Sunday, January 29, 2012

Waking Up

The most exciting political news in Encinitas is the waking of the giant, New Encinitas. Despite this being achieved in part through the dissemination of misinformation and appealing to all kinds of fears, there are New Encinitas people meeting, talking, organizing – awakening. Parallel to the excitement are attendant emotions of anger, confusion, fanciful dreaming, resentment, urgency and . . . well, you get the point.

In fact, this community consciousness awakening is a fair comparison to people waking from sleep. First and foremost, not everyone is the same. Can you spot yourself in any of the first states described below? Waking up:
Crabby
Numb
Chirpy 
Disoriented 
Blaming 
Sluggish 
Serene
Clumsy
Confused 
Wired 
Some of those even sound like the person might be heading back to bed.  The last could also be another way of looking at those who wake with great urgency. Although some people wake without this, some of the most urgently felt “need to do” first acts:
  • Relieve oneself or other body hygiene routine
  • Down coffee or other stimulant
  • Feed oneself 
  • Responsibility to feed or tend to others – kids, pets, etc. 
  • Domestic tasks
  • News (brain) –papers, internet, television, radio or other people 
  • Sounds (senses) – music, television, radio or other people 
  • Work one loves or . . . 
  • Personal mission (reason to get out of bed) 
First tasks can make or break the day to come. Nobody wants a bad day. It might help to think of the diversity of responses in these lists when we think of all these people in Encinitas waking up to what is going on at city hall. Each person will probably be focused on what is closest to home. If you have been actively involved in vigilantly watching our city council majority’s antics (and Teresa Barth marginalization); try and remember what your overriding emotions, insights and first actions were all about at that beginning place. Many of us blush at our complete ignorance of how systemic the indifference to our outlooks and values were from these public officials despite heavy use of loaded words like folks, public input, feedback, deliberation and disclosure.

As much as it is fun to oversimplify, some of these issues within our city’s governance are not quick fixes. (I refuse to make a bumper sticker comment out of that last word. *mutters to self*). The overall General Plan Update is one of the most complex things within all that is going on currently, with heated buzz phrases about land use and traffic in New Encinitas, the many elements undergoing scrutiny and revisions are getting lost or 'erased' (ERAC'd) in the process.

These new advocates for public involvement from New Encinitas and other neighborhoods may well be progressing towards fully conscious understanding of the bigger picture with each meeting attended, public commentary comment, neighbor conversation, petition signed, campaign volunteer task and blog post read. There will be the eccentrics, the purists, the bigots, the experts, the liars, those believing in unicorns and rainbows and those who encourage . . .  all ‘advising’ neophytes. People will hurt each others feelings, blame the innocent and betray boundaries.  And all too often people will be to told how someone should be feeling. 
A healthy and productive reaction to someone expressing hurt or offense is not to audit whether that reaction meets our standards of acceptability (again, with caveat that no one is required to tolerate abuse), but to try to understand why it is that the person is reacting the way [he or she] is. Empathy is the best response to causing unintentional hurt.
Empathy and respect are the ultimate goal for a city council made up of thoughtful people who empathize and respect the citizenry. So, this consideration isn't something that we put on the back burner until we have the council we desire. It starts at the beginning.  When all is said and done, 2012 may well be the year Encinitas woke up to find a hundred activists looking for the sunshine and transparency promised to us all.

hat tip: Melissa McEwan for quote

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Quote of the Day

"I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them." ~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952

Not that I believe Mayor Stocks or the his posse would or could stop.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Deputy Mayor's BFF*

* Best Friends Forever
I'm shocked, shocked I say that one of the Deputy Mayor's friends was selected for the ERAC group last night.  (Pronounced erase at this site.) The council majority selected Roger Bolus for the New Encinitas Representative.  Thing is, it isn't a bit clear that he even lives in New Encinitas.  Quail Gardens area is considered Old Encinitas.

And that is only the beginning.  Does the name ring a bell for anyone?

Here is a clue - a Gaspar team member allegedly yelled out at a Leucadia candidate forum in 2010.  Those close by said he called Teresa Barth a whore, stupidly misogynist hatefulness considering she was defending Kristin Gaspar against discriminatory remarks about her being a mother.  She looked right at the man and asked, What did you say?  And, no, he didn't reply; he left the forum with his buddies. Here's a clip snippet.


