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.

According to Mary: A Short of History of Encinitas Crony Capitalism

Myths Encinitas

The Hall property mythologies are some of the longest running in Encinitas history - almost half of the 26 years.  Just in the last week the Jerome Stocks and Jim Bond were mouthing the same revisionist history at the big special city council meeting on July 11.

Yesterday's Our Mayor post provides 8 clips dating from 2008. Nobody is against the park or wants to delay the park.

Prior to Our Mayor blog, the Leucadia blog did some really great posts on various Hall property actions, reactions, lies and community commentary.  A search of the blog with "Hall Propoerty" brings up a non-chronological list with 32 entries, going back to 2006.

If one would read all of these posts with links, comments and view just these clips presented yesterday, you can get an appreciation for the weary sound of Jerry's Sodamka's voice in the following clip. He spoke at last Wednesday's meeting to go on video record that yet again the city was not accurately reporting history and was stretching credible limits with the financial package. We'll honor his desire to go on record by making it just a bit more public than being buried in the city video archives. Jerry is one of Encinitas finest myth busters. And his financial concerns are still valid despite the approval vote Wednesday for the finance concepts.

Hall Property Video Clips

Time to trot out years of clips regarding the Hall property.  Witness how this property has been used for campaign strategy in the past as it is now in 2012.  There are years of newspaper stories dutifully transcribing the majority decisions and the standard lines that the various citizens, councilwomen and outside agencies for the dereliction in handling this big purchase and the subsequent planning.  Sadly, video was not available to the public for the first 7 years. It was in these early years when the council was sued. 

Stocks throwing a hissy fit and changing the design(!) in 2011 another time.

Laughing Stocks

Explain to us exactly what is so delightfully comical about your Deputy Mayor acting out a kind of petulant interruption to the final vote on the long awaited and highly orchestrated event for your many promises to special groups on this momentous Hall park and Moonlight Beach financial package to proceed?  Long sentence that and I apologize.  There are simply dozens of suppositions one could stuff into those several minutes of adults acting like adolescents rather than public leaders.  What the hell . . .?

Don't for a minute think Stocks is laughing with us all.  He laughs at us, believing us stupid, blind and deaf.

This deferential treatment of shiny, smiling Gaspar isn't really new, but it seemed more obvious at this evening's venue despite more than a hundred in the audience and an estimated huge audience online.

Remember the last meeting, June 27 when Gaspar was on vacation? We stared at her empty chair at the end of the meeting when her item was pulled from the consent calendar. Via teleconference she essential challenged City Manager Vina's numbers, staff negotiations, anyone's ability to make a lease decision without her amazing financial acumen? Despite all of the City Manager's figures, Muir's confidence (as fire guy), Teresa's attempt to suggest this as a future agenda item the Deputy Mayor was having none of it. Up to and through the voting she was a petulant brat. She is only too aware that there is a ME in team, despite her hypocritical attack on Barth at that very meeting, saying sanctimoniously there was no I in team.  You can't make this crap up!

Here is the clip of the entire festival of indulgence and time wasting brought to us all by Deputy Mayor Gaspar, the financial wizard.

The Mayor's and Deputy Mayor's  tête-à-tête is the highlight here. And, Gaspar's demand that her wishes and comfort level be honored DESPITE the majority decision and Stocks ingratiating explanatory contortions to appease her are equally gag worthy.

Get a room . . .

Oh, and just for context to the first clip, note the more common demeanor of Mayor Jerome Stocks at the very opening, the onset of this Special Encinitas Meeting.

 

Throughout the meeting he cut some people off, allowed others to ramble, censored some, charmed others.  Bully. Crony. Bully Crony. Every Encinitas citizen needs the visceral political experience of attending one of the 9 meetings left before the election.  The opinions are not unanimous - even among us all here.  But the actual meetings, and the actual words and behaviours in the clips are plain enough to see.  Please pass along links to all of our neighbors, coworkers and friends.  We can do so much better for our community than this.  We have such talent and ethical individuals who actually want to serve. 

You New? Fresh Perspectives . . .

At a loss this morning for how to best characterize last night's special council meeting and the performance success of City Manager, Gus Vina and Parks and Recreation Director, Lisa Ruloff I found City Council Candidate's Lisa Shaffer's Facebook entry says what many of us were thinking. I for one reject the tired cliche of lemons to lemonade, but find Shaffer's perspective thoughtful and visionary. Such a truthful take compared to the local stenographers reporters for the council in the local news stories here, here or here .

Last night the City Council approved borrowing $8 million, reprogramming another $7 million, and spending over $19 million to build what is called the "full park" (ie, skatepark, dog park, and ball fields) at the Hall property off Santa Fe, as well as improvements at Moonlight Beach. The vote was unanimous, and if I had been on the Council and presented with the same question, I would have said yes, too. The community has waited long enough for a dedicated dog park, a public skate park, and additional playing fields. I strongly support organized sports, having played myself, and with 3 of our 4 girls having been on soccer and softball teams growing up.

There are many things that might have been done differently that might have enabled us to make these investments with less debt, with the ability to consider other financing options or phasing.

