No, just no.

They should have stopped with a rose to the Encinitas City Counciil for doing the right thing.  But no . . .

Dead roses for the boys at NCT.  It's not clear if North County Times editorial staff has ever met Jerome Stocks or if they have visited Encinitas in a good, long while. Best guess these guys came up with these comedy stylings as a great inside joke or got a very big check or who knows?

"We were particularly impressed with Mayor Jerome Stocks ---- who, despite being cast earlier somewhat as the villain in this brouhaha, followed his heart and voted to allow the images. It was a classy, elegant ending to what had been an unfortunately messy situation."

No, just no.

Note the passive language, with poor Stocks being cast as the villain . . . as though he hadn't started the whole thing.  And recall his dance partner Gaspar made the emphatic point that emotions were stripped away for the sake of the sanctity of rules and processes right after Stocks had huffily posited he was one of the only ones to appreciate that the rights of the permit holder mattered the most. Now that is some classy - elegant heart shit right there.

"Lack of Grace" Raspberry

North County Times

"A rotten raspberry to the city of Encinitas for its ham-fisted ---- and possibly illegal ---- move to ban art banners honoring the late Maggie Houlihan. Ian Thompson, Houlihan's widower, is rightly outraged that the councilwoman's image is prohibited from being displayed as a "political likeness." What political message? Is Mayor Jerome Stocks seriously concerned that Houlihan is going to run against him in the next election? The explanations are as confusing as the ban. The city should do the right thing and overturn this ill-advised rule.

2011 IN REVIEW: A "Light of Day" Raspberry

This and the next ten or more posts are a look back at last year when Jerome Stocks, then Deputy Mayor, and his pals on the city council were called out by the press, by art lovers across the US, by a judge as well as the plaintiff in a major lawsuit, by the late Maggie Houlihan's friends, family and supporters and by citizen activists. These are just a sampling of the publications, public speakers for this last year. There is much, much more and a new year to come.

As 2011 ends, North County Times editorial dated December 19, 2011 gives a final raspberry to the Encinitas city council majority Stocks, Bond and Gaspar for "fighting a misguided battle against its own residents." Yes, it's a repeat of our previous coverage of this Cummins lawsuit raspberry.

". . . Kevin Cummins was forced to go to court to find out how the city makes decisions on financing and scheduling road repairs is ridiculous. It's frankly disappointing that now the taxpayers have to foot the bill for both sides of this ridiculous litigation, but it's also not fair that Cummins bear the cost of insisting that local government officials obey the law they're sworn to uphold."

More on this lawsuit at Leucadia Blog.

2011 IN REVIEW: Red Cape & Bull Award

Union Tribune Nov. 11, 2011
Columnist Logan Jenkins:

"A brick - the Red Cape and Bull award — to the Encinitas “pro-business” (for lack of a better label) majority — Mayor Jim Bond, Jerome Stocks and Kristin Gaspar — for appointing Mark Muir, the city’s fire chief, to fill the late Maggie Houlihan’s council seat."

"This decision wanted some tact, some humility, some spirit of compromise. None was displayed."

"No one should have been surprised that a weird whirlwind was reaped Wednesday night as more than a hundred Encinitans gathered outside City Hall to protest the Muir appointment. [ . . . ] But he also has a history as an unusually active political player on behalf of Stocks and Bond. The appearance of conflict looms."

As if to prove Jenkins' point regarding tact and spirit of compromise or some modicum of graciousness, Jerome Stocks stoops to bickering with the columnist in the comments section. Classy.

2011 IN REVIEW: Black Eye for Bond

At the end of September a special meeting was called to discuss the vacant seat, left by Maggie Houlihan's death September 17, 2011, due to cancer. Appallingly, this meeting was not televised. UT Columnist Logan Jenkins threw a brick at Mayor Bond.

"A brick — the Blackout Black Eye award — to Encinitas Mayor Jim Bond for calling a special meeting Monday night and then decreeing the proceeding so trivial that it should not be televised."

"Is the mayor so out of touch with political reality that he didn’t know that this opening act in the drama of filling the seat of the late Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan would be of public interest, particularly since it was widely known that Houlihan would be making a posthumous appearance?"

"[ . . . ] No matter which way it goes, the council will have to factor in Houlihan’s videotaped plea to appoint Lisa Shaffer, the dramatic appeal that Bond evidently thought too unimportant for the city’s citizens to witness in real time with the council."

"Bond may believe the blackout was good government. But in a divided city, it’s bad politics."

2011 IN REVIEW: "Find a Better Excuse" Raspberry

At the end of August 2011, Kristin pulled another one. As North County Times reports in the editorial raspberry, Councilwoman Gaspar wouldn't vote on Pacific View property appeal because it started before she was elected.

