Duck and Cover

The baby boom generation went through school years being lied to and terrorized about nuclear bombs and how one could protect oneself until the civil defense workers could come to one's aid. Seriously, years of this. A generation of kids anxious about "the bomb" and following the rules. Wednesday night the Southern California Edison (SCE) representative (corporate owner) of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (a really inappropriate acronym being SONGS) gave a presentation.

Presentation by the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services on the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station Emergency Response Plan and consideration of a draft letter to federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and federal legislators expressing public safety concerns.

According to a room full of well informed citizens, the 30 minute presentation was as useful of this 60 year old civil defense propaganda piece. Truthiness! The video clips below are the antidote to this kind of manufactured misinformation. These are just a small percentage of the evening's San Onofe interested electorate and council discussion. Don Mosier, Del Mar council member and scientist trained in radiation safety and biology. He speaks with authority of the contents of the Del Mar letter and the research leading to full and transparent public process. Data of NRC is based on information from the 1960's (like our film above).

   

 Gene Stone of ROSE (Residents Organized for a Safe Environment) spoke. He just met with Chairman McFarland of the NRC and he knows she is interested in meeting with local governments.

   

 Carol John Cowan spoke of the many issues of San Onofre, not just the emergency action plan presented which is predicated on a perfect day. She wants a full public hearing on all the issues, for more information for full transparency.

   

 Cathy Iwane spoke of living in Japan for 25 years and leaving for the safety of her children. This account is chilling as it is, unlike any other,  the actual experience.  

 

 Tory Johnson spoke. Later when it was clear that Edison "expert" the Deputy City Manager couldn't answer city council questions, Mr. Johnson jumped up and gave a succinct answer. When it happened again Jerome Stocks snapped at him and threatened him. Too much information for the mayor?

 

Councilwoman Teresa Barth provides the stronger wording of the Santa Monica letter (Friends of the Earth) to the NRC and it is approved by the majority in the revised letter from the Encinitas staff version. *you could knock me over with a feather* A rare treat indeed when the citizens and the representative for the minority voice is listened to and followed. (Just before midnight)

 

According to Mary: Homo Re-electus

Decorum? Deplore Him?

Trust that the general voting public knows how they'd like to be treated at city council.

Last council meeting's public meeting on Encinitas Ranch Golf Authority (ERGA). 

Some clips.

Issa Named Most Corrupt

On September 13th, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) won an award he’d probably love to be able to decline. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions, gave Issa a Dishonorable Mention in its 8th annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress report.

CREW cites Issa for illegally revealing confidential information from a sealed wiretap in the Congressional Record — while leading a politically-motivated witch hunt intended to hurt Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder — and then shielding himself from reproach and censure by claiming that he, as a member of Congress, had constitutional protections for his unethical actions.

As CREW explains, “Rep. Issa [...] knew that by inserting the information in the Congressional Record, he would be immune from prosecution under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate clause, which protects members of Congress for remarks and actions that fall within the legislative sphere.” Federal law dictates that wiretap applications can only be disclosed after acquiring permission from a judge, and anyone breaking this law can be held in contempt.

The irony here is that the House of Representatives — with Issa leading the charge — were at that time (June, 2012) actively debating whether or not the attorney general — due to the botched Operation Fast and Furious, run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (informally known as the ATF) — should be held in contempt. Wait, what?

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE.

Myths Encinitas

True Facts™ (clarifications at end)
After 11 years of public service, Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan died on September 16, 2011 and her colleagues in the majority at City Hall made a conscious decision to ignore her passing.  The flag at City Hall was not lowered.  The permit to hold a memorial was refused.  Her wishes to name a successor to her council seat were not only ignored, the special meeting was a TV/streaming blackout and the majority selection of crony fire chief Muir was an insult to injury for the representation of the Encinitas minority voices.

And, then the tipping point ultimately came in the Arts Alive! Banner program honoring Maggie Houlihan in recognition of her support for the arts as it was mishandled, misdirected and Jerome Stocks accused the sponsors in print of political purposes.

This is where the myth begins.  Jerome Stocks was immediately criticized by Maggie Houlihan's supporters, the Art Community and by the local papers.  He could have come away from all of this blow back without any political loss of face with the tiniest bit of diplomacy and good grace.  Instead, under the guise of serving the public (via property rights) he chose to drag this community through 9 months of controversy and divisiveness.

Our Mayor Stocks began his long campaign to create a justification for his petty, cruel behavior.  He has come to stand for utter lack of integrity in his role as mayor.  Stupidly, he continues to this day denying he said the things he is recorded saying.  He has, of course, relied on the cronies seated on the dais, Deputy Mayor Gaspar, Councilmen Jim Bond and Mark Muir to go along with and even expand upon each mythical aspect - be it the timeline, the participants, the City Manager role, the ironclad (it is not ironclad) process and procedure and straw man arguments. 

In late March of this year Houlihan's husband, Ian Thompson, notified the city council through Coastal Law Group that they would file a law suit against the city for infringement of 1st amendment free speech rights in this Art Banner ruling against showing the late councilwoman's image.  The ACLU also contacted the city regarding the violation of 1st amendment rights in this case.

