Ron Basso cast over my life for that brief period.

Those who read this account will wonder if I'm just another disgruntled employee with an axe to grind. That's perfectly reasonable and understandable. Nevertheless, I can't in good conscience avert my gaze and withhold testimony as Sebastopol makes this very important decision. I trust that there are others who know that what I'm saying about Ron Basso's character is (or was) true. I also sincerely hope that there are those who have nothing but kind things to say about him. I don't want to believe that he doesn't have many wonderful qualities, but I worry about his potential for a severely negative impact as a member of the city council.

From the smallest town councils to the highest seats of power, this nation is suffering a series of crises caused in large part by the lack of honest, honorable leadership. If we want to create communities and a society that work for the common good instead of a favored few, then we need to be careful about the character of those we entrust to make decisions on our behalf.

It is my fervent hope that Sebastopol will be as wise as it is compassionate and tolerant in its choice of council members.

[tomcat]

It's probably not my place to say... I have no dog in this fight... But,
I have heard stories from people who have rented space in his building that lead me to believe that he would NOT be someone that I would EVER vote for.
That is, however, all I am at liberty to say about that. Good luck Sebastopol!

[Sierra Hart]

I have had the pleasure of serving on the Sebastopol Design Review Board with Ron Basso for many years. Ron is and always has been one of the most respectful and honorable people I have had the fortune of knowing in my life. Ron is sharp, pragmatic and driven - qualities that have helped him develop successful businesses & networks in the local community.

If this scares you - wake up! First - These are qualities that make a person a good strong leader and Sebastopol needs some good strong leadership these days. Second - Ron combines this strong leadership with a commitment to community building, including helping many small businesses start up and stay alive in this town (many of these are past and current tenants that Ron has personally coached - for free - because he cares!)

Sebastopol voters - get smart! Talk to your candidates - they are real people. Listen to what they have to say about why they are running for City Council. Mostly its cuz they care about - guess who - you! Leave the dirty laundry at home people. Throw off those old fuzzy shades that only let you see the dusty stereotypes some other complainers have put in front of your face. Find out for yourself. Think fresh.

We have a new future to create. Let's start shakin things up!

Sincerely,
Sierra Hart

[biannoli]

He is the little king who gave us Starbucks, among other egregious additions. His business ethics are more than questionable...just talk to his tenants. He will never in a million years get a vote from me. But you research for yourself.
And PS...I love the guy who dared to cal and a-hole, an a-hole. Disgruntled employee huh?
Many of us know what it's like to work for a jerk...that's not disgruntled, it's demoralizing and painful.
I only hope he doesn't get to be a part of our local government...

[Barry]

OK, that's quite enough name-calling. I will remove any further disrespectful and childish posts.

If anybody else wants to comment on Ron Basso's candidacy for the Sebastopol City Council, please limit yourself to (your version of) facts, as in Ron did this, or Ron said that.

I do agree that how Ron and the other candidates have conducted themselves in the community is relevant. As business owner (?) there are times when unpopular decisions need to made. How those decisions are made and presented is also relevant, and the people affected by those decisions are likely to have rather personal reactions and feelings about it. Again, you are welcome to post about this, but lets keep it specific.

On the other hand, how Ron (and the other candidates) conducts his personal life, such as relations with his wife, is not relevant and I don't want to see it posted here.

[diotima]

OK, that's quite enough name-calling. I will remove any further disrespectful and childish posts.

If anybody else wants to comment on Ron Basso's candidacy for the Sebastopol City Council, please limit your self to (your version of) facts, as in Ron did this, or Ron said that.

I do agree that how Ron and the other candidates have conducted himself in the community is relevant. As business owner (?) there are times when unpopular decisions need to made. How those decisions are made and presented is also relevant, and the people affected by those decisions are likely to have rather personal reactions and feelings about it. Again, you are welcome to post about this, but lets keep it specific.

On the other hand, how he conducts his personal life, such as relations with his wife, is not relevant and I don't want to see it posted here.

Barry, I quite agree with everything you said. It wasn't pleasant for me to revisit my experience as Ron Basso's employee, and I chose not to share many of the details that I experienced and/or witnessed. Without presenting hard evidence, it's always a "they said, he said" situation for fair-minded people. Suffice it to say that "best practices" are not Ron Basso's forté.

I appreciated Sierra Hart's comments reflecting her experience as a peer of Ron's on the design committee. It appears that he does have the capacity to behave appropriately when he's dealing with those he considers his equals. I can personally attest to his ability to present a disarming demeanor of soft-spoken charm and gentility. Perhaps he would maintain that approach if he finds himself elected to the city council.

My experience was restricted to that of an employee, not an equal. Of course there are circumstances in any business that require unpopular decisions. Some people handle these situations with more maturity and equanimity than others. That said, when unpopular decisions are made, ethics, goodwill, trust and honesty matter. People are not objects to be deceived, manipulated and used without regard for their humanity.

Even though I feel perfectly comfortable with everything I said in my original post, I would be glad if you would replace Fresno Bob's original posting title to something more neutral.
Name-calling is ugly and counter-productive.

[RussianRiverRattina]

I feel uncomfortable with folks calling Barrie "a bunch of a-- kissers" for two reasons:

1. Lack of respect: As the moderator, Barrie's supposed to keep things balanced ... which will always look like a-- kissing to the opposition; and
2. Lack of subject-predicate agreement: How can one person be a "bunch" of something?

In any case, I'm glad I'm not Ron Basso.

-- Elisabeth

[RussianRiverRattina]

... though when someone as normally friendly & agreeable as Hans Bruhner weighs in so strongly, one has to wonder.

