Bill Halldin

RIP Former Eureka USD Board Member Eric J Bose. The Untold and Unbelievable Story of my Connection to Mr. Bose

Feb 182023

He is now jammin’ in heaven

For those of you that were not a part of the Secret Faebook Group that had something like 250 family and friends of Eric Bose, the summary is that he got sick with cancer over 2 years ago. It was aggressive and they tried all sorts of treatments. IT appeared that Bose was hanging in there until November of 2022. I had scheduled a meeting with him when I was down the hill in November of 2022 and he had to abruptly cancel the meeting as he was not feeling well. Other things happened after that (those details are withheld on purpose), that made it clear to me that he was in serious trouble.

Bose finally succumbed to the Cancer on 2-18-2023.

I met Eric Bose (then Eric Teed-Bose) in 2010 when he was running for re-election to the Eureka USD Board. He won what would be his final term.

That connection led to Eric hiring me in 2012 to help Kristi Greiss in her race for re-election. People on the Placer GOP will remember that Renee Nash spent almost $100,000 in that race helping herself and Ryan Jones to unseat Greiss. At the time Nash owned the Antique Trove and she took tons of money out of the business to fund a rampage.

At the time, and for the next decade the Eureka Schools Foundation controlled the Eureka USD. That race in 2012 was vicious and nasty. For a district that might cast 5,000 votes, you could hear the shells exploding 100 miles away.

Rarely in politics do I meet people I can trust, and Bose was one of the few. I never regretted going to war for him and Kristie Greiss. That crew out in Granite Bay ruled that district with an iron fist for 10 years until 2022 when my friends on the Placer GOP figured out how to flip a couple of seats. It was outrageous for democrats and true RINO’s to be running a school district in an area like Granite Bay, but they did for years until Covid exposed their true colors.

The friendship between Bose and myself endured. I saw him walk through a divorce, other career struggles, and was beyond elated when he met Cathy. Cathy showed her true character, staying 100% true to Eric up to and through his physical death. Cathy should have been Eric’s first wife.

I knew Bose was a musician. I also learned that Bose was a gifted developer, as he basically built the entire town of Mountain House, California.

I knew Eric Bose to be a trustworthy man of solid character. But, in the last days of his life, I learned far more about Mr. Bose than I ever knew. One after another, Men whose lives he touched wrote tributes that were astounding in that Secret Facebook Group. That stuff rocked me to my core, as I want to be remembered like that when I die. What a man Eric Bose is (as he is alive in heaven now)!

My story with Bose does not end with the above. The unbelievable connection is related to Bill Halldin’s run for Assembly, when Kevin Kiley prevailed and Kiley’s Brother effectively made sure my wife and I were no longer welcome at Bridgeway Church. This was the second Church I was forced to leave due to their leadership’s unwillingness to tolerate my political work.

I have written about that story before – but the part I have not written about is another part of when I met with Kiley’s brother there at Bridgeway after the AD06 Primary that Kevin Kiley prevailed in. Mr. Kiley’s Brother related a story to me about why he did not like me. The man’s wife worked for the Eureka USD at the time. When I was shelling Renee Nash and Ryan Jones (+ the Eureka School Foundation), the staff of the district were angered by what I was doing. Of course they all gave Nash a free pass for her nastiness and instead focused on your intrepid blogger. So did Kiley’s brother.

If you followed this post, I was working on behalf of Eric Bose in that 2012 explosion. Even though my wife and I were significantly affected by the retaliation, I sometimes questioned if I did the right thing by setting fire to the Eureka USD (or hammering Kevin Kiley years later in the AD06 race), reading the stuff about the kind of man Eric Bose is reminded me that I went to war on behalf of a man who deserved that kind of loyalty. Bill Halldin is also a close, personal friend.

Thank you Lord for the reminder, that sometimes there are short-term consequences, but choosing good candidates and staying consistent will always be vindicated.

God Bless Eric Bose, he is healed now and will be there waiting for us in Heaven when we depart the earth as well.