Even here Stocks lied about the council being available to meet within Mr. Thompson's April 6 time frame when he said council members were out of town.  And when the council met and agreed to allow the banners to show Houlihan's image, despite the elaborate tap dancing by city manager, assistant city manager and the Deputy Mayor, the collateral damage was Stocks again refusing to give  any concession or any degree of cooperation as an act of goodwill.  He dug himself deeper into his mythical kingdom of "I'm right and everyone must pay for not obeying my words".

No signs whatsoever will be allowed in Encinitas until language of signage requirement is clear.  The video clip from this April 13 meeting shows the whole orchestrated narrative, including Stocks coaching the designated new guy motion maker, Muir in the next big waste of time, staff priorities and public goodwill - analysis of the false cause of banner outrage, unclear language. Even this ridiculousness was extended into August with another meeting to create a subcommittee - based on hired attorney (from Glenn Sabine's law firm) reading of the sign requirements. Jeebus.

From Dec. 18, 2011 to this Wednesday's upcoming meeting it will have been more than 9 months of Jerome Stocks personal animus for Maggie Houlihan has stirred controversy, created false narratives re-writing history and kept us from topics of real importance to citizens.  It has been painful and insulting to Maggie Houlihan's loved ones, supporters and close friends. This is wrong even to people who were not fans of Houlihan.  

It is simply not serving the public. It has cost the city in outside legal fees, staff hours and focus and valuable agenda time at the many council meetings with the mythical pretense of serving the public or as Stocks claims property rights or Gaspar claims of process and rules not being followed (no really, she said this) or Muir claims of really confusing language or Bond rambling, well Bond rambling. Throughout Councilwoman Barth is clear and consistent, the public implores and even the press  . . . doesn't matter at all to the club.

So, the Arts Alive Banners raised a lot of money at the  auction this spring, days after Artists 101 Colony director, Danny Salzhandler jumped the city hoops of filling out a form and then he set about removing the vinyl stickers the city Stocks had forced the group to place over Houlihan's image (at the cost to this group of $800).  DEMA and the Artist 101 have remained respectful and never overtly hostile to Stocks et al. 

All of this underscores what is shockingly bad behavior on Stocks' part and his co-conspirators in the majority.  Although he is the leader behind this myth making behavior, the council majority has in no way acted with any integrity.  Which brings us to this week and the agenda item for this Wednesday, approving the signage standards.  The complicit staff have dutifully buried a simple fact of one ambitious man's personal passions directing city government operations against a rival after her death. The latest mountain of bureaucratic bullshit. 

The agenda packet guided by quantity of words over quality of information follows: 

BACKGROUND: At the August 22, 2012 City Council meeting, Council Members Bond and Muir were appointed to a subcommittee to review and make recommendations regarding potential changes to the City’s Banners Program over the public right-of-way.

The ad-hoc committee met on two occasions on September 5th and September 12, 2012. At those meetings the ad-hoc committee identified the scope of issues, obtain legal input, reviewed potential draft language and obtained input from representatives from Main Street and Arts Alive organizations. Suspension of acceptance of Temporary Sign/Banner Applications for banners and signs over public right-of-ways by non-city entities has been in place since April 11, 2012. No new applications for banners over public right-of-way have been accepted during the suspension period. 

ANALYSIS:
The desire in addressing issues on banners over public right-of-way program is to obtain an option that allows continued use of the streetlight standards and other public right-of-way areas for non- profits community groups to promote civic events, cultural, historic or other messaging of community interest, yet manage risk to the City.

In order to continue a banner program allowing civic-minded, non-profit parties to provide banners over public right-of-ways, the following issues were considered:

• Exclusively promote non-profit, civic events or promotional or celebratory depictions related to the City; 
• No depictions of political figures; 
• Council reserves the right to cancel the program. 

Attachment “A” contains the current temporary sign narrative regarding banners over public rights- of-way in the Encinitas Municipal Code and the proposed language changes.

The proposed language changes were also shared with other community/business groups not in attendance at the September 12th meeting via email communications.

FISCAL AND STAFF IMPACTS: No fiscal impacts.

RECOMMENDATION: The subcommittee recommends that Council consider revisions to the Encinitas Banners Program over public right-of-way and direct staff to prepare necessary revisions to the Encinitas Municipal Code.

Current Language: D. Banners over public right-of-way shall be permitted subject to the standards established by the City and approved by the City Manager or designee. Said banners are for civic and non-profit City-wide recognized special events. The banner shall not exceed 45 square feet in area and shall be located only on City approved structures. The banner may be displayed no more than 14 days prior to the start of the event and must be removed within 3 days of end of event. Installation shall be to City specifications. Fees to recover City costs in reviewing the applications shall be established by the City Council.

Proposed:
“D. Banners over public rights-of-way.

(1) Banners over public rights-of-way shall be authorized by a City permit pursuant to this section and subject to the standards established by the City and approved by the City Manager or designee. Said authorization shall be known as the ‘City’s Banner Program.’

(2) Said banners shall exclusively promote or depict:

a. non-profit civic authorized events such as art festivals, athletic events, car shows and similar events; and
b. promotional or celebratory depictions of or related to the City such as points of interest, attractions and milestones. 

