Serious Giving

Some opt out altogether from the historically recent custom of buying Christmas gifts. Some because their family and familiars have plenty of stuff, so the holiday has changed with the seasonal generous urge fulfilled with one of the hundreds of alternatives. This isn't a new concept.

Guess Who Loves Encinitas?

The recent news of the Gaspars being the ones behind the We Love Encinitas fliers, using the taxpayer funded Citizen Satisfaction Survey as a campaign device to promote Jerome Stocks and Mark Muir (dismal failure) prompts another question.

Why was Teresa Barth left off the 2nd mailer? She obviously loves Encinitas too. The following clip is from the Sept. 12, 2012 meeting when the True North consultant responsible for the Citizen Survey was questioned about the results.  It is worth watching the entire meeting with the advantage of knowing that the intended use in the campaign was a foregone conclusion for the council majority, the consultant if not the city manager.

It was clear several days before the election that the clumsy attempt to sway voters with Gaspars' We Love Encinitas mailers was doomed to failure.  The fliers and the sneering comments against Candidates Shaffer and Kranz and their supporters being the 2% who didn't love Encinitas insulted people's intelligence and sense of basic ethical standards.  

Despite the above clip, we heard that Paul Gaspar claims Teresa Barth indicated she didn't love Encinitas.  This isn't a direct quote as this blogger had to hear it on the grapevine.  But, it was so patently a lie and downright slanderous something needed to be said.  These twisted kinds of defense will only continue to poison the council's environment.  And that is indefensible. The new majority won't stand for it. 

And just one more clip to remind us what the current majority had to say about the survey when it was proposed March 28 of this year.

Note how Barth attempts to follow through on Bond's critique of a survey in an election year and she is cut off by our Mayor Stocks.  Deputy Mayor Gaspar uses the city manager as fall guy technique to force the vote.  She has used this bullying before with Gus Vina here and here. (Hopefully, this blogger won't be the only one crying foul if she continues with this in the upcoming year.)

A word about the whole point of the Citizen Satisfaction Survey.  So, presumably it was for the new City Manager, Gus Vina, to get information.  He defends it after the fact in his November newsletter, dated the same day Marcos Gonzalez of Coastal Law Group released the search results for the We Love Encinitas records.

The irony du jour is that there is a 6 pm public meeting tonight, Nov. 27, at City Hall on the Hall Property Park with only the most vague description on the city website. News of this via Patch appeared early today or late last night only because Councilwoman Barth saw it on the city website and alerted the press.

Doesn't that perfectly illustrate Barth does love Encinitas and goes above and beyond without grandstanding?  If the city manager will check out the citizen responses to city communication in the now infamous Citizen Satisfaction Survey, it would be clear to him that posting on the website alone isn't very effective.  City Manager Vina, please try harder to be a real ally serving Encinitas citizenry.  Continuous improvement . . . amirite?

Who was behind the We Love Encinitas Deceptive Mailer?

Last October 7th people were passing out this flyer at the annual Olivenhain Oktoberfest.   People were outraged that the taxpayer funded Citizen Satisfaction Survey had been manipulated to serve as propaganda for Stocks campaign.

On Oct. 12 Encinitas Undercover posted the background on the mailer after the widespread delivery of this piece to people's homes.  

"Think about that: Jerome Stocks' backers are getting tax deductions for sending out what are, for all practical purposes, campaign mailers.  I suspect the IRS will frown on this charade and those involved will face legal consequences.  But even if not, what was Stocks thinking?  On the heels of sign-gate, to serve up another prime example of cutting corners and bending or breaking rules for political gain?  How much more blatant could he be in validating the complaints of his harshest critics?"

Yesterday we learned that the person responsible for the mailers via the Secretary of State database thanks to Coastal Law Group responding to inquires for information.

Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar's Husband, Paul Gaspar!

Entity Name: WE LOVE ENCINITAS COMMUNITY ADVOCATES
Entity Number: C3515796
Date Filed: 10/22/2012
Status: ACTIVE
Jurisdiction: CALIFORNIA
Entity Address: 140 ENCINITAS BLVD STE 105
Entity City, State, Zip: ENCINITAS CA 92024
Agent for Service of Process: PAUL GASPAR
Agent Address: 140 ENCINITAS BLVD STE 105
Agent City, State, Zip: ENCINITAS CA 92024

So, it isn't listed here whether this a non-profit or 501(c)(3).  What is significant beyond the staggering arrogance of Paul Gaspar, Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar's husband, is the date of activation on Oct. 22 being two weeks after the date when the misleading campaign piece was widely distributed.

Is it stupidity, naiveté or as stated, staggering arrogance, to disregard laws so blatantly? It isn't like this family hasn't already been challenged and failed on this front.  Before it was the deceptive slate mailers.  Early in October Councilwoman Barth wrote a commentary reminding citizens to be ready for the October Surprise of hit pieces via the mail. This was cross posted at EYNY.