P.S. Note that your intrepid blogger endorsed Kevin Kiley for Congress pre-primary in 2022.

Thank You Blog of 2016 – Nielsen, Bigelow, Gallagher, LaMalfa Edition

Bill Halldin, Doug LaMalfa, Frank Bigelow, James Gallagher, Jim Nielsen 1 Response »

Nov 192016

When I worked for Bill Halldin in the extremely crowded 2016 Assembly District 6 Primary, the team of James Gallagher, Doug LaMalfa, Frank Bigelow and Jim Nielsen – all partisan Republican officeholders came through with huge endorsements for Bill. Jim Nielsen and Frank Bigelow also followed up their endorsements with $4200 checks and assistance with other checks for Halldin’s campaign.

James Gallagher sent some staff who helped us on a few weekends. We had some of Jim Nielsen and Doug LaMalfa’s staff on a few weekends, with a lot on the final days of the campaign. Frank Bigelow’s staff were amazing, they helped us pretty much every weekend after Frank Bigelow endorsed Bill Halldin.

For this blogger personally, it was an interesting study in professionalism. I have been at the throats of several of the people in LaMalfa and Nielsen’s staff for years, yet here we were working together. This was a welcome change from the blood-letting that the GOP in California no longer has the luxury to do. Those that I worked with in the LaMalfa and Nielsen office were professional, polite and assisted Bill Halldin like a professional would do.

My interactions with those working for James Gallagher were even better. I have no negative history with Gallagher as I decided to support him in his primary, breaking traditional political lines in the North State. They all seemed to know, but more importantly their communication and approach suggested that they cared deeply about their district and people in it. Despite my issues with Gallagher on some internal party politics issues or allegiance issues – it is clear that James is an effective legislator with a clear reason for serving. His staff is a reflection of that.

Frank Bigelow’s staff blew my mind. What a great group of people. They even explained to me a few things about El Dorado County politics from a completely different perspective. (For example, having positive things to say about Vern Pierson) Without meaning a slight to the staff of the other three, the Bigelow Staff were almost 100% committed and assisting Halldin’s campaign and I had a lot of interactions with them. Bigelow’s staff were some of the most real people I’ve worked with from a legislator’s office in the nearly 20 years in the political trenches I’ve logged.

When I had interactions with Nielsen and Bigelow during this campaign, it was clear to me they were both trying to figure me out. They both made a lot of eye contact when we were chatting at a fundraiser event for Bill. I usually do not try to hide my feelings about anyone, and I will say that I have come from being hostile towards Nielsen to liking him.

Regarding Frank Bigelow, I did not support him when he ran against Rico Oller. Frank is not as conservative as I’d like him to be. However, it is clear to me that Bigelow is a “real dude”. I can forgive a lot of squishyness when I deal with a real dude. Bigelow’s character is clear as reflected in his staff. In most all cases a legislator’s staff is a reflection of the member. It was good to be able to get to know Mr. Bigelow a bit more. I hope that Bigelow, Nielsen and others would choose to start funding voter registration and other efforts as the dems are overrunning this state.

In this season of Thanksgiving, I’d like to thank the above four for helping Bill Halldin and I’d also like to thank the staff members I got to meet and work with. It was a great experience, here’s hoping that we cross paths on the same side again soon.

Footnote: Kevin Kiley won that primary and ultimately won the general election. The above four did indeed raise money and help Mr. Kiley in the fall as any good team players would do.

#AD06 Analysis: Why Did Halldin End Up #5-6 and Why Did Kevin Kiley End up #2?

AD-06 Race, Bill Halldin, Kevin Kiley 1 Response »

Jun 122016

I worked for Bill Halldin, we had a simple strategy…

We knew that since Bill had gobbled up a ton of endorsements in Placer County that our opponents would go elsewhere and fight it out. We also know that “Mik” would be strong in El Dorado as he was a supervisor there. We bet the ranch on Placer.

