East Asia has a rainy season that lasts two months in late spring. Northern countries like Sweden only have a few hours of light in the winter. In Pittsburgh in a municipal election year, it's Democratic committee season.

Getting the committee's official endorsement -- and your name on the official slate card and straight ticket, after a vote on March 6 -- isn't worth what it once was, but it's still a momentum boost in a city and county with such huge Democratic registration advantages. (Not to mention in election cycles that regularly have low turnout.) And even if it's meaningless people still take it seriously anyway, kind of like Pirates spring training.

So that's why Darlene Harris, a ward chairman on the North Side, is battling another North Side ward chairman Kevin Quigley (a friend of the mayor's and a high ranking Public Works official) for committee votes in her council race. (Quigley is supporting Vince Pallus of Brighton Heights. Another candidate, Bobby Wilson of Spring Hill, is the son of a 24th ward committeeman.)

County judge candidates are usually desperate for the endorsement since, honestly, no one knows who the judge candidates are anyway. Mark Patrick Flaherty has been courting committee people for months, and his rival Rich Fitzgerald listed his ward chair endorsements at his campaign kickoff.

So the chairs of the wards -- especially in the city, where this stuff never dies -- tend to take these things very seriously. Chris Potter at the City Paper has the latest evidence in an email from 12th ward chair Jacque Fielder regarding endorsements in the 9th District council race, which matches incumbent Ricky Burgess against challengers Lucille Prater-Holliday and Phyllis Copeland-Mitchell.

Ms. Fielder, daughter of longtime ward chairman Dock Fielder, wants the committee people around Lincoln-Lemington and Larimer to know just how things are supposed to work. In all-caps of course:

PLEASE BE AWARE OF CANDIDATES WHO ARE TRYING TO GET AROUND THE WARD CHAIR AND GOING STRAIGHT TO THE COMMITTEE PEOPLE. THIS IS ALWAYS DISRESPECTFUL TO THE COMMITTEE SINCE YOU ELECT THE WARD CHAIR TO REPRESENT YOU. TO THE NEW COMMITTEE PEOPLE, CANDIDATES SOMETIMES TRY TO MAKE YOU FEEL INTIMIDATED OR LIKE YOU CAN'T SPEAK FOR YOURSELF AND HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE WARD CHAIR. THIS IS CALLED THE OLD "DIVIDE & CONQUER" GAME. THIS GAME IS PLAYED FOR THE PURPOSE OF BREAKING UNITY AND WEAKEN THE COMMITTEE. PLEASE BE POLITE TO ALL CANDIDATES, BUT DIRECT THEM TO ME SINCE YOU ARE NOT YET TRAINED IN THESE MATTERS. THE PHONE NUMBER IS BELOW. THANK YOU.

Her full email is after the jump:

PLEASE DIRECT ANY CANDIDATE TO ME THAT HAS CONTACTED YOU FOR SUPPORT.

I AM RECEIVING MESSAGES THAT CERTAIN CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES HADN'T RECEIVED RETURN CALLS FROM ME OR MY REPRESENTATIVE. THAT IS NOT TRUE.

I SPOKE DIRECTLY WITH RICKY BURGESS AND AGREED TO SIT DOWN WITH HIM. I ALSO SPOKE WITH OTHERS TO ARRANGE A MEETING WITH REV. BURGESS. SEVERAL MEETING REQUESTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE PAST BUT WERE NEVER CARRIED THROUGH ON REV. BURGESS OR HIS REPRESENTATIVE'S PART, NOT MINE.

NOT ONLY DID LINDA BEY-GRAHAM RETURN A CALL TO MS. PRATER-HOLIDAY, LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT I HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN TO MS. PRATER HOLIDAY AT ST. JAMES BAPTIST CHURCH ABOUT HER POSSIBLE RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL. I TOLD HER THAT I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR HER TO RUN BUT THAT IT HAD TO BE HER OWN DECISION. SHE WAS WELL AWARE OF THE 12TH WARD'S INTENTION CONCERNING CITY COUNCIL AND OUR SUPPORT OF HER CANDIDACY IF SHE DECIDED TO RUN. I TOLD HER THAT I COULDN'T SUPPORT HER AND I TOLD HER WHY. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I WAS SHOCKED THAT SHE ENTERED THE RACE FOR CITY COUNCIL AFTER THE CHALLENGING INFORMATION THAT WAS DISCUSSED DURING OUR CONVERSATION. AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, MS. HOLIDAY HAS RAN FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT OFFICES DURING DIFFERENT ELECTION SEASONS. UNFORTUANATELY, I AM NOT ABLE TO SUPPORT HER RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL-9 AT THIS TIME.

MS. PRATER-HOLIDAY AND I HAVE ALWAYS MAINTAINED A GOOD RELATIONSHIP IN THE PAST, AND I WISH HER THE BEST.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF CANDIDATES WHO ARE TRYING TO GET AROUND THE WARD CHAIR AND GOING STRAIGHT TO THE COMMITTEE PEOPLE. THIS IS ALWAYS DISRESPECTFUL TO THE COMMITTEE SINCE YOU ELECT THE WARD CHAIR TO REPRESENT YOU. TO THE NEW COMMITTEE PEOPLE, CANDIDATES SOMETIMES TRY TO MAKE YOU FEEL INTIMIDATED OR LIKE YOU CAN'T SPEAK FOR YOURSELF AND HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE WARD CHAIR. THIS IS CALLED THE OLD "DIVIDE & CONQUER" GAME. THIS GAME IS PLAYED FOR THE PURPOSE OF BREAKING UNITY AND WEAKEN THE COMMITTEE. PLEASE BE POLITE TO ALL CANDIDATES, BUT DIRECT THEM TO ME SINCE YOU ARE NOT YET TRAINED IN THESE MATTERS. THE PHONE NUMBER IS BELOW. THANK YOU.

THERE IS STRENGTH IN OUR UNITY.