To anyone vaguely connected to the media, political campaigns are notable for the volume of emails they send out. Any achievement, endorsement or event prompts an electronic communication to a distribution list. For some reason, I ended up on a list for a Phoenix City Council candidate recently and his people would send an email everyday mentioning that he went to lunch somewhere or something. It was a bit counterproductive.

Yesterday, I got my very first campaign email from Mike Polak, Republican candidate to represent Ward 5 on the City Council (although to be fair, I haven’t received any emails from his opponent, Richard Fimbres), but it’s possible Mr. Polak’s people might want to reevaluate what news is actually worth boasting about:

Mike Polak Wins Republican Primary for Tucson City Council in Ward 5

TUCSON, Ariz. — Tuesday August 27th, Tucson City Council Candidate Mike Polak won the Republican Nomination for Ward 5. In the city of Tucson Ward 5 is one of the poorest areas and right now is in desperate need of real leadership. Citizens all over Tucson will have the chance to vote for Mike Polak on November 5, 2013 when the election is held for the general election. For Mike’s part he is excited to give Tucson residents a choice for a better Tucson. Mike now faces incumbent Richard Fimbres in the general election, which switches to a citywide vote.
“I would like to thank the voters of Ward 5 who voted for me in the primary election,” Mike stated. “I would like to also thank James Kelley for his efforts up to the primary, and I look forward to working with my new team for the general election,” Mike continued.

Of course, as you probably already know, Polak, like all of this year’s City Council candidates, ran unopposed. However, seeing that some local Republican candidates lately have had trouble just getting on the ballot, this accomplishment might actually be worth an email, now that I think about it.

Possibly notable to the most “inside baseball” of Tucson politics observers, Polak’s email does offhandedly mention that James Kelley has been replaced with a “new team” for the general election. So there’s that.

Don’t be a stranger, Mike and “new team.” I look forward to a fulfilling digital communication relationship.

This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 4, 2013.

The editor of the Tucson Weekly. I have no idea how I got here.

3 replies on “This Week in Dubious Achievements: Mike Polak Edition”

  1. Don’t know how the hell they got my email address but at least they had the good taste to include an “UNSUBSCRIBE” link…

    And I don’t even live in Ward V…

  2. Dear ChetDude,

    This is a Citywide election. It doesn’t matter if you live in a different Ward. You are a City Voter and if this City really cared about the voters, it wouldn’t keep that part of the process so carefully understated.

    Best wishes to you always.

  3. Dear Pouty Dan Gibson,

    Slow news day? Maybe if you took the time to really focus on the scandals in Tucson (no shortage in my view) you could find something more substantive to whine about. This is hardly remarkable. In fact, what would be more so qualified as “dubious” is the fact that we just paid tax dollars to hold a Primary election that has no candidate contested. Why don’t you talk more about how much money the City has just wasted while we are all at home struggling these days?

    Hating just to hate is senseless and petty.

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