Last Saturday in Covington Park at the Morongo Valley Halloween Extravaganza, a Morongo Valley mayor was elected after a controversial last-minute candidate took the big sweep, an unexpected upset that edged beloved two term mayor Roxy out of her seat.
Despite the giddy atmosphere of the all-ages festival celebrating spooky season and its adjacent rock concert, I felt an undeniable tension beckoning me through Covington Park, unable to reconcile these conflicting emotions until community pillar Buddy Stogner signaled me over to the ballot booth, where $1 tickets were being sold to cast votes for two-term incumbent Roxy, returning candidate Yogi, and last-minute challenger Ziggy, the chicken mascot of local business the Hippie Chicken. Ziggy’s controversial inclusion in the race for Morongo Valley Dog Mayor left some voters outraged, other voters energized, and some Morongo residents like myself confused on what to even call the canine-centric mayoral race in his campaign’s wake, especially when it came to reporting on it. Regardless, Stogner was anxious to relay me the real-time lowdown:
“Roxy has had it this whole day but the whole fire department came in and Ziggy just took the lead, I believe. We don’t have an official account yet but it’s looking like Ziggy could be the new winner, it’s a close call.”
While my own personal favorite Roxy greets me diligently on my weekly water runs at All American Fuel, I mentioned to Stogner of my own difficulties this election cycle, since Yogi is the constituent of my district at Navajo Trl, often accompanying me and my dog Jacky on our morning walks.
Stogner’s mention of the whole Fire Department voting for Ziggy at the last-minute ignited theories of political conspiracy against Roxy, and while there are no rules against zero hour voting en masse for a candidate, I marched over to the Morongo Valley Fire Department booth to get the story straight. The crew laughed, unable to either confirm nor deny until General Manager Brittany Chavez went rogue and confirmed the rumor.
For full accountability, I watched like a hawk as Chavez and Fire Commissioner Lance Fisher counted the votes, resulting in what they called “a landslide.”
I checked in with Ziggy’s owner, Rita Tendell, to get an official statement from the new mayor and I learned that however we might feel about a chicken taking over what was traditionally a dog’s race, it’s clear the new mayor will give a huge cluck for all Morongo Valley residents.
