TOP TEN REASONS TO ELECT THOMAS K. ARNOLD TO THE CARLSBAD CITY COUNCIL

By Thomas K. Arnold

With apologies to David Letterman, here is the Arnold for Carlsbad campaign's answer to the veteran late-night talk show host's celebrated "top ten" lists.

2. I am familiar with Carlsbad, having lived in the city since 1994 and covered local issues through my articles and columns in San Diego Magazine, and yet at the time would being a fresher, broader perspective to city hall than someone with council, school board, planning commission and chamber of commerce experience. I am new blood, and yet far from an outsider.

3. I am representative of the new generation of Carlsbad residents who moved here in the last 15 years and are now raising their families in Carlsbad, frequenting our schools, our churches, our ballparks and our playgrounds.

4. I am a passionate, articulate individual who would make an impressive Carlsbad "ambassador" to the various regional boards and agencies on which council members serve as representatives.

5. I am an accomplished public speaker who regularly appears on such national television shows and networks as CNN, CNBC and the G4 Network's "Attack of the Show."

6. My background as a reporter means I know how to research, write and communicate. The council is well served with staff reports, but having someone on the council who can do his own research, and then articulate his findings, would prove invaluable.

7. While I have never held elected office, I have plenty of political experience, having served as a consultant to former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock and Councilman Bruce Henderson. In the most recent San Diego mayor's race, I also wrote exhaustive position papers for one potential candidate.

8. As publisher of a weekly national magazine with $7 million in annual revenues, I know how to run a business and build a team.

9. I don't just have ideas, I know how to implement them. I am reliable and a master of followthrough.

10. If the council's No. 1 priority is to improve communication with Carlsbad citizens, what better choice than someone who is a professional communicator?