From an observer at the forum:

When these guys came into the room they drug extra chairs up from the back and took over two seats reserved at the front by event organizers. So, sitting behind them it was clear they were belligerent and bullying before anyone even started to speak. Did anyone else notice (or get video coverage) of one or two taking off the Gaspar shirt while walking out? Was that an attempt at stealth or a rejection of their candidate? This same crew was at the Olivenhain forum.
During that time, Leucadia Blog identified Roger Bolus, Rotary Club President, as the central figure above, while local papers hadn't even asked the questions.

But, just because Roger and his cohorts allegedly acted like bullies and attempted to harass and strong-arm Kristin Gaspar's opposing candidate they were not arrested or even accused of doing anything illegal.  So, by the kind of narrow reasoning so favored by the deputy mayor, mayor, councilmen Bond and Muir and the city attorney; justice can be reduced to Just Us.

As citizens we all have the responsibility to be vigilant.  Jean-Bernard Minster demonstrated that last night when he demanded the criteria for ERAC selection and exposure to the public's scrutiny.  This week's public demands for open government is only the first ripple in a great wave of dissent coming.

ERAC - Majority Armed

Monday, January 23, 2012

Sloppiness or secrecy, that is the question.

Editor Note: ERAC - at this blog - is pronounced erase, with a soft "C", as in Encinitas rather than a hard "C" as in club.

ERAC = Do Over? or Disappear?

ERAC (Element Review Advisory Committee) note of concern received this weekend:
"[ . . . ] looking at the agenda for the January 25 Council Meeting Item 6 addresses the staff recommendation that Council make appointments to the Element Review Advisory Committee with an effective date of January 26, 2012. I accessed the staff report associated with this agenda item and noted the following:

  • The report consists of an email to Council from Patrick Murphy, Diane Langager, and Mike Strong. In the Background section it states, "Council reviewed the applications at their January 18, 2012 meeting." Those of us at the January 18 meeting know that this is not the case.  Agenda item (Item 4), which stated "Council to meet with applicants for Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC)" was tabled. In regard to the wording of Item 4, Gus Vina stated that "the item in error says that we were going to hear the applicants, and that's not what we are going to do tonight."  
  • There is no list of applicants or the positions on ERAC for which they applied accompanying this report. The public was not allowed to hear the applicants and now the public isn't even given a list of who applied to review before the meeting? Sloppiness or secrecy, that is the question."
 Editor Note: List of applicants was included in January 18, 2012 staff report. The point being, this list should have also been included in this week's agenda packet. Was it only a week ago that this funny smell was named?

Update: Lisa Shaffer's excellent summary of this gigantic screw-up at City Hall is now posted at Encinitas Patch.  Go read the whole thing for a condensed version of the whole sordid story.  Here is a sampling:

COUNCIL CHAOS: When the draft update was released, Council members Jerome Stocks and Kristin Gaspar disowned what had been done and prior Council direction. Stocks berated the staff for bringing their “ugly baby” to the Council, asking everyone to say how beautiful the baby is. Ms. Gaspar pushed for a new round of public meetings and another advisory committee, the Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC). On Dec. 15, the Council agreed to create Ms. Gaspar’s proposed Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC), and another round of public meetings. However, the Gaspar proposals were not well thought out, and implementation of them is again creating some chaos.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Ego Soars

Breaking News! Via über crony club

ENCINITAS MAYOR, SANDAG CHAIR JEROME STOCKS TO HEAD DANON FOR SUPERVISOR CAMPAIGN
Encinitas, CA – Jerome Stocks, Encinitas Mayor and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) chair, representing all 18 cities throughout the region, today announced he will chair the Steve Danon for County Supervisor campaign.
Can't wait to see & hear what our mayor may have to say at city council meeting tonight or in the press tomorrow.  I guess Encinitas isn't big enough to contain our mayor's ambitions.

Stay tuned.

Today Wikipedia has gone dark in protest of the Sopa bill in congress. 
"For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
If you are in support of this fight, want to join in or just want to learn about internet freedom, visit this site or use a Google search for more.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

KC and the Sunshine Band

Musical homage to Kevin Cummins and the many other advocates for Sunshine Ordinance in Encinitas. See further information about tomorrow's, January 18th meeting below.


More seriously, open government is well and truly the most fundamentally important issue in all of the city issues. Councilwoman Barth has consistently spoken out for open government. This video clip spells out her views on the public's right to know.