(3) Banners shall not promote nor depict the likeness of any political figures. The phrase ‘political figures’ shall mean former elected public officials, present elected public officials and current candidates for any elected public office. The phrase ‘candidate’ shall mean any person who has publically expressed or demonstrated an intention to run for any public office and/or filed the appropriate papers with a government agency to do so. The purpose of this subsection is to avoid public controversy regarding the perception of any such figures, either positive or negative.

(4) The Banner shall not exceed 45 square feet in area and shall be located only on City approved structures. The Banner may be displayed no more than 14 days prior to the start of the event and shall be removed within 3 days of the end of the event. Banners not related to a specific actual event shall not be displayed more than 90 days.

(5) Fees to recover City Costs in reviewing the applications shall be established by the City Council.

(6) The City Council reserves the right to terminate the City’s Banner Program at any time; provided, however, that any banner erected prior to said termination may remain in place for the duration of its authorization to do so.”
_________________________________END_________________________________

9/26/12 True Facts™ Clarification 1: Permit was not issued for the memorial gathering because when application was made, it was explained a permit wasn't required unless there more than 500 attending. This line is eliminated.
9/26/12 True Facts™ Clarification 2: Flag was not lowered due to Nov. 19, 2008 council vote to follow Federal regulations for flag lowering. City Link scroll to the end, page 9. This was an agenda item because ex-Marine City Manager Phil Cotton was against Jerome Stocks having directed staff to lower the flag for one of his favorite ex-mayors of Encinitas.

This is how adults deal with learning what is true and what is myth.  They acknowledge a mistake.

What remains central is that the city did not honor Maggie Houlihan in any way.

According to Mary: Rocky & Bullwinkle

Scorekeeping - Candidate Forum, Cardiff-By-The-Sea

3 absent: Forrester, Schuh, Ziegler
2 clueless: Yost, Brophy
2 rule breakers: Stocks, Muir
2 winners: Shaffer, Kranz

The above tally is based on the most basic kind of rubric measuring above all showing up, being prepared, following the rules and providing the best responses to questions.

SHOWING UP - FAIL

Ziegler on a mission looking for an office.

None of these three have developed a candidacy message or presence in the community.  Kevin Forrester having no real presence in the campaign wasn't a real surprise.  It is pretty obvious the Republican Party, Rotarian endorsement was the money in the bank choice to replace Jim Bond.  Maybe he doesn't have to cachet of a name like James Bond, but in a community that loves it's trees he couldn't do better.

The other two? meh . . .

Schuh is a complete mystery, no contact. 

Forrester wrote a "non-apology" for absence.

For the local news online, the North County Times (NCT Hayne Palmour IV photos used here) and Encinitas Patch have posted.  This post isn't intended to double as a news story. It is about political opinion and observation.  With five years of council meeting videos, these first three candidates and the two that follow are viturally invisible, without a civic presence.

BEING PREPARED - FAIL

Yost is Toast
Barbara Yost was completely out of her depth by fumbling community and council questions she had no idea how to answer.

She completely unraveled when Dodie Crawford of DEMA challenged Yost's written stance attacking the Mainstreet 101 coordinator.  She could not gather her wits it seemed and admitted, "You got me."

Most of her responses sounded off the cuff, rather than a result of study of the Encinitas issues or sensibility of the laws that fall within the realm of city government.

One Issue Candidate = Weak Candidate
Similarly fact challenged, Thomas Brody was without any sense of the first issue raised, the strong Old Encinitas resident group's ongoing complaint to the city council to solve the problem of drunk and disorderly night life downtown. This became a real embarrassment for Brophy as this group dominated the questions throughout the forum.

He got better at admitting his ignorance in a more professional way than Yost, but not by much.

The man knows about and cares about ERGA (Encinitas Ranch Golf Authority), the continuing financial mess the Encinitas Ranch homeowners, like Brophy, see up close.
This city/developer partnership has been a nightmare and needs a lot of attention.

FOLLOWING THE RULES - FAIL

One Fan Man - Wife Mo Applause Feature
Mark Muir's very first speech, two minutes about himself, was cut off before he's made his points.  He often was unable to get his answer together within the designated limit.

In fairness, the Cardiff forum's experiment with 30 minutes of people asking Yes or No questions flopped.  Not only was Mark rarely able to answer with a yes or no, his qualifying remarks always went on too long.

As said before on this blog, Muir throws out words and phrases that may sound informed and adept, but he can't express himself well enough to use these words in comprehensive sentences (or within the time frame).

Rules Are For Others
Nobody disrespected the rules of the evening or the community members posing questions like Our Mayor Stocks.  Years of clips make this evening no real surprise.

Far worse than Muir or the others at the Yes or No format, Stocks pontificated about every subject.  Inexplicably, moderator Barbara Cobb's usual strong control seemed sluggish when hitting the timer bell to stop Stocks. Admittedly this is subjective as this writer has a real intolerance for the man's derisive tone and delivery.

Stocks essential disrespected most every speaker by degrees, breaking the rules of civil discourse.  Blaming the victim in one case by responding to her sharing how afraid she now felt when walking downtown (with all of the drinking crowd), he told her she should call 911.