The raspberry from the press wasn't the only source to call out this pathetic attempt to dodge a vote for seven months. Jean Bernard Minster spoke at this meeting about Gaspar's dereliction of duty. He also chides the councilwoman and city attorney for the misuse of the term "recuse" instead of "abstain" repeated over and over in the councilwoman's excuse.

2011 IN REVIEW: A "Fore" Raspberry

"A sour raspberry to the city of Encinitas for relying on homeowners fees to cover financial obligations of the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course. As the economy headed south, fewer people could afford to play golf --- and so income from the golf course is down."

"Some 900 homeowners live in Encinitas Community Facilities District 1, and pay an annual assessment that covers the cost of roads, sewer lines, etc., put in when their homes were built."

"The golf course is supposed to contribute to that fund, to help lower homeowners' obligations. That the golf course is now unable to cover its own obligations, leaving homeowners to pick up the difference, illustrates why it's better to have risk ventures like golf courses owned by private-sector outfits."

Source North County Times, July 11, 2011. Sounds like Stocks' sockpuppet "Coastal Watchdog" in the comments thread chiding the NCT.

2011 IN REVIEW: Surfing Madonna

April 2011 Fools?
The story that put Encinitas on the national media map was the city council majority (Stocks', Bond's and Gaspar's) utter cluelessness with the population's goodwill and city planner Patrick Murphy's "artless" response to the anonymous art gifted the city. This mosaic piece became known as the Surfing Madonna. On April 29, 2011, San Diego Union Tribune's Logan Jenkins gave the city a brick - see here. As expected, the city council majority has not been in any way flexible, sensitive or apologetic to the artist or anyone in the art community.

One of the worst things about the bad publicity that Stocks, Bond and Gaspar engendered nationally is that all of the council members get painted as lobotomized (to use Jenkins' characterization). It made it difficult for Teresa Barth and Maggie Houlihan, who are supportive of the public's desire for artist projects of all kinds in the community. The artist Mark Patterson came forward, extended the olive branch, acted in ways to accommodate dialog, but Stocks especially has made repeated attempts throughout this year to justify this council majority and his own missteps.

2011 IN REVIEW: "Working the System" Award

Another North County Times editorial Roses and Raspberries for Jan. 31, 2011. This time for retiring City Manager Phil Cotton squeezing an additional $8,000 (to his city contracted pay of $198,723) out of City. The following is an excerpt.

"We’d be shocked if it wasn’t so predictable."

"Since “retiring,” Cotton has been hired back at $15,000 a month to serve as the interim city manager, and he’s still working all the angles. Apparently overtaxed by the demands of running the small beach town, Cotton took off several weeks in November and December, even though he was being paid for these weeks under his month-to-month contract."

Jerome Stocks and city attorney, Glenn Sabine: Cotton Club



As with so many things, legal theft.

2011 IN REVIEW: More booing Gaspar

Logan Jenkins of San Diego Union Tribune
January 9, 2011.

"A soft brick — the Bonehead First Play award — to freshman Encinitas Councilwoman Kristen Gaspar for failing in dramatic fashion to live up to her campaign pledge to bridge, not widen, the bitterly personal schism on the Encinitas council."

"By nominating her political supporters (and likely mentors) — Councilmen Jim Bond and Jerome Stocks — for mayor and vice mayor respectively, Gaspar, 30, demonstrated one of two things about her political character:

She’s either naive or she’s secretly spoiling for a fight while pretending to be Ms. Sweetness and Light."

Another alternative is that she is the hand selected spokesmodel, a "seemingly" non-threatening, young, white, female, family-friendly delivery system for the majority talking points. This is only effective with the wrong-headed, thick-headed or heads up the ass sheeple.

2011 IN REVIEW: "Reindeer Games" Award

The North County Times printed an editorial December 20, 2010, a roses and raspberries piece that blasts Stocks, Bond and the then newest to the club, Gaspar.

It's only a short paragraph or two but well worth following the link here.

Great line:

"Newly elected councilwoman Kristin Gaspar ---- who opined during the campaign that the council "has too often been distracted by petty personal feuds and hyper-partisanship" ---- deserves special censure for making her first official act a motion that only reinforces those feuds."

These Reindeer Games are captured in the video clip below. Gaspar's bit begins at about 1:10 into the clip. (Trigger warning for gag reflex.)

Raspberry to City of Encinitas

A raspberry to the city of Encinitas for fighting a misguided battle against its own residents.

Our Mayor, City Attorney and our City Government all deserve sand in their stockings this year.

Just in time for the holidays. Read more, read the whole story at today's North County Times.

That's the naughty side, the nice is Kevin Cummins. This Encinitas citizen's pursuit of city pavement report documents is a gift to the community. Clarification: his relentless pursuit is a gift, the report? Not so much.