"Slate mailer companies are also used by various individuals to send out last minute "hit pieces" on candidates. By using a slate mailer the actual contributors can remain unknown until after the election when the contribution reports are filed with the FPPC. These companies also provide a means for contributors to, legally and illegally, circumvent local campaign contribution limits.

In the 2010 election, the Voter Education Group sent out a mailer endorsing candidates Kristin Gaspar and Dan Dalager and blasting me. The group was later fined more than $110,000 by the FPPC for various state-wide financial reporting violations.

It's not illegal to pay for a slate mailer endorsement but is it ethical?"

This is the pressing issue for Encinitas citizens and for the new City Council, what does Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar have to say about her husband's exploitive use of the taxpayer funded survey and corporation creation?  We don't know all of the legal issues or ramifications, but we can uncover right now what the ethical issues are.

Landmark Ruling, "Dark Money" group tied to Citizen United ordered to reveal its donors.

As Democracy Now! has previously reported, one of every four dollars spent on the campaign ads, direct mail and robocalls that target voters now comes from so-called "dark money" organizations. The IRS lets these groups keep their donors secret because they are considered "social welfare non-profits." But that changed this past Friday when a Montana judge ordered the release of one such group’s bank records. An investigation had found that Western Tradition Partnership may have misled the IRS about the extent of its political activities, and that citizens have a right to know where its campaign cash was coming from. The group is known for bringing a lawsuit to the Supreme Court that successfully challenged Montana’s ban on corporate spending in elections, and the resulting ruling extended the court’s Citizens United decision to include all 50 states. Friday’s ruling marks the first time a court has ordered a dark money group’s donors to be made public, and some say the judge’s move could serve as a warning to similar organizations.

Democracy Now!

October Surprise

Ignore the alpha dogs - bullies (funded) barking. Cat-titude

Teresa Barth's Newsletter featured the following this week (with image selected for guest post by editor):

No doubt about it - Elections have changed.

In the good old days Encinitas council races were much more homespun. Candidates handed out photocopied flyers at the grocery stores, met residents at neighborhood gatherings and community events. Real grassroots candidates still do.

But technology and money are changing that genuine person to person contact.

Already there have been two phone polls to gauge public opinion and robo-calls to communicate with the voters without having to actually talk to them.

Robo-calls are pre-recorded messages that can be sent to a wide selection of phone numbers. In the last weeks of the 2010 campaign, Councilman Jim Bond recorded a call in support of then Mayor Dan Dalager who was under investigation for conflict of interest. Dalager was defeated and later convicted of the charges. More recently, a number of people have reported receiving robo-calls from Mo Muir and Jim Bond urging support of Mark Muir who is running for the city council seat he was appointed to after the death of Maggie Houlihan.

Phone surveys can vary in costs. The city recently paid True North to conduct a community satisfaction survey at the cost of nearly $20,000. It is now being used in a questionable fashion by an unknown group promoting the "city council." Having been on Council for six years I could take credit for the "favorable" ratings but I know that much credit also goes to city staff, our great weather and location. However, I presume it was meant to support the two current council members running in this election.

Earlier in the campaign season there was a poll asking for an opinion of the city council, city government and other general questions. This week there has been another poll. A sure sign that some group is VERY interested in the outcome of the city council race.

The poll included the usual questions. Are you satisfied with the city council and who are you voting for? However, an unrelated questions was also asked. What do you think of the Occupy Movement?

I am sure many people were curious about the Occupy Movement just as they were curious about the Tea Party movement. Does that make them a radical? No. I think that makes them open minded and willing to listen to different points of view.

Unfortunately, we will never know who was behind the polls or who paid for them. You can be sure it wasn't the grassroots candidates.

We often hear about the October Surprise in politics. It's the last minute hit pieces meant to change voter's minds. Generally based on lies and innuendos they are desperate last minute tactics by special interest groups.

Be prepared for the October Surprise.

Take it for what it is... a desperate act by an unethical group or individual.

It is not the tactic of candidates with a positive vision for the future of Encinitas.

Stocks Breaks Law Already?!

By law, election campaign signs are not allowed to be posted until 30 days before the election.

Jerome Stocks is two days early.  Of course he is.

Did anyone else notice that Stocks signs are using Councilwoman Barth's 2010 campaign sign colors - maybe even font?

We'll have to browse the files to see if we can't find a picture to add here of Barth for City Council 2010!

Friday, 6 pm update: There we go, let me get that for you.  Yes, indeed it looks like a  pretty close match.

7:30 pm update: Forgot to identify this right of way is at El Camino Real and Crest Drive.  Remember Crest Drive?  The whole community turned out several times at City Council to stand up for their right to keep their right of way, their trees and foliage safe from traffic engineering ideas of road widening, curbs and other standardized code strictures.

Encinitas Undercover, a self-proclaimed equal opportunity offender, is acting as go-between for groups with DUMP STOCKS bumper stickers and yard signs.

Jump over to Encinitas You Need Us for the links to Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz websites in the sidebars. Each has information about yard sign pick up points and laws.