When people raised a complaint he let them know they were wrong, or patronized the questioner with his version of history justifying the status quo.

PRESENT, PREPARED WITH SERIOUS & MEANINGFUL ANSWERS 

Deep Roots and Deep Respect
Tony Kranz was a picture perfect candidate with his consistent seriousness and physical presence. Unlike Stocks on his right trying to get a laugh and whispering towards Shaffer or Muir giggling with his wife Mo in the front row, Tony stood and answered each question.

He stayed within the time limit, he answered with clarity and emphasized listening to all views on a whole range of subjects.  His knowledge of all the issues was, well, deep.

Kranz threw out some innovative ideas of his own on top of acknowledging when another on the panel voiced a good solution to questions.  He stood firm on his own years long history of civic engagement and even challenged Stocks version of history.

First and Best
The first to arrive at the Cardiff event (with her own water bottle) and the candidate the best prepared to address even the most difficult questions like the General Plan Update and the I-5 widening, Lisa Shaffer won the day.

Even the painful first 30 minutes of the answer yes or no portion of the evening, Shaffer gave the most condensed but substantive qualifiying remarks to her yes / no responses.  She stayed true to the spirit of keeping the forum moving quickly during this initial phase.

On several of the more difficult questions she was able to address more nuanced approaches, clarifying misunderstood issues and other challenges completely missing from the incumbents answers or current practice.

The almost 120 or so in the room were really happy with what Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz had to say and showed it in enthusiastic applause.  The last questioner of the evening made a valid point about being disappointed that the Cardiff forum was dominated by downtown Encinitas questions around the drinking dilemma instead of focusing on the issues near and dear to Cardiffians.  She asked the candidates to each answer why she, a Cardiff resident should vote for the candidate. Again, Shaffer and Kranz gave the most aware and attentive answers.

There are two more candidate forums with different formats, it's not over yet.

Who's Calling? Why?

The preferable term here is vigilant.  In an era of Citizen's United when massive amounts of money has been handed over to block progressive candidates, propositions, legislation, voter participation and community organizing we owe ourselves heightened skepticism.

Mountain West Research is calling within a progressive group of people we know.  No, the actual number of how many other Encinitans have been called is a mystery, but it seems odd that so many activists are among the list.

Mountain West callers are asking for the resident by name.  In one case the caller did ask a woman who answered, she was #2 on list, if she was registered. Here are some of the questions (paraphrased):

• Satisfaction with city services?
• Encinitas right track / wrong track?
• Biggest local issues?
• Each of the council candidates: Very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, very unfavorable
• Who will you vote for?
• If you were to pick a third candidate, who wold it be?
• Who will you vote for for President?
• What is your party affiliation?
• Liberal, moderat, conservative?
• Elected mayor proposition: yes/no? 2years/4years? Prefer current system?
• No statewide issues, no other local legislative races no SDUSD or Mira Costa Bonds

Another resident said they asked her first name, age, political affiliation too. Also, when asked about satisfaction or dissatisfaction, the next question was why?  The respondent was to say in his or her own words why. 

One activist said this was thorough, legitimate poll (as opposed to the recently common "push polls").  To which this cynic thinks, well you need to gather data before designing a push poll. This seems like the stage one date collection. Clarification: Push polls are phone surveys that purport to gather opinion research but which actually use slanted questions to intentionally spread negative information about a candidate.

By simply using the Google machine for a few minutes, a bunch of interesting links came up without strenuous investigative efforts. Among them were the different write-ups on the New Hampshire push-poll violation where Mountain West Research had to pay a $20,000 fine. And another that clarified the New Hampshire Law that states:

“While push polling is legal in New Hampshire, calls must inform those who answer who the telephone call is being made on behalf of or in support of, or if the calls are in opposition to a particular candidate for public office.

They must also identify that candidate by name and provide a telephone number from where the push polling is conducted.”

Enquiring Minds Want To Know

There is not enough information here to make any kind of legal claim right now. But it's early days, critical days. Not everyone in Encinitas who spoke about these calls cooperated.  One woman called Mountain West and asked them who paid for the survey.

"They said they couldn't tell me - their contract said the client was to be kept secret. They could take my information and pass it on but the client did not have to respond." She declined. 

Another person also decided to call Mountain West directly. (Personally, I can't get a straight answer from Cox, Utility Company, Bank or City Staff.  I guess I wouldn't have even tried with Mountain West.)

"I just spoke with Jesse at Mountain West Research about the cost of conducting a poll. He was quite coy. Said they'd be happy to conduct another poll but would need a script and they objectives well defined before quoting a price."

Someone did some local digging and found this Mountain West comment buried under a 2005 election time illegal alien rant. In the comments someone is saying that Mountain West did research for the Prop A - the Paul Ecke faction. That was the 2005 hot topic.

For those standing tall as vigilant voters rather than simply being labeled paranoiac or a conspiracy nut, there's another one to share. First, we contacted Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz and neither of them hired Mountain West.  One of the supporters reported the following:

"I got a call last night from a man who said he represented Mountain West Research, and wanted me to participate in a poll about local, regional and national elections. 

