Mayoral Mambo

The dance team of Mayor Jerome Stocks and Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar showed highly choreographed routine at the Feb. 15, 2012 council meeting's "discussion" of the mayor selection process. Their fancy footwork kept a fast tempo.  From start to finish, after the public speakers, the entire dais ensemble clipped through this mayoral "discussion" in less than 39 minutes.

This video clip below only includes the leading mayoral mambo, excluding Bond's mumbo jumbo ballot measure distraction (18 minutes), Muir's pirouettes via his role to make motions, turn the tables and stay in the background (under 4 minutes). Teresa Barth was ignored; move along folks nothing to see here. But, do look here for her dramatic solo. (plus other questions = 6.5 minutes) All of this was outside the featured principals' dance number shown below.



With real flourish the team hit their rhythmic drum beat again and again, that the mayoral selection process was broken and needed to be fixed. They have that backwards because the fix needs to be broken up. If this vote isn't upturned, eliminated or disallowed, no challenge to the council majority may have the power of the mayoral position for years.

The next mayor would have to be Gaspar as she had more votes than Barth in the last election.  This was assured by Gaspar's-Stocks' framing. Leading with the concept of highest vote getter as the measure of voter participation - which they assure us (like an immutable fact) is the solution to citizen's criticism.  (Speaking of which, remember when next highest vote getter, Tony Kranz, was overlooked in favor of friend Mark Muir in filling Maggie Houlihan's vacant seat?)

But, they add another obstacle qualifier, consistency. This would disallow any new election winner with the highest votes who wasn't an incumbent.  Finally, Gaspar-Stocks trot out operational experience in order to position the last 2 years of a 4 year term for the top vote getter as a condition.  This shoehorns Gaspar alone into the mayor seat in 2013-2014.  And, big leap finish . . . in the mayor seat to campaign for 2015.  And remember, they have included in the mayor mambo the turns for deputy are totally decided by the mayor.  Our girl, Gaspar has already proven that with enough money behind a candidate, he or she doesn't have to have any political experience, knowledge of issues or grassroots community support as long as there are big dollars, political moves and a script.  Classy.  That's some fancy sidestepping of our democratic principles with a smile right there, folks.

They're still Terrified of Teresa Barth

They are nothing if not relentless in their goal to completely silence Councilwoman Barth and the large number of voters who she represents. The goal in repeatedly bringing back and attacks on Barth seems to aim at destroying her opportunity to come out of exile as the Encinitas preferred mayor. What the hell scares them so much?  Like clockwork every 6 weeks there is some sort of Stocks led power play, masked as a kind of populist move to legitimatize the selection of mayor as fair and civil. 

Review following 2011 mayor selection evening when people turned their backs as Stocks and Gaspar ensconced themselves in the positions of leadership.  

At February 15, 2012 these two acted in concert to introduce a 2 year mayoral scheme that would make Gaspar mayor. This Mayoral Mambo was out of the blue and thankfully didn't get enough votes from their own team. 

Here is what Teresa Barth said at that meeting.  Even now, five months and two council attempts later to get questions answered by staff go ignored.  This is also revealed in the post that follows this clip.

This post from Encinitas You Need Us Blog is a reprint.  It is one of the popular posts on the blog.

They're Terrified

It was highly entertaining in these last few days to read all of the comments following Jerome Stocks embarrassing letter in responding to Teresa Barth's letter in Encinitas Patch.   First, it was appropriate for Barth to publish her perspective as her voice on the council is so consistently ignored, dismissed or drowned out by four others of the super majority. On the other hand Jerome Stocks gets his bully pulpit on the dais, control of the agenda, a North County Times (NCT) reporter who acts practically like his publicist and other media focus and framing.

Yet the Stocks letter is a gigantic overreaction to Barth's statement of her experiences.  He and his cronies have treated this woman's minority voice on the council with irrational fear.  What kind of power toppling abilities does she have that motions, agenda item requests, counter arguments, insights from other California cities, advocacy for residents, (even a vote for the mobile home tenants for God's sake) might she bring down for them?  These mighty majority act like theirs is very fragile platform. They may be correct. There are hours of meetings which are pretty fact-free or so orchestrated for confusion it is difficult to mount rational responses. There is not a lot of 'there' there.  We know its been years since anything has been built or accomplished.  Even the General Plan Update (GPU) is being sold as a hoax by the council who brought it to life.

Undeniably there is a great deal of money behind these big boys.  Nobody needs to be told that, although it would be helpful if we could be reading in the press the names behind those who back this cabal at city hall.  It is well past time for that preliminary investigation.

Yet, these comments in the letters here and here are a wonderful sign that there are so many articulate, informed and savvy people paying close attention to these (mental and emotional) lumbering brutes who think the city is theirs and the inhabitants are all asleep or imbeciles.  Wide awake comments at NCT's, A"So Much For Democracy" Raspberry discussion thread brought another batch of insight and resistance, though the regular majority's gang were still there crying about that mean (how dare she) Barth and anyone who would attack poor Stocks and Co.

If you wrote a comment speaking out for Barth, against the Crony Club - give yourself a pat on the back.  Several comments were inexplicably deleted.  I hope they might be recovered as they belonged with the rest.  Imagine if 40 people responded rapidly to an engaging story for challengers to the monopoly or to a hit piece.  This would be a revitalized, engaged community before the election was even under way.

6 weeks later . . . 

Mayor Stocks argues again and Deputy Mayor Gaspar has full blown Poutrage

following Councilwoman's speech and the many remarkable speakers in support of democratic process, dissent and Teresa Barth personally.

Activists / Advocates Speak Out - A Sampling of the Dozen

2012 Council Candidates also speak out. 

Lisa Shaffer published her statement prior to the this March 28 meeting and EYNU captured it. And Tony Kranz spoke out at this meeting with his own unique experience and perspective on the faux populist and criteria arguments.

Wed. night - Now 16 weeks later (whoops their skipped opportunities). This winner take all crowd in the majority again can waste time - supposedly on the people's business - to distract and abuse the public on this political attempt to garner complete control of the city council process in Encinitas.

This ordinance is STILL poorly written, still without answering repeated questions for more detail and still politically driven, and not much more. Nothing is broken here, it's fixed. The personal grudges of this majority are frightening in their relentlessness and viciousness. What do they fear? And a special note to the old guy who has vowed to bow out and vowed to change the mayoral selection to an elected option. Sometimes you just don't get what you want. Please let go of your grudge from years ago. You and Muir can take the higher ground.

ATTENTION:  All hands on deck for Wednesday, July 11, 6 pm special council meeting to be held at Encinitas Community Center.  The financial bamboozlement of the Hall Property park and the Moonlight beach improvements will be item #1,  this mayoral grab action is #2 on the agenda.  Bring your cameras and enthusiasm.