I received a flyer today for an event put on by RichPac to tout City Council candidates Bates, Marquez and Sandhu. What got my attention was the line, “RichPAC, your Local business political action committee, recommends recumbants Nat Bates, John Marquez and Harpreet Sandhu for Richmond City Council.”

Click here for a copy of the invitation.

Talk about a Freudian slip! I know what an incumbent is, but a “recumbant?” I checked out “recumbant in the dictionary, and I found the following for the closest thing to it: recumbent - “lying down, especially in a position of comfort or rest; reclining.” That pretty well describes these three, part of the Chevron Five, who not only lay down for Chevron but also seemed pretty comfortable and rested while doing it.

The Richmond Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of RichPac, is an interesting organization with a star-studded board that includes top community leaders and probably some of your good friends. For years, I was on the board of directors of the Chamber, and my firm is one of the oldest members. Judy Morgan and her staff are great people. They manage the Home front Festival, and they led the way to establish the Richmond Visitor and Convention Bureau. RichPac is the politically affiliated arm of the Chamber of Commerce, and they collect money and spend it on pro-Chevron candidates. Chevron is the largest contributor to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber (and RichPac) will do whatever Chevron asks it to do.

Every election year, the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and RicPac, like addicts falling off the wagon, go into full defensive mode against whatever candidate or initiative they perceive as a threat to poor helpless Chevron.

For a little recent history on Richmond Chamber of Commerce blind support of all things Chevron and the trouble it got them into, see:

• Richmond Chamber of Commerce Fronts for Chevron, Supports Port Study,
  Slams Butt and McLaughlin, September 16, 2006
• City Council to Examine City Memberships in Political Organizations, November 12, 2006
• City Council Cuts Ties With Chamber of Commerce and Council of Industries, November 15, 2006
• City Council Cuts Ties With Chamber of Commerce and Council of Industries, November 18, 2006
• Chamber Politics Debate Continues, November 21, 2006

By the way, instead of spending $30 or $40 for some rubber chicken and some bad b.s., just write a check to the campaigns of Butt, Beckles or Ritterman and help get independent candidates elected who care about Richmond first.