I had to strain to understand him and asked him to repeat several things he said. He spoke with an accent I couldn't identify and slurred his words. He confirmed my name and phone number, and asked if I am registered to vote. 

His first question was whether I planned to vote Republican or Democrat in the upcoming election. I responded that I always vote Democrat and would never vote Republican. 

The caller again confirmed my name and phone number, and said he had no more questions for me."

For a fascinating blog post from California (Sierra Madre actually) where you can get a feel for a similar community reaction to our own, check out this post "Have You Been Called By Mountain West Yet?"

Oh and BTW, Mountain West sounds like a crap place to work. Maybe that's why some of the respondents thought the callers were from outsourced locations internationally.

Website www.mwrcenter.com
HQ Ogden, UT
Industry Market Research & Polling Services
Size 100+ Employees

This is just a tiny scratch of the surface by untrained citizens spending several minutes using Google, making some calls, speaking to each other.  What if we were to have the inclination beyond speculation and this triggered gigantic curiosity in this sleepy beach town?  On this anniversary of Occupy Wall Street it would be a healthy challenge and a rollicking good time. It is also a throwback to a time when citizens were aware of the threat to their security.

Editor Postscript: If I get a call I will ask who is paying for it.  Without that information I wouldn't dream of answering any questions.

Myths Encinitas

Update at end
Jerome Stocks has recently claimed he wants to be a leader in transportation as part of the evolution of transit in Encinitas and throughout the nation. Transportation is clearly a fiefdom for Stocks and his regional seats with SANDAG and NCTD take him away from his council duties on a regular basis.

Despite what his campaign messaging is, Stocks has demonstrated in the Encinitas City Council that his "leadership" is not interested in what the citizens of Encinitas have to say about how transportation should evolve for our community. And he is wont to share anything of the work with these regional boards beyond the most perfunctory announcements. As stated before, Leadership is mythical when nobody is allowed to know where things are headed. If the public is treated as followers alone, this is dictatorship.

When the widening of Interstate 5's EIR was being unveiled by Caltrans for public comment period in August of 2010, city council chambers were filled with speakers asking for this subject to be put on the agenda for discussion as our neighboring coastal communities were had already done. The majority, with Stocks articulating the facile opposition led the refusal.

Follow-up to this? A couple of months later, during the thick of the last election which uncovered Dallager's unethical behavior (with conflict of interest in a bank loan and in a council vote in favor of a guy who gave him a free kitchen), Judy Berlfein returned to the council to summarize the failures of the majority members despite more than a thousand public participants in the workshop process these council members refused to allow for public dialog.

Dalager is gone, but the pattern hasn't changed in the least. Public service, for Jerome Stocks, is a myth and evolving transit Stocks has promoted so far sounds a whole lot like the car-centric faux-public transit we've seen for half a century.

Update Monday 6 pm: Big oversight in forgetting to call out one of the primary reasons for posting this today. Caltrans plans to hold a public meeting on the supplemental report at 6 p.m. Sept. 19, this Wednesday, at the Encinitas Community Center. The report can be found here.

It is too bad that Jerome Stocks couldn't have directed California Department of Transportation to schedule a public meeting of this importance on a night other than a city council meeting.  How influential is Stocks as a leader in transportation to direct transit evolution, or whatever?

Stop Clapping - Tinker Bell Long Since Died

Update at end
Confidence fairy regulated financial indebtedness to create a stable economy has failed over and over around the world.  It seems child-like to ignore. What worked prior to the last decade can no longer be considered the way of the future.

This week's reading brought some insight about the difficulty so many have in grasping this reality, while they keep clapping, like boosters for more and more debt to magically solve indebtedness as Jerome Stocks proclaims financial acumen, can be attributed to one's world view.

The agenda for this week makes this timely. Wednesday's City Council Meeting will be jammed full of confidence fairy predictions based on realities that can in no sound way be counted on to apply. Add to the fairy analogy the demand for us to trust that magical agreements, trust and assurance happen just out of our sight at City Hall where bankers and developers are special guests. We can only speculate about revenue or investment planning. Here are the two big agenda items:

• Public Hearing authorizing the issuance of up to $8,000,000 of lease revenue bonds ("the 2012 Bonds") related to the proposed capital improvements to the Encinitas Community Park site and the Moonlight Beach site. 

• Public Hearing authorizing the issuance of up to $1,000,000 of Encinitas Ranch Golf Authority Revenue Bonds related to proposed capital improvements to the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course.

 Of course world view affects more than economics. It shapes one's sense of justice, quality, success and the future. The quote below could fit for a huge swath of Encinitas citizens. It's taken from a piece by Jeremiah Goulka.

"We believed in competition and the free market, in bootstraps and personal responsibility, in equality of opportunity, not outcomes.  We were financial conservatives who wanted less government. We believed in noblesse oblige, for we saw ourselves as part of a natural aristocracy, even if we hadn’t been born into it.   [ . . .] We were tough on crime, tough on national enemies. We believed in business, full stop."

According to the narrative shared by Goulka, his worldview was particularly challenged in the last decade when his work took him as a lawyer deep into Dept. of Justice work, FEMA work, war zones and more that challenged the assumptions he had always held.