How strong Mik ended up being in Eldo and Sac County surprised everyone. “Mik” was indeed a damn good leader.

I believe that Bill’s problems were three-fold, none we had any control over.

Andy Pugno getting in to the race overshadowed us in the same target voter universe. His entry took at least 4 points in the aggregate away, maybe as many as 6.
Bill Halldin looks like a Republican Politician. This was still the Donald Trump election and we were unable to stand out the way Pugno and Kiley did. Bill Halldin did the best he could and I do believe that we got our message out. It was not received by the ADHD voter universe.
Placer County did not vote. That was a killer.

As of 6/12/2016:
Placer’s Turnout was a low 33.8%
Sacramento County was an astonishing 64.5%
El Dorado’s Turnout was an average 46.5%

Halldin needed Placer to come through huge. It did not.

Kevin Kiley is a young talented man. I wrote that before and I am writing it again. He was and is a superior communicator to any of the other candidates that ran. I’d also argue that he is more charismatic than any of the other candidates that ran. When you had 11 candidates on the ballot all trying to be unique, Kiley was. Pugno sorta was.

The above was the key to Kiley’s campaign. Period. Not Pete Wilson, Not the Bay Area Donors. It was Kevin. Let that sink in. (This is also why his Cable TV ads were effective – it was Kevin, not the content of the ads)

I hammered Kevin Kiley furiously for a month – he only barked once. This was incredible discipline, which suggests he could have a shorter learning curve as an Assemblymember than you’d expect.

Kevin will be very young for a legislator, he is 31. He is also smarter than most people I have ever met. It is clear when he talks to people one on one that he has talent to burn.

On the ground, Kiley targeted both Sun Cities heavily and worked them heavily. If you look at the precinct-by-precinct vote totals you will see that Sun City Lincoln will be his margin of victory in the AD06 race. Kiley deserves credit for that effort.

It did not matter that we (team Halldin) killed him on the ground in the rest of the county of Placer. They did not vote. I’d bet that the turnout would have been 20% without the Sun Cities! (In fact Rocklin, won by Halldin was indeed about 21% turnout as of 6/12/2016)

It is clear that the hit pieces launched in the mail hurt Kiley as his vote total slid as the night went on. However, he had built himself quite a lead through his efforts.

For as much as I woofed on Dave Gilliard, if I was in his shoes, I’d have done about the same thing strategy-wise in Kiley’s campaign. The fallout from that strategy, however will either define or refine Kevin Kiley’s early tenure as an Assembly-Member. That was the jam Kiley was put in to because of the shallowness of his endorsement support.

When 11 people are on the ballot, it creates a completely volatile situation. With Trump sealing the nomination, it upset the electorate. This was an election where many of the usual conventions of campaigning were tossed aside.

The rest of the votes will be counted by Friday, I’ve been told. I am expecting that Kiley will hold on by 1000-1200 votes (which will still be a large margin in an 11 person race) and that Halldin may pass Cristi Nelson for 5th.

More on the Bay Area Liberals That Have Kicked in $500k on Kevin Kiley and Facts That Should Scare You:

AD-06 Race, Andy Pugno, Bill Halldin, Kevin Kiley No Responses »

Jun 062016

From the website of Govern for California Action Committee is this Gem:

Upon closer inspection, Californians would learn that the missing ingredient is courage. In the case of Democrats, courage means the willingness to buck narrow special interests seeking ever-greater shares of government spending at the expense of programs, taxpayers and private-sector job growth. In the case of Republicans, courage means the willingness to buck no-tax groups who, even when presented with all the reforms they seek, refuse to acknowledge that sometimes more revenue for the government can produce better outcomes. And in the case of all legislators, courage means an unshakeable dedication to honest budgets, truthful accounting, open government and governing for the people rather than for personal gain or narrow interests.

Now, it becomes clear why a 31 year old who has been unemployed for over a year – using a ballot title he may have dubious claim to is getting spent on so lavishly. Kiley was remiss to sign the no new taxes pledge. Did he really mean it when he signed it? Should we save copies of his campaign flyers to remind him of it when he votes to raise our taxes as an assembly-member?

