Santa Rosa man running write-in campaign for council seat

A 70-year-old grandfather who wants people to be better prepared for disasters has qualified as a write-in candidate in the upcoming Santa Rosa City Council election.

Jeremiah Love, a divorced father of three who has lived in Santa Rosa for one year, last week filed the 20 signatures necessary for him to be listed as an official write-in candidate for the Nov. 6 council election, according to city clerk Terri Griffin.

While his name will not appear on the ballot, it will appear on a list of write-in candidates that voters will be able to review at polling places, Griffin explained.

On a website, Love promises to tell the truth ("If you catch me lying, you can have me prosecuted and jailed for perjury"), advocates effective disaster preparedness ("Thousands of lives depend on it"), and proposes replacing the lawn at the Finley Community Center with organic gardens and fields of chamomile ("So the City becomes a plantation, guiding all its real estate, landscaping and labor assets into farming"). He also notes that he could use the money. "I need a job," Love wrote.

Four seats on the seven-member board are up for grabs. Nine candidates are listed on the ballot, though two — Mike Cook and Shaan Vandenburg — dropped out of the race.