Our Mayor Stocks is in no way on the same trajectory of self-examination and re-evaluation of this author. Just revving his engine for full campaign mode, he is the antithesis as a major myth maker in creating the shiny patina of false security in refusing to broach difficult topics or acknowledge any weakness in any way - ever.

No, the author's narrative is the one hinted by Encinitas people at informal gatherings, on the streets, at meetings and in door to door interactions.  And there are no doubt hundreds who are questioning all alone and telling no one.  It is painful to question all that you have believed.

At the end of his article is this revelation:

No one wants to feel like a dupe. It is embarrassing to come out in public and admit that I was so miseducated when so much reality is out there in plain sight in neighborhoods I avoided, in journals I hadn’t heard of, in books by authors I had refused to read.  [ . . . ]

Others do because they grew up in families that simply got it. I married a woman who grew up in such a family, for whom all of my hard-earned, painful “discoveries” are old news. Each time I pull another layer of wool off my eyes and feel another surge of anger, she gives me a predictable series of looks. The first one more or less says, “Duh, obviously.” The second is sympathetic, a recognition of the pain that comes with dismantling my flawed worldview. The third is concerned: “Do people actually think that?”

Delusions are not a substitution for deliberations.

Update: Sunday night a reminder of a particularly relevant Our Mayor post submitted last April with this same theme. Also, search on financial label and many more posts will be listed. This is not our first debt rodeo.

Rats! Attorney Glenn Sabine FAIL

For some of us this is our very worst nightmare, infestations of rats - along with mice infestations and a murder of crows in our neighborhood.  Since 2008 the people living in the same neighbor hood as the 703 Passiflora Avenue property belonging to a hoarder have had to cope with rats, stink and dead animals as well as the disgusting mess of garbage piled high. It's been their plague for four years.

Last night, Sept. 12, 2012, brought three of these neighbors to present their plight to the council.  Jonathan Hulsh, Thea Scott-Garner and Rudy Monica respectfully, patiently explained the details with photos.

The Code Enforcement Staff were praised for working 100's of hours, diligently.  But, it has wasted thousands of taxpayers dollars.  The City Attorney is charged with failing the people of this city while protecting the property rights and privacy of the hoarder above all else.

This was a really troubling account (IMHO). It is frightening to be invaded without power to stop the intrusion.

It stood in stark contrast to most of the evening's orchestrated booster rally with Rotary friends, developers, vendors, staff and survey consultant that could be considered a tax payer funded boon for the incumbents' campaigns.

Councilwoman Teresa Barth threw some cold water on the self-congratulatory delusion that council members were responsible for citizen satisfaction for Encinitas.

Thief!

Councilwoman Teresa Barth states on her website:

"I believe we must strive to sustain our five communities’ unique and varied character through fair and equitable implementation of the general plan, fiscal prudence, and environmental stewardship, with respect to all members of the community."

Mark Muir submitted to following for his candidate statement:

"We can continue to protect our treasured quality of life and the unique character of our five communities through fiscal prudence, environmental stewardship, and fair and equitable application of the General Plan."

Plagiarism is what this is called in a world of accountability.  Remember when students were kicked out of college for cheating by stealing writing of others?  Remember when journalists lost their jobs because of claiming other people's work as their own?

If this doesn't make you angry you may have lost track of some essential principle of humanity.  This is stealing.

Speaking of stealing, according to a large outspoken group of active and involved citizens, Mark Muir stole the council seat vacated at Maggie Houlihan's untimely death a year ago.  Despite Maggie's own endorsement of Lisa Shaffer and despite popular belief that the next highest vote getter from the previous election, Tony Kranz, represented the people's choice; Mark Muir took the seat handed to him by the council majority.

We have also heard Mark being considered a reasonable, rational voice within the majority club on the dais.  That's his scripted role, folks.  He is pretty devoid of anything on his own.  He is reading his lines, many of them lifted from Barth's own words to sound community friendly.  It's not new.  Kristin Gaspar did it throughout her meager 2010 campaign offerings and blatantly stole Teresa Barth's wayside horns project and presented it as her own in her very first council appearance. She continues to claim Barth's words, recommendations and motions as her own.

This opposition group doesn't have vision, ideas, plans or community goals.  They are part of an army following directions from their funding sources. This doesn't mean they don't have friends and family who love them and their own love for Encinitas beauty and bounty. What they don't have is a desire to serve the public's best interests, the public good or long range goals.

Mark Muir can hardly campaign on the real purposes, extract as much as possible from this lucrative community for those in charge of his election direction.

Funny, the usual desire here at this blog to link to sources and backup for all of the above is just not there today.  Without acknowledgment of facts, realty or any kind of accountability it just seems futile.

Mark Muir's theft of Teresa Barth's statement of many years of commitment to Encinitas was spotted in a Patch article.  We missed it until now.

Myths America

Update at end

PART ONE Historic Myth 

The excerpts in Part 1 below are from an article written for the Journal of 9/11 Studies for the eleventh anniversary of September 11, 2001, the day that terminated accountable government and American liberty.