Govern for California went on a late spending rampage with $203,000 in support of Kevin Kiley after young Mr. Kiley started getting nailed for taking over $200k from them as an intermediary. Kiley has little, if any real support in the district and it is safe to say that he has had 2/3 of his support raised (or spent) for him by this committee.

David Crane the principal of Govern California – who appears to be on an ego-fueled rampage driving the late, furious Independent Expenditure is a democrat who worked in the Arnold administration. Like many wealthy people, he appears to have very thin skin and appears to have determined that it is time to teach us little people a lesson for merely pointing out accurate facts about him and his other donors.

If you think I am off base – then ask why Crane featured himself in one of the mail pieces he sent on Kevin Kiley’s behalf. This is a clear indicator of his ego being bruised as a result of the scrutiny. How could you not conclude that this group of bay area liberals are attempting to install a marionette in one of the most conservative assembly districts in California?

The antipathy for strategy and the hubris that has driven at least 5 of the candidates on the #AD06 Ballot who have no path to victory to file in this tilt has created the perfect storm to enable such a group to try to flex their muscles and defraud the Conservative AD06 out of representation once again. Kevin Kiley has been caught multiple times saying different things to different groups of people, how will we ever know what he believes?

Another likely outcome is that this late flurry of spending will halt the momentum of Bill Halldin or Andy Pugno to finish in the top two, thus setting up a dem vs dem runoff this fall in the 47% Republican District. Since Crane is a democrat, I am not sure he’d be sad if his money helped create that situation.

David Crane is profiled on Wikipedia. You will notice that Mr. Crane was on the California High Speed Rail Advisory Board – you’d sure think this is a reason why young Mr. Kiley attempted to split the baby on the High Speed Rail issue. His main benefactor is completely sold out to High Speed Rail. Kiley says in the on line version of the Bee’s Candidate Page that HSR is “Very Unimportant” to him, while claiming to oppose it!

I have no clue what the outcome of the AD06 election will be – but I do know this, should Kevin Kiley make it over Andy or Bill, he has a lot of explaining to do beyond telling people what they want to hear.

#AD06 Update: Andy Pugno JUST NUKED Kevin Kiley

AD-06 Race, Andy Pugno, Bill Halldin, Kevin Kiley No Responses »

Jun 032016

Ouch.

I mean this was EPIC. Joe Justin’s Mail for Bill Halldin has been outstanding all across the board. But in this case, the Andy Pugno / Jeff Evans combination fired on all cylinders.

I focus on points 4 and 5: Kiley claims to be a “Deputy Attorney General”, but he’s never prosecuted a single crime. (#EPICBURN)

Kiley is long-term unemployed. (which is also true as he has been unemployed for over a year)

Pugno, who has been getting blasted with at least 6 mailers himself just unloaded on Kevin Kiley – just as Kiley was getting a bailout from his Bay-Area Liberal Handlers.

This race is going to be a complete train-wreck until election day.

Bonus – Pugno has been hammering Kiley over his opposition to Prop 8 as well – rightly pointing out that Kiley is remiss to take a stand on transgender bathrooms. Given that most people are worried about their safety and future – IMO the fact that Pugno unloaded on him for being an unemployed prosecutor with no criminal justice experience is more devastating than the social issues attack is.

Not to be outdone – the Bill Halldin Campaign did their own excavation of the Kiley Potemkin Village Campaign:

Kiley has taken 200k+ in liberal bay area donor money – including Obama bundlers!

It highlights how Kiley moved to Rocklin in 2015 and rented an apartment, then immediately started running for office.

And of course – it points out that Kevin Kiley is a deputy of Extreme Left-Wing Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Young Mr. Kiley has been hit 6 times. (Not counting the beating being administered on social media) No wonder why the Bay Area Liberals had to attempt a last minute bailout. Liberals love bailouts.

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