January 18 Council Agenda Packet

  • Item # 4 Council to meet with applicants for Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC)
  • Item # 5 Review public notice mailer for the Comprehensive General Plan Update
  • Item # 6 Report from Commission for the Arts FY10/11 accomplishments and consider and approve FY11/12 proposed Work Plan
  • Item # 7 The Sidewalk Café Policy
The whole KC and the Sunshine Band intro relates to what's lurking in the Consent Calendar where it doesn't belong?
Calendar definition: "Items on each Consent Calendar are matters which are routine, and it is anticipated they will not be discussed separately. With a motion "to adopt the Consent Calendar" the City Council approves all Consent Calendar Staff recommendations, as shown on the agenda. Items may be removed for discussion by submitting a "PINK" speaker slip to the City Clerk".
If you guessed "Destruction of records in accordance with retention guidelines and pursuant to Government Code." you'd be right. By no stretch of the imagination could record destruction be considered routine or unworthy of public discussion. Citizens and Candidates have championed open government and the need for sunshine ordinances for years.

We as citizens have the right to our distrust. This council majority has consistently failed us. Their votes tell us they want us to keep our expectations tiny. This council majority headed by Mayor Stocks have battled sunshine ordinances and recently cost the city taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars by refusing to be open and forthcoming with a single pavement report. Kevin Cummins' lawsuit has been covered several times already at this blog here, here & here.

So, no doubt Kevin and others will pull this item from the Consent Calendar and be present for the other agenda items. Update: Schedule conflict with event to unveil art banners may empty the room.

Whoops! Another confusing message from city staff. And this is most critical for New Encinitas residents becoming involved in city government through the General Plan Update. First applicants are on the agenda to interview with the city council and then essentially told they are NOT needed for the council to make decisions. Sit down and be still? The applications were received more than a week before this meeting and only now volume and time constraints are considered?

Dear Applicants for the Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC):

Due to the volume of applicants and time considerations, the applicants will not be interviewed on January 18, 2012. On January 18, the City Council will receive the applications and provide direction. You are welcome to attend the January 18, 2012 meeting. You will be notified of the date the Council makes the appointments.

Thanks.

Patrick Murphy
Director of Planning and Building
City of Encinitas


Monday, January 16, 2012

Quote of the Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered." A Testament of Hope (posthumously published essay).

Hat tip/Tony Kranz

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Our Mayor Stocks Leans to the Far Left

Edited for clarity and length, 9AM
Made ya look! . . . you who Googled. Seriously, the new cameras just installed at Encinitas city council chambers have some really odd effects that need some adjustments. One could get vertigo trying to watch these close-ups that tilt to the left and to the right. Did you find yourself tilting your head when you watched from home?

Making caricatures of community members speaking out at council meetings?

You can’t make this stuff up! No, I don’t believe it is a conspiracy to give speakers at the podium the Modigliani treatment. Figures are elongated and the background is squeezed into an unreal perspective like this painter’s portraits. Look again at a clip. It's odd.

Allowances will be made for the IT workers at city hall to work some more to give people who view meetings on television’s channel 19 or online a better picture of our city government in action. And maybe we can get more and better views of the audience and audience reactions too.

This is not to say that the physical space, the furniture, furnishings, audio-visual and technical voting system haven’t created real obstacles in the past. The city council members, especially Jim Bond, struggled mightily to figure out how to vote on new equipment. It was painful to watch.

Who can forget the childish bullying during our mayor Stocks’ first days his second stint as mayor in 2008? For no apparent reason the podium was turned to face the council at the center of the public aisle, rather than classic position alongside the dais, facing the camera to allow a speaker to address the television / online audience, the chamber audience and the council from the podium.

When activist Lynn Braun angled the wheeled podium into the regular position she was scolded by Dan Dalager. Lynn was the thorn in the majority's side and 2007 was particularly intense for Lynn's scrutiny of council behavior. She had an uphill climb each week. Finally, after several weeks the wheeled podium was bolted in the position the majority preferred – facing them exclusively. It still is bolted in place with industrial strength bolts. So, we now show our backsides to the camera and the public audience. I guess they showed her! Silly men.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Solar Rate Change Rejected

The following clips speak to this last week's agenda item on SDE&G's rate hike proposal. Since SDE&G has a zillion dollars and a whole marketing department, their presentation gets short shrift here. The emphasis is on the Solar Coalition position.


There were so many good (informative) speakers it was difficult to edit. Included here is a speaker with historical information, a small business voice, a story of an older couple planning for retirement and a new resident who made informed choices - twice - to invest in solar.