"In order to understand the improbability of the government’s explanation of 9/11, it is not necessary to know anything about what force or forces brought down the three World Trade Center buildings, what hit the Pentagon or caused the explosion, the flying skills or lack thereof of the alleged hijackers, whether the airliner crashed in Pennsylvania or was shot down, whether cell phone calls made at the altitudes could be received, or any other debated aspect of the controversy."

You only have to know two things. 

One is that according to the official story, a handful of Arabs, mainly Saudi Arabians, operating independently of any government and competent intelligence service, men without James Bond and V for Vendetta capabilities, outwitted not only the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency, but all 16 US intelligence agencies, along with all security agencies of America’s NATO allies and Israel’s Mossad.  Not only did the entire intelligence forces of the Western world fail, but on the morning of the attack the entire apparatus of the National Security State simultaneously failed. Airport security failed four times in one hour. NORAD failed. Air Traffic Control failed. The US Air Force failed. 

The National Security Council failed.  Dick Cheney failed. Absolutely nothing worked.  The world’s only superpower was helpless at the humiliating mercy of a few undistinguished Arabs. 

It is hard to image a more far-fetched story–except for the second thing you need to know:  The humiliating failure of US National Security did not result in immediate demands from the President of the United States, from Congress, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and from the media for an investigation of how such improbable total failure could have occurred.  Instead, the White House dragged its feet for a year resisting any investigation until the persistent demands from 9/11 families for accountability forced President George W. Bush to appoint a political commission, devoid of any experts, to hold a pretend investigation.

[ . . . ]
Naive and gullible Americans claim that if some part of the US government had been involved in 9/11, “someone would have talked by now.”  A comforting thought, perhaps, but nothing more.  Consider, for example, the cover-up by the US government of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed or wounded most of the crew but failed to sink the ship. As the survivors have testified, they were ordered in a threatening way not to speak about the event. It was twelve years later before one of the USS Liberty’s officers, James Ennes, told the story of the attack in his book, Assault on the Liberty. I continue to wonder how the professionals at the National Institute of Standards and Technology feel about being maneuvered by the federal government into the unscientific position NIST took concerning the destruction of the WTC towers.

[ . . . ]
If enough Americans or even other peoples in the world had the intelligence to realize that massive steel structures do not disintegrate into fine dust because a flimsy airliner hits them and limited short-lived fires burn on a few floors, Washington would be faced with the suspicion it deserves. 

If 9/11 was actually the result of the failure of the national security state to deter an attack, the government’s refusal to conduct a real investigation is an even greater failure. It has fallen to concerned and qualified individuals to perform the investigative role abandoned by government. The presentations at the Toronto Hearings, along with the evaluations of the Panel, are now available, as is the documentary film, “Explosive Evidence–Experts Speak Out,” provided by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. 

The government’s agents and apologists try to deflect attention from disturbing facts by redefining factual evidence revealed by experts as the product of “a conspiracy culture.” If people despite their brainwashing and lack of scientific education are able to absorb the information made available to them, perhaps both the US Constitution and peace could be restored. Only informed people can restrain Washington and avert the crazed hegemonic US government from destroying the world in war. 

Improbably, Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy (under Reagan) and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate.  

PART 2 - Current Jingoism

Jeremy Scahill speaks out on Sunday show Up with Chris Hayes.  He steps away from the corporate side shows of the national party conventions by criticizing and holding responsible the corporate media.  This is an MSNBC program, owned by General Electric, a weapons contractor for the Department of Defense.

Jeremy Scahill, a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books. He is an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!. You can read his blog on TheNation.com here.

Of course the big theme here is War and the Military.  National Security has been used to justify abolishment of citizen rights and accountability at all levels. These are emotional subjects, but let's respect our citizenry can tackle adult subjects, both simple and highly complex.  Being treated as stupid will make us stupid.

Political malpractice? Mythmaking as public policy needs to be exposed on the national stage and on the local dais - regardless of political gamesmanship (or season). Pointing out if there never has been an acceptance of more than minimal deference to open government from the other national party and our local majority is part of this.

We could argue that the media is a major author of these myths and are nearly entirely responsible for filtering out, censoring or otherwise killing dissent.  Even locally our papers primarily act as a delivery system for news initiated by government sources or their funders rather than community dissenters. You will never ever hear anyone campaigning in 2012 locally or nationally bring up these myths.  It doesn't mean they don't matter.

Update, 9/11/12 @ 2 pm: Didn't think that the local news situation could degrade.  According to a Patch article this morning the North County Times has been Sold to UT San Diego.

Why?

Keeping It Classy, Mayor

"Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks said he noticed the billboard Tuesday while taking his daughter to school.

"It doesn't offend me personally, but I guess for some people it's a question mark ---- is it clever marketing or is it maybe a half-step too far?" Stocks said. "For me, frankly, it's pretty damn clever."

He said it helps that Spy is a well-known sunglass company and Encinitas is a beach town. Stocks said he's heard no complaints from constituents."

Quoted in NCT article, "Cute or Crass? Billboard Makes Splash in Seaside Town".  The title and article could easily be one of the hundreds of paid advertisements passing as a news story.  Normally this wouldn't be worth reading, yet alone writing about on the blog.