But the new team, led by Gus Vina and Lisa Rudloff, made the best of what they inherited, and fortunately interest rates are low, so lemonade is being made from some lemons and some sugar. I look forward to joining the rest of Encinitas in enjoying the new park.

Question: Am I the only one confused here? what happened to concern over funding etc.? I had to leave early, perhaps I missed something....like windfall grants or....?

Lisa Shaffer for Council 2012 Yes, there are concerns over financing. The City Attorney, selected and empowered by the Council majority (who we can change in November), assured the Council that the financing strategy was legal. Does that mean we should incur debt without a public vote? NO. Not in my view. But that was not offered as an option because continued City delays put us up against a funding deadline from the State for the Moonlight Beach money. By bundling Moonlight Beach and the Park, the degrees of flexibility on the overall vote were severely limited. It shouldn't have been presented that way, but it was. The new debt puts us at risk of not being able to address future needs such as stormwater drainage adequately - if we wanted to undertake a major capital project to address flooding, we don't have the borrowing flexibility.

The issues were not discussed and debated the way they should have been. The reality is that the way the package was presented and the way promises have been made to many important constituents for many years, the Council had no good options. The problem needed to be fixed long before we got to this City Council performance.

That's why I said that if I had been presented "with the same question" I would have said yes. But I would have tried hard before getting to this point to have provided opportunities for more open discussion of options; for planning that gives time for consideration of new questions that arise; and for including ordinary community members in stakeholder discussions, since we are all stakeholders in the Park.

Question: Ok, but bottom line Stocks gets to say to the voters "I built this park"...no?

Lisa Shaffer for Council 2012 Yes, you're right. Everyone on the Council said yes - we are ALL building this park. Of course there's no doubt there will be a groundbreaking with photo ops for all the Council members who are running this year. Absolutely. And all of us in Encinitas will be paying for it. But don't forget the other bottom line, which is that our kids and our dogs and our families will ultimately have a nice park, even though it comes at quite a high price financially and otherwise.

I don't want to be misrepresented as being against any of the important constituencies that the park will serve. I'm for a better process for making big public investments in a way that brings the community together rather than being divisive as this has been for the last 10+ years.

Bamboozled!

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

·         The Hall property park will cost $19.3 million to build. The existing funds are only $7.8 million eleven years after purchase of the property.  Last year these funds were said to be $8-$9 million.

·         The Moonlight Beach renovation will cost $4.8 million. The existing grant funds are $1.9 million.

·         There isn’t sufficient funding to build the Hall property park and renovate Moonlight Beach.

The City has cobbled together a scheme that pushes fiscal limits and will place your City in a precarious financial position. The City proposes to do the following:

·         Reallocate funds from 15 other capital improvement projects and two other fund balances.

·         Borrow money using Lease Revenue Bonds that require a revenue stream.

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT REALLOCATION

·         Reallocation will strip other project funds bare with no easy way to replenish them.  Open space acquisition, drainage systems, fire stations, and other civic projects will all be imperiled. 

·         Shifting of priorities will yield an additional $7 million for the Hall Park. A shortage of $4.5 million for the Hall Park and a shortage of $2.9 million for Moonlight Beach renovation will still remain.  THE REMAINDER WILL HAVE TO BE BORROWED.

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT USING LEASE REVENUE BONDS

·         They only require a council majority to approve and release. The public has no vote.

·         Projects must generate a revenue stream to make the yearly bond payments.  Neither project produces a revenue stream.  In fact, the Hall property park will cost an extra $0.5-$1 million in maintenance per year.  WHERE WILL THE MAINTENANCE MONEY COME FROM?

·         The bond repayment can only come from the General Fund.  IS PUTTING ADDED STRESS ON THE ALREADY TIGHT BUDGET A WISE THING TO DO?

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT USING THE OPTION OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS

·         Yearly assessment on every property tax bill in the City

·         Lower interest rate and guaranteed funding

·         No strain on the General Fund and no stripping of funds for other essential projects

·         Voters would decide the prudence of the projects.

ADDITIONAL VITAL FACTS

·         Toxic Soil: The County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health has mandated the City excavate the Hall property and bury on site approximately 46,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil with continual testing to make sure the land will be safe to play on.  The County WILL NOT be sending any inspectors to ensure compliance. WHO WILL ENSURE THE SOIL IS SAFE FOR OUR CHILDREN?

·         Air Contamination:   Recent research on air contamination indicates that fine particulate matter from the adjacent freeway to the Hall property can be a serious health hazard, especially to young children engaged in strenuous activity.  Air monitoring equipment should be installed for everyone’s safety after park completion.  WHY HAS THE CITY REFUSED TO EVEN DISCUSS THE MATTER?

ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

·         SHOULD WE JEOPARDIZE THE FUNDING OF OTHER VITAL PROJECTS?

·         WILL THE CITY HAVE SUFFICIENT FUNDS FOR UNEXPECTED EXPENSES?

·         SHOULD WE BORROW ON OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE?

CORRECTION: 46,000 cubic yards not 46,000 cubic feet as initially posted

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.