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
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| Ziegler on a mission looking for an office. |
The other two? meh . . .
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| Schuh is a complete mystery, no contact. |
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| Forrester wrote a "non-apology" for absence. |
BEING PREPARED - FAIL
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
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).
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
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.