[Barry]

Hmmnm...

I don't mean to pry, but now I'm curious and concerned.

So, diotima, iannoli, and dare I include, fresno_bob: Is this all from the same incident? Do you all know each other?

You folks are all making serious accusations that not only affect Ron's future, but also the future of Sebastopol.

In light of this, and that this is taking place on WaccoBB.net which honors transparency, integrity and responsibility, and while being hosted in cyberspace which is not conducive to those qualities, I would like you all to post your real name and a photo (let me know if you need help)

Hans (hbrunher), you're ahead of the game... with not only posting your photo and your real name on your public profile here on WaccoBB.net, but you also include a link to your business website with a welcome video of you. That's my kind of transparency!

So I ask you to take full responsibility for your statements, or retract them.

Barry

[hbruhner]

RETRACTION!!!!!!

I am retracting everything I said about Ron Basso. I have deleted my original post and I will not repeat what I said. I feel absolutely horrible about it and after getting a very sweet phone call from a very nice and unassuming Ron Basso, I feel the need to post a public retraction and apology.

After reviewing the facts in my case, it is simply impossible that Ron Basso was the person involved. I do not mean that it couldn't have been him because he was so nice on the phone, I mean it is impossible that it was him. In my case it was a mistaken identity and that may have even been the intent of the person who there was an issue with.

It is clear to me that neither my wife nor I have ever met Ron Basso personally and so we have never had an issue with him.

I have learned a valuable lesson here. It simply does not feel good to publicly trash someone. Even when I got a word of support and encouragement for my post, it simply did not feel good. I have been in one physical fight in my life and I immediately felt horrible the minute my punch landed and I felt exactly the same here.

Even though I was then and am still now extremely upset with the perosn who treated my wife so badly, If I was 100% sure I had the right person and I had the opportunity to publicly comment, I would not do it.

Mr. Ron Basso, I am truly sorry for my words and any grief that they may have caused you. I in fact would like to thank you for calling me and setting the record straight and letting me move away from the bad feelings that I created with my post. I only hope that everyone who read my words will also get a chance to read these words.

Sincerely,

Hans Bruhner

[Helen Shane]

Nothing but the facts...a letter to the editor, signed, as published in Sonoma West Thursdy, 9/2/10 Helen Shane

Basso’s interests

Editor: According to campaign disclosure documents filed with the City Clerk, Ron Basso, a candidate for Sebastopol’s City Council, owns extensive commercial property downtown at 186 N. Main Street (which he also lists as his legal residence) with tenants Copperfield Used Books, Millers Candy, Cultivate, etc., another opposite the Plaza at 6826-6828 Depot St. where the tenant is Sebastopol Tractor, and 970 Gravenstein Hwy. S. with Starbucks, Subway and eight other tenants. His commercial properties house at least 16 businesses.

The documents also disclose that the fair market value of each of the three properties is more than $1,000,000 (the top bracket on the form). The 186 No. Main and 970 Gravenstein So. properties each produce annual rental incomes exceeding $100,000, and the Depot St. rent is between $10,001 and $100,000.

I do wonder how anyone with so many substantial commercial real estate holdings in the downtown, along business streets, and in industrial redevelopment areas of our town can conscientiously serve our community when he will legally (and/or ethically) have to refrain from deliberating and voting on many of the most critical decisions the Council will face in the coming years. That leaves only the four remaining Council members to decide (or not decide, in the case of tie votes) on the business of our City.

And, even though he may legally be permitted to vote on some matters that are not within the geographic constraints of his real estate holdings, decisions on other issues that come before the Council may positively or negatively impact commercial property owners such as Mr. Basso, so he may have to excuse himself from those as well. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

Voters will have to decide whose interests would be served if Mr. Basso is elected.

Clare Najarian

Sebastopol

[bakelite]

I don't know, but I doubt, that R Basso is as evil as a few have portrayed, or as good as a couple of others say. My personal experience is that he is greedy and self serving. He promises things to tenants and often does not provide them after the lease is signed. On the other hand, he has done some nice things for some tenants along the way. He does provide some jobs locally. He is also a very, very slick talker and a personable guy. In short, he is complicated, as most are. However...

My biggest concern is the clear and obvious conflict of interest he will have with regard to many, many upcoming local decisions. In the same way that a judge must recuse from a case in which he or she is personally involved, or a legislator should not be a party to any decision with which there is any conflict of interest, no matter how small, and no matter if he or she has put finances in a blind trust, Basso would be unable to honestly take part in deciding most upcoming issues of Sebastopol; he simply owns too much property and has a stake in almost any development that may be planned.

There is no way he could be a fair arbiter, even if he genuinely wished to be. This is not an issue of growth or no growth, personality or liking or disliking. This is a matter of ethics and fairness. BTW, if there is no opponent R BAsso is a shoo-in and no contest.

I do not see an ethical way that he can serve on the council. He already owns a significant portion of our town; I don't think we want him controlling its direction too.

[Suz]

Specifically, which issues do you think Ron would be unfit to decide?

[Barry]

Specifically, which issues do you think Ron would be unfit to decide?

The very valid point, IMO, that bakelite and Clare Najarianhas have brought up, is that Ron would be unable to vote on any issue that he has a conflict of interest on (as you well know, Sue ).

So for instance, I'm guessing he would need to recuse himself regarding most any decision that involves downtown or the area near the former bowling alley (such as the new Burbank(?) housing development) because he has real estate holdings there.

Bakelite went on to say "I do not see an ethical way that he can serve on the council", which is not legally true, but that is one way of looking at it.

What do you think?