Do you get the impression the supermajority (except for mayor Stocks) were awkward with breaking from the public utility associates? I'm not sure we've heard the last of this. The
"I'm more green than you" tone was reminiscent of high school. Good for Barth for refuting that approach to green.



Friday, January 13, 2012

Toxic Soils, Developer's Failure & City Response

Mayor Stocks, why was this soil remediation closure report put on this week's agenda when there was absolutely no individual or government entity to take responsibility and answer to public questions of health and safety?



Since last spring when Leucadia residents were getting sick breathing the air around 1492 Hymettus Avenue during site grading for a 19-unit subdivision, the city staff fulfilled legal and regulatory requirements and little more.  The city has interceded on several occasions when DEH had signed off on City Ventures actions.  According to these people the message from the city has been, trust us. 



This week these 4 neighbors returned for a third time to seek answers and oversight response to their distrust of the developer's environmental consultant, City Ventures and DEH's complicity with the developer over the health of the citizens.  Instead, they got weasel words from Patrick Murphy. Above all, these people ask for more than, trust us.

It seems clear that remediation of pesticide-infused soils, essentially brownfields, throughout Encinitas' agricultural swath of land will continue to be a contentious subject. 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

2012 City Council Audience Challenge

Update: 1/12/12 at end
Beginning tomorrow night, January 11, 2011, the challenge begins to all Encinitas residents. Which community can fill more seats each city council meeting or Butts in the Seats Competition for short? During the open mic portion or oral communications, if using its official (nineteenth century sounding) title, a selected public speaker will ask the audience to raise a hand as each of five community names is called out. Maybe we’ll ask another volunteer to get a quick count for each of the five communities, since we can't rely on press to get numbers right. Oh, and we've learned something from the night activists protested Mark Muir being selected for Maggie Houlihan's seat. We shall first ask for a count of the people at the meeting from outside Encinitas. (Staff too?)

We’ll try to keep as accurate a tally as possible here at “Our Mayor” blog. Technically this has nothing to do with our mayor or the city council members per se. The super majority is just not that into us. As stated before, no matter which town you live in, there are these two rules:

1. There is a club.
2. You are not in it.

But, until we elect a more representative council, we are still Encinitas residents with everything in common. We're connected; be it our parks, our beaches, circulation, natural resources, infrastructure, schools, food centers and commerce. We get involved in city governance because we love the characteristics of our own neighborhoods and towns. Here is a way for all of us in Encinitas who gather at places like city hall to proudly represent the community where we live.

Secret Hand Signs

You don’t have to say a word. Picture yourself in a crowd, like the city council chambers or at the local store. Here’s how you can represent your home town, the American Manual Sign Language hand alphabet system. Millions of people already know it or use it, some of you may never have heard of it. The original English version has been around about 400 years, so it works.

Cardiff by the Sea – Using curved hand to form a C, shown in the illustration turned to the side, it technically is made with the palm facing forward. It is fitting that the curved hand and thumb resemble a wave and beach relationship. This hand sign is also used in the Occupy Wall Street general assemblies when asking for “clarification”. This too befits the Cardiff character of high expectations and point of pride for information clarifications.

Encinitas’ historic coastal center - Made with fingertips bent along the length of the thumb, just like the coastal corridor, forms an E. The land, the roads all converge on the coastal origins of our historic downtown. It’s the size and shape of a human heart and you've just got to love it. It’s often called Old Encinitas or Historic Encinitas to differentiate it from New Encinitas.


New Encinitas – Hug the thumb with two fingers on each side curled into the palm to make the N sign. It looks like new growth emerging, with the tip of the thumb just visible between the fingers. With Leucadia and Olivenhain to the north, the east and Cardiff with old Encinitas to the south, the west; the hand symbol reinforces activist support to new volunteers: “We've got you covered.”

Leucadia – L is one of the easiest hand signs and one of the most assertive points up with the pointer finger and juts out with the thumb. This is a confident sign that is palm facing and disarming. Disarming? Pointed differently it’s a gun. (Leucadian activists are labeled threats by our mayor.) There is some retribution in this ubiquitous “L for loser” being wielded by Leucadians – not at them by smug critics. Careful out the Leucadians, don’t bully the bullies.

Olivenhain – O is like the C, but the fingertips touch the thumb. And like the C, it’s shown here turned to the side to see the O shape, but should be made with the palm facing forward. Think of lots of zeros – representing large numbers of acres for this rural community, large numbers in income for these residents. Unlike the C -Cardiff or the L-Leucadia, it's not open sign. Like Olivenhain a closed or contained community.