But it is a campaign season and Stocks supposedly embraces Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mitt Romney and other conservatives who center their alternate universe on "family values". You don't get to have it both ways with these people, masters of rigid and unbending dogma.

This is bound to leave an election year mark on Stocks.

For the record and for most of us, this misleading phrase - allowing the far right ownership over the words "family" and "values"  needs to be challenged continuously.  Here is a wonderful paragraph on values to consider as an alternative to those who would control our personal lives with their belief system from LOL your values.

"Anyway, a word on that whole voting for someone with values thing...
As it happens, I'm a values voter: I deeply value autonomy and consent. I deeply value bodily autonomy and consent. I deeply value equality and justice for marginalized people. I deeply value marriage equality. I deeply value stem cell research. I deeply value the separation of church and state. I deeply value science being taught in schools. I deeply value universal healthcare. I deeply value a robust social safety net.  

I value lots of other things, too, all of which make me a person without values, as far as the conservative base is concerned. 

Despite their reflexive and compulsive intoning of the word "values" during every election year, as if it's a magical incantation that can be uttered only by those who understand its complex truth, it doesn't really mean anything, in and of itself. It's an ethically neutral word. Everyone has values. What matters is not that you have values, but what values you have. Joseph Stalin valued killing people. Jeffrey Dahmer valued eating people. George Bush valued torturing people. I value not killing people, not eating them, and not torturing them. See? Everyone has values."

Afterthought Footnote: remembering how often Mayor Stocks intones, decorum.   LOL, Decorum? You score him.

This Is the Model for Candidate Debate

The Encinitas City Council Candidate Forums - where all candidates will present their statements and be questioned by the community are scheduled as follows:

Sept. 18 (Tues.) Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Oct. 3 (Wed.) Olivenhain
Oct. 9 (Tues.) Leucadia - New and Old Encinitas

Debate is still the terminology used, but real debate as taught in western culture's academic tradition is extinct.  Anyone who watched the ridiculousness of the months of Republican primary debates can attest to this.

The clip below shows what voters could be exposed to with articulate candidates educated and aware of the issues and willing to stand for principles worth defending against the mediocre, the mendacious.

Myths Encinitas

Mayor Stocks was interviewed for the campaign by Coast News and more than half of the responses related to his claims of transportation leadership.

The myth making here centers on two key features.  The first is  his giant wish making has nothing to do with being on the Encinitas City Council except as a means to his ends via his self-assigned regional board seats.  And these seats allow a small voice compared to federal and state officials in control of all of the aspirations and accomplishments he claims.

The second major myth is that his many years on the SANDAG and NCTD have been devoted to the Encinitas People's Business, capitalized to emphasize his actual responsibility.  A city council clip from the beginning of this year follows the article excerpt.  It's characteristic of his NCTD role being flaunted as part of a personal fiefdom rather than a public duty. Also, the pay to play aspect of these various plans don't really satisfy true public transit needs for all the people, just those able to foot the higher costs.

The article excerpt follows with OM editor comments bracketed:

As the SANDAG chairperson for a two-year term and the North County Transit District chairperson for two years, Stocks has become immersed in mass transit issues.  

He wants to be a part of the evolution of transit in Encinitas and throughout the county. “In terms of rail transit in the city, just like all along the coastal corridor, it will be double tracked, with more trains and a better commuter service,” he said. [federal & regional & state subsidy & planning dependent] 

“Federal regulations will change so that we could see light rail rather than heavy rail,” Stocks predicted. “Light rail use less energy, lower pollution and reduces sound impacts along the corridor,” Stocks said. “That directly impacts the quality of life.” [federal & regional & state subsidy & planning dependent] 

In addition, Stocks looks forward to the future growth in commuter rail and inner city transportation. “Encinitas’ relatively low density suburban geography doesn’t lend itself to successful mass transit,” he said. However, such services as the newly reintroduced Flex Bus that allows passengers to call ahead for door-to-door shuttle service within Encinitas and Solana Beach is a viable option. [federal & regional & state subsidy & planning dependent & ok if you have the fare price] 

As more and more cars take to the highways, Stocks said the future of Interstate 5 expansion includes HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes, two in each direction that will allow single passenger cars to pay for enhanced mass transit services. [federal & regional & state subsidy & planning dependent & ok if you have the fee price]

Here is that second major myth, Stocks doing the people's business in his role as NCTD chair. It looks more like another opportunity for self-congratulation and condescension towards Councilwoman Barth, numbering in the hundreds by Stocks and company over the past 5 years of meetings.  This matters because Barth's voice represents the community voice, the people's voice as much or more than any other council member. It was also the beginning of the more rehearsed version of dance team synchronization between Gaspar and Stocks.

View on YouTube if clip isn't displaying properly.

We have listened to years of meetings with council members reporting at the end of the meeting.  Jerome Stocks does not share much if anything with his constituents about what interests them most on the issues of the rail corridor or the regional planning.  For Stocks, information is power and he is obviously loathe to share.  Leadership is mythical when nobody is allowed to follow or even know where things are headed.

This is the tip of the myth mountain related to transportation concerns in Encinitas, so more will follow.