One of the original local bloggers in Concord goes by the name of Mayor of Claycord. I wont go into all of the details about him since most of my readers already know him and found this site because of his local blog.

Claycord has been blogging about Concord for almost 2 years. Using a combination of breaking news and general information about Concord captured through emails and police scanners, he seems to have his fingers on the pulse of whats happening in Concord all of the time. He has also been able to break stories before many mainstream news outlets because he seems to have eyes and ears everywhere. In the time he’s been blogging, he has become the go to site for local news and has gained a large following in the process. Some of his following has been indoctrinated into the Claycord Council. This is a small group of readers that contribute a lot to the site through content and comments. There is Radar the photographer, Apollo, Shasta Daisy and a few others that always stand out in the comments. Claycord is really the poster child for a local blog. The problem many people have with Claycord is that he’s anonymous. That anonymity is a double edge sword, he has free reign to say what he wants with little repercussions and the search for his identity is a constant goal for people.

I bet there are people that have spent many hours trying to discover who Claycord is. Searching through his posts for clues and trying other ways to crack the Claycord code. When I was meeting with the Contra Costa Times, I was told that Concord Mayor Laura Hoffmeister has spent days trying to figure out who Claycord is and has yet to find out. Honestly she should be spending that time writing her vision for the city. When the Mayor of a city is trying to find your identity and comes up empty, you know you have done a great job at covering your tracks. There are people that know Claycord’s secret identity. In emails with Claycord, he explained that there are a select few (not necessarily his council) people that know who he really is. Keeping your true identity a secret for almost 2 years is an accomplishment in itself.

I have been contacted by a lot of people in my short 6 months of this blog asking for any information I had on Claycord’s real identity. I’ve been asked by average readers as well as others in more high profile positions for his name. I was once even accused of being Claycord using this blog as a way to be more public. To all of those people, my answer was always the same “I have no idea who the mystery man is that you are wondering about.”

When I started this site and dealt with the initial backlash of people thinking I was stepping on Claycords toes, I must admit I was also fixated on who he was. At first I didn’t want to assume anything and thought Claycord may actually be a girl. I also thought that Claycord may have been one of the people trying o’so desperately to shut me down. I apologize for that Claycord, but I really had no way of knowing. In that process, I was consumed with the task of finding out WHO Claycord was. I did the fruitless task of looking for clues in his posts and though there are some basic tidbits of data in them if you look hard enough, his identity is never hinted at.

One day I sat back and put on my thinking cap. I have some experience tracking people down that want to remain hidden. This was the first time I had zero information to go off of other than a website. So that was my starting point. Once I put my mind to it, it took me about 30 minutes and a bit of help from some super geeky friends to crack the Claycord code.

Once I had the information in hand, I felt a bit guilty. When someone wants to remain nameless for so many valid reasons, should I really have taken the time and energy to figure him out? By then it was too late, I had his name and with that it was only a few extra keystrokes to get everything else. As guilty as I felt initially, there was a sense of pride knowing something that so many others have searched for. Like Indiana Jones on the search for the Holy Grail.

Why is Claycord’s identity in such demand? Mostly I think it’s because he has been able to remain secluded for so long. Partly because there are MANY people that have an idea but with out confirmation they really have nothing. It’s either a case of ‘I knew it!’ or ‘who is that?’. Claycord is a mysterious puzzle that keeps some people awake at night.

Instead of responding to the weekly emails asking for information or wanting to know if I know who he is, I’ll make it clear here. Claycord’s identity is not open for discussion.

There will be a point in time when Claycord goes public. No one can remain hidden forever. But the time and place for Claycord’s unveiling should be one of his choosing. Maybe it will be some grand expose by the Contra Costa Times who also is on the hunt or maybe he will just post his identity on his blog one day to squash all the rumors. But HE will choose.

I understand Claycord’s desire to remain anonymous and in many ways I envy it. He has the ability to be a chameleon in the area. You could be standing next to him at Safeway and not know it. Who are we to reveal the man behind the blog? I am waiting for the day that Claycord comes out of the closet. The fact that he is giving interviews to the Contra Costa Times shows that he is more comfortable than last year with the idea of being known. So stop trying to figure out the man behind the curtain. You are losing sight of the big picture.

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