The musing about these signs is a way to help remember them and make using them playful. Sadly, a fatal flaw for community conscious people is the trap of taking ourselves too seriously. There are so many serious issues, it's easy to confuse the work and goals with our personal identities. These past several months exposure to the Occupy Wall Street movement helps provide a breath of air in the standing up for our beliefs in unconventional ways and respectful support of each other. We have hundreds of hours of city council videotapes with citizens earnestly and succinctly speaking out and being summarily ignored. We can occupy our council chambers by communicating with each other in many ways, even when the majority of the people on the dais ignore us.

Here are a few of the hand signals used by Occupy General Assemblies each and every day all across the nation to conduct business and communicate feelings without disrupting an ongoing meeting.

So, the challenge, Butts in the Seats Competition, is to fill those seats with our community members. Ask a neighbor to join you. Hey, ask a different neighbor each week. Have fun with some of these secret hand signals. Our mayor Stocks and councilman Bond will both be bound to come up with some reason it isn't okay to use our hands. Let’s fill those seats and give Councilwoman Barth some company, some eye contact and friendly faces to see instead of empty seats and sheriff deputies in back. It’s got to be lonely for this champion of the one vote most consistently in our favor.

Update: 1/12/12 -No volunteer for hand counts of people, no secret hand signs.   But there was the great, good fortune of Council Chambers being packed.  The Girl Scout Brownies filled the front and a dozen cops were at the back when the meeting started.  Following presentations the front emptied.  This was a good start to the year.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Caption This


I tried, I got nothin'. That is a really awkward vignette. Mayor Jerome Stocks with his hand out, Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar excelling at her singular contribution (smiling) and James Bond in an inexplicable position. Mark Muir is behind the scenes somewhere, his preferred position.

Andrew Audet wrote in the Coast News last week about this day our mayor was selected, saying:
"The Encinitas city council super-majority recently appointed council member Jerome Stocks mayor. Some 75 percent of the residents in attendance stood in silence and turned their backs to Mr. Stocks when he was selected. It was a powerful community commentary, but not surprising, as Stocks and the council super-majority have had a history of seemingly turning their backs to the needs of residents."
Snap! Now that you are fully focused, a reminder that the first city council meeting of 2012 is in two days, Wednesday, January 11, 2012. This week's agenda you ask?
Presentations by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and Stellar Solar regarding SDG&E's Phase 2 General Rate Case (solar user rate increase) application before the California Public Utilities Commission.

Public Hearing of an appeal filed by Phil Fischman regarding the Planning Commission's approval of a Minor Use Permit (MIN) to allow the total area of all accessory uses onsite to be greater than 1,200 square feet.

Discussion of the County Department of Environmental Health's Closure Report regarding the level of pesticide found in the on-site soils contaminated by pesticides and the related health impacts associated with the remediation plan approved by DEH for the City Ventures 19-unit subdivision at 1492 Hymettus Avenue.
Spoiler Alert. Encinitas citizens have every reason to be vigilant regarding:
  1. Public Utilities justifying increased rates.
  2. City Planning Staff's interpretation of land use for individual property owners and city council members perspectives and interest. Consistency is not either groups' strength.
  3. No amount of scientific data seems to guide ultimate council majority voting.

These are based on empirical evidence and has no relationship to the specific facts, people or presentations scheduled for this upcoming meeting, Wednesday at 6 pm. This will not be a meeting to turn our backs, 2012 will go down in local history as the Awakening.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Nurseryman Hall Is Gone

Today the North County Times includes the obituary article for Robert Hall with a photo from the Hall family.

"Robert Hall, one of the big names in the region's flower-growing industry and the former owner of a 43-acre property that's slated to become an Encinitas city park, died of cancer Dec. 20 in Leucadia."
"Known for his ability to capitalize on innovations in the nursery business and put them into large-scale production, Hall at one time had more than 80 acres growing under plastic in Encinitas."
Warm wishes to the man's family and friends in their loss. Though this isn't actually a post about Robert Hall or the mess our mayor Stocks or the city has made of the park plans following purchase of Hall's property in 2001 for $17.2 million. No, this is about our imaginations, our visions regarding Encinitas precious agricultural acres - a swath that runs through the heart of the five communities - and our sustainable future, our homes, our foods, our land use and economy. For the late Hall and so many of his fellow nursery owners hit hard by globalized business flooding the US economy with cheap imports, many have chosen upzoning of Agricultural land as the only land use option.

