Above: Watch video of the debate

On Monday, August 11th, I hosted a conversation with San Diego's city attorney, Michael Aguirre, and his re-election challenger, Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith. Thank you for your questions and feel free to continue the conversation in the comments section below.

About 10 days to go until the June 3^rd primary election and the shiny red, white and blue political ads along with the gloomy, somber brown and beige hit pieces are stuffing my mailbox.  I've collected about 50 of them during the last two weeks, representing about six contests. And since I register as a non-partisan voter, I'm not receiving mail from the local political parties. But I'm raiding my partisan friends' supplies.

Are they effective or merely expensive? For example, here's what one candidate for Orange County Supervisor spent on political mailers in the days leading up to the November 2006 election according to a Republican blog. Red County wrote that:

Creative Mailing & Marketing pocketed $123,228.40 for direct mail services. Kenny the Printer received $27,797.16 for...you guessed it!...printing. The US Postal Service was a big winner in the Cassie DeYoung end-game sweepstakes, raking in $212,541.66.

More than $360,000 in just 10 days and she lost, but her marketing firm did very well. Yet, candidates continue to load mailboxes to influence voters. So, let's look at some of those "creative mailings" to identify those we are likely to remember when we mark our ballots.

My vote for "most memorable" goes to John Hartley's (City Council District 3) mea culpa. "I apologize!" he declares and promises that "the next time I'm walking door-to-door and I have to take a leak, I promise not to do it in my truck, but to find a bathroom instead."

April Boling (District 7) almost outdoes Hartley by confessing "Some people think I'm a little boring, and maybe I am." I guess that's meant to preempt her opponent, Troubleshooter Marti Emerald's Democratic Party-financed mailers, featuring her photogenic face and tough talk.