Editor's Picks

Alternatives that retain, but rethink the Agricultural land use are available all over the world. In response to climate change, peak oil, unemployment, food security and food safety; localized food production is increasingly pursued as a serious community investment. The following video from Civil Eats shows one Wisconsin town's approach to historic unused local greenhouses.
"It all seems like such a waste of resources and energy and a sad reminder of the pace our economy has slowed to. In the face of this hardship, ideas such as The Greenhouse Project in Central Wisconsin offer respite. A group of passionate people, working on a volunteer basis towards providing “opportunities for participation, education, cooperation, and action to support a local food economy in Central Wisconsin” have banded together and successfully started renovations on a dilapidated 38,000 square foot property in downtown Stevens Point. The vision is to create a self-sustaining, multi-faceted production and education center, where rural farming techniques can coalesce with a thriving urban community ready to learn about them."

Will Allen and Growing Power mentioned in the video clip - visit blog for this dynamic man and his impact in Wisconsin.

Greenhouses, Greenhorns and Green Houses (oh my)

And the concept in the video of teaching people how to farm, how to grow food directs me to this fantastic group of organized young farmers called The Greenhorns. What they wouldn't give to have access to Encinitas greenhouses and possible eco-communities for farmers-in-training on agricultural land! Tiny homes densely clustered next to agricultural training facilities is even a tourist enticement. This is a density that is growing in popularity and would make some sense for other infill areas around this community. Do we ever hear ideas like this from our city council chambers? From our local press? From critics of the ongoing GPU land use element draft? If not developer-led housing and big box commercial land use, what?

Lastly, a short trailer about Transition 2.0. movie soon to be released. Transition is an international movement wherein communities are rethinking the way they view their communities and the future.


Isn't this what a General Plan Update asks of us, to envision our future? All over Encinitas people are up in arms over the draft GPU. What we are not hearing are alternative plans, other ideas. The strength of local businesses, co-ops over the vulnerability of relying on multi-national chains like Walmart? Let's get those facts out into the open. If we throw into the mix the whole range of unsustainable current systems failing all around us, these alternative examples in imagining our future are food for thought. They are presented for that purpose and to encourage us to look beyond the short term to the future for the next several generations. And, they are encouraging despite the unmistakeable challenges.

Quote of the Day

"The only thing that can stop us now, Turko, is the county bureaucracy, but we're working on that. Our staff is in daily contact waiting for the final approval so that we can go to bid, award a bid and build this thing." Jerome Stocks
Mayor Stocks is doing what he does - blaming others - regarding Hall Property sitting empty for a decade instead of Encinitas having a park. KUSI "Turko Files" shows Michael Turko speaking with Tony Kranz, Kevin Cummins and Mayor Jerome Stocks in (tiny) video format. If this were a drinking game and you took a shot for every lie, for everyone and for everything Stocks blames for no park being built, you'd be cautioned not to drive right now.

Unable to embed video so you'll need to go to the source. Note, talking heads and advertisement precedes clip. Oh yes, and Michael Turko adopts the framing used by the council majority that NIMBY's (not in my back yard) are the wacky people complaining and keeping all good things out of reach. Well, no, he gets that one wrong and his opening premise.

Take a look at video archives of the many Hall property discussions in council meetings. (You can look forward to clips at this blog all year.) Really serious issues have been raised by a whole community of conscientious citizens, including leading scientists who live in our city. The council majority typically fights, forgets, deflects or otherwise fails to address or solve issues raised in any kind of timely fashion. Some local political history buffs in the anonymous comments lay out these verifiable facts at the Undercover blog. The consistent message to the community from this majority has always been and will continue to be told to sit down and shut up. On the other hand, I'll chalk Turko's characterization of a NIMBY problem as the one our Mayor supplied. We'd really like to see Turko continue to expose this story to the voters of Encinitas.

You'd think Our Mayor suspects we are all stupid or have no memory or ability to get the facts out to the voting public. He'd be wrong you know; a veritable mountain of wrong.

Update: Speaking of facts. Kevin Cummins has a a whole retrospective for you at Leucadia Blog.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Delighted Stocks Flip Flops?


Everything Stocks opens with in this clip seems clearly to be what the developers want and SANDAG wants and the State is pushing. So WTF?

Watch and come up with your own observations. This about-face invites speculation and parody . . . That's all there is until someone can tell us what Stocks, Andreen - the Crony Club have as agendas and who is funding all of it.

Investigations. Exposé. STAT!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Calendar Stress

There’s a mad scramble to get 23 individuals to apply and be selected by the city council’s super majority to the brand spanking new Element Review Advisory Committee (ERAC) by January 9. Hurry, hurry, hurry. If you don’t apply our Mayor will say you just don’t care or (another favorite) you can’t disagree because you didn’t apply. The ERAC will meet on a regularly scheduled basis on Saturdays and/or weekday evenings. Application here.

Who amongst us believes that 17+ hastily juggled General Plan Update Elements meetings in front of all city commissions, committees on top of the dozen plus regularly scheduled city council and planning commission meetings in 90 days will get us any closer to a better plan? The thoroughness is refreshing, the timeline is punishing. Doesn’t the latter negate the former?

To be clear, there are the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) members and committed citizens who have been a part of this process for two years; including the last four months of reading through the draft document. Councilwoman Barth has been at every workshop, General Plan function and weekly study groups to review the 2035 GPU Draft. No other council members have had more than perfunctory involvement in the public process. For past participants this schedule is onerous, but given the background of being educated to the many elements it is do-able.

ERAC, this soon to be appointed ‘other’ group of new participants may well be playing catch up to review all draft General Plan elements. The good news is that New Encinitas citizens are getting involved in local government. There are some really talented and dedicated community members who, through baptism by fire, are becoming seasoned activists. A handful of volunteers have worked tirelessly to communicate with as many neighbors / citizens as possible. One thing they have against them is this glut of information (1,000 plus page draft document) and meeting commitments (see above) and historical perspective. To quote Shock Doctrine author Naomi Klein, “People without memory are putty.”

We must beware the environment that would manipulate people through perceived crisis and fear or dread out of context. Some of the loudest compelling arguments come from our Mayor and his crony network with full agendas none of us in the public are privy to knowing. Speculation is all there is to date. This blizzard of meetings came out of seemingly choreographed populist uprising. Was this first anticipated by Mike Andreen? (Stay with me on this one . . . ) At the onset of General Plan Update process in the fall of 2009 as Andreen was re-inventing himself as the New Encinitas Chamber of Commerce whiz where he wrote this newsletter warning regarding the soon to be launched General Plan Update,
“New Encinitas is the economic engine of Encinitas but decisions could be made by coastal representatives that effect [sic] those of us who live and work here.”
Simply having a voice doesn’t seem the central point as he amps up the threat to New Encinitas with this charge,
“The first Mayor of Incorporated Encinitas made sure that all cross streets leading into Olivenhain were obstructed so ALL traffic was driven through New Encinitas and not her neighborhood. Obviously, we don’t want something like that appening [sic] again. New Encinitas has 2/3rds of the City’s votes and generates over 2/3rds of the sales-tax dollars in the City; now with hope and hard work, it will have some say-so on what its future is.”
What? They’re bigger and wealthier and need to be in charge? Or is it because, presumably, New Encinitas residents have been barred from the democratic process? That’s implied and it’s a lie that can now die as New Encinitas neighborhoods rouse themselves into community involvement. Volunteers from the other Encinitas communities are anxious to join in this process of New Encinitas stepping up and becoming informed and engaged.

Two years and Mike Andreen couldn’t get a toehold until the September 14 council meeting rally, kicked off by Stocks’ “ugly baby” performance piece, was the chance for Mr. Chamber of Commerce expert to speak. He followed a cadre of business owners who claimed to have been rebuffed or forgotten. The council discussion ended with councilwoman Gaspar presenting Andreen’s game plan like a spokesmodel for “stakeholders” and subcommittee motion dictated by Stocks. You can judge yourself with video clips - we'll post later.

Mike Andreen, like the majority council, seems to promote the financialization of civic life over any other planetary realities, the public good, laws or people’s aspirations or empirical facts. He blogged recently,
“Where did the ‘walk-ability over financial stability’ decisions and directions in the 1100 page, million-dollar plus ‘Update 2035 Draft’ comes from then, if not required by the State?”
Not only is this question framed to pit economy questions falsely as either/or choices; if allowed, each and every decision made will have dollar values as the determining factor. Commercial and real estate voices can make threatening predictions if their business interests aren’t placed above any others. This is standard in corporate-speak decision making. Without even voting this thinking can poison. This is pay to play and not democracy. Our participation in the process must challenge this. Klein states, “Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”

Thirty meetings or even half that in 11 weeks do not bode well for the democratic process and the nascent activist movement in our most populated young community New Encinitas. It can be done. People are surprising and they can rise to this clarion call to participate directly in the future direction and values for Encinitas. The most vitally important part is if these individuals can STAY involved despite burn-out, betrayals and other potential bumps along the way. The council majority has counted on voter apathy and disengagement for more than a decade to build parity against all diverse voices not agreeing with them. Or simply stated, it makes their job easier the fewer citizens are involved. Rushing to deadlines is a well worn tactic, especially in an election year tactic. We need to put the brakes on this hysterical urgency.

Public Service Announcement Post Script:

From the City Website:
ERAC Membership and Selection: The ERAC is to be appointed by the City Council and is to be comprised of approximately 23 members, representing diverse perspectives and interests.

ERAC members will include residents, commercial property owners, and other community members. The application form will be utilized to appoint community members to these positions. Application here

In order to be eligible for appointment to the ERAC, applicants must not currently serve on the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) or any City commission or committee. At the conclusion of the recruitment process, the City Council will review applications.

The deadline for submitting applications is January 9, 2012 by 6:00pm PST.

Other Ways to Stay Involved: Write or email your comments and ideas about the CGPU work program, visit the city’s website or the project website, and attend meetings as they occur throughout the process. Subscribe to city e-alerts and select your referred email notification/newsletter topics to receive email notifications of upcoming events.

PPS: Note, the bubble calendar is a real thing in the real world.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Sidewalk Dining for $.79/day

George Hejduk, a regular speaker at council meetings is the self-appointed watchdog on sidewalk dining and has spoken out regularly for years. There's a long history of the city not responding, responding but not enforcing ADA and other public aspects of our coastal downtown sidewalk dining. 2011 looked like this issue would finally get some resolution. 2012 begins without a final decision from the council.

The city staff findings are not presented here, simply a bit of discussion from Jerome Stocks in these two clips of Our Mayor's representing . . . his viewpoint. Characteristically, in two words, Stocks Mocks TM . . . a whole range of targets.



Sidewalk Dining is brought back to the council on November 16, 2011 agenda based on the above comments and more. Watch how Teresa Barth's attempt at addressing Jerome Stock's objection to an annual fee by treating it as a realistic concern is translated into a manufactured(?) complexity.



Full April 13 meeting can be viewed here and November 16 meeting here. Sitting through these in real time made $.79 a day a really foolish sticking point for then Deputy Mayor Stocks. Only the cynical might guess this was for 2012 campaign support or some other political jockeying or simple vindictiveness.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year - New Media

As the New Year 2012 dawns, a word about this blog. It's meant to be a gathering place for the many, many people in Encinitas who are not happy with the governance of this treasure of a coastal beach city. In the parlance of this 21st century shift in media its known as an aggregator blog (or long form web-log). Aggregator is a pejorative to really talented writers, journalists and the most politically wonky purists amongst us. But, thankfully, Encinitas doesn't seem a hotbed of any of these types.

An aggregator by definition is all about gathering. The posts will direct you to other sources. Take this last batch of posts reviewing 2011. As with most posts, readers are pointed towards the original sources for news items shown as links (bold green labels) throughout. Click on these and come back to Our Mayor. These local news workers are paid salaries, presumably to uncover the news, the real facts behind the official speak. Often they aren't paid much unless they are a well known columnist and / or they don't do much more than "he said she said" reports or talking points from the majority. We will be critical. It's a promise. Happily we may see some young inspired journalists. We can dream and dream big.

Occasionally you'll find original writing, artwork and guest posts & white paper pdf's at this blog. This will be a treat rather than daily fare. Daily it would be just fine to have 25,000 voters a day stopping by for a quick read a few minutes before work and a few more in the evening - just to see what is going on in Encinitas. Hey, if that means 5,000 individuals from each of the five communities of Cardiff, Old Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain and New Encinitas - it would be fantastic! Pass the word people, pass the word.

There are a series of tabs below the masthead for resources at your fingertips. These are things only needed when you need it and you don't want to wonder where to look it up. Not to worry. Look up stuff here. This is a work in progress, so there may even be cartoons, quizzes, celebrity bios, activist stories, etc.

This is an election year and there is no shame in demanding the very best of our local media and our elected officials, city staff and our new candidates. It's unacceptable to be accused of non-patriotism, non-cooperation, radicalism, boredom, divisiveness or the other silly crap we have heard for far too many years from this council majority. We are citizens with voices and we expect more.