The Encinitas city council recently voted to give itself a 20% retroactive pay raise.
Council members voted 4-1 to increase their monthly salary from $898 to $1,077.
Councilman James Bond said he hadn't made such a paltry sum since he was a phone-company manager 35 years ago.
Bond also said that if salaries are too low, no one but activists and zealots would run for council, causing chaos in the city. UT link
*deep breath*
Okay, Mr. Bond. Boo fricken' hoo about your phone manager job.
And,
which one are you, activist or zealot?
Because you feverishly ran for city council knowing full well what the pay scale was and you also ran for re-election.
Now, I actually support a pay raise but I agree with councilman Jerome Stocks, Jerome Stocks dissented, explaining after the meeting that the council deserves a wage hike, but 20 percent is too much for me to accept.
Stocks said he also didn't like that it was retroactive
I've seen the Encinitas city council do and say some zany things in the last year, but Bond's quote is a doozy.
Longtime Encinitas city council members, activist or zealots?
Christy Guerin: Zealot
Former asskicking cop living off a sweet worker's comp claim, going to work for conservative member of the American Taliban, Brian Bilbray.
Maggie Houlihan: Activist
Rescues stray kitties while battling cancer and sign wielding lunatics of all kinds.
Jerome Stocks: Activist
He was the first person in a position of government in America to officially rebel against the Supreme Court's eminent domain decision.
Dan Dalagher: Activist
Changes parade names, says he is not a "credit card kind of guy" and then votes in 20 million in bond debt.
Jim Bond: Zealot
Perennial council member is often re-elected because knuckleheads like to check the box that says "James Bond". He shares very little with his fictional super hero counterpart except maybe a love for martinis.
Speaking of chaos...
Hall property park madness, Japanese delegation, street name changes, parade name changes, $10,000 birthday parties on the taxpayer's dime, big developer projects are rubberstamped while Johnny Homebuilder is given grief, the Leucadia Blvd train intersection is killing people, bluffs are crumbling, the firefighter's need new McMansion stations but can't put out any fires, the library is overbudget and behind schedule, street lighting fee scares, bogus clean water fees, botched flooding fix, 20 million in bond debt, no public restrooms at half our beaches, crazy landscapers, eminent domain threat in Leucadia, condo/hotel drama, city founders are shunned from 20th anniversary, Ecke and Prop A, city attorney works for another city, a bumbling city staff, public works yard/Mossy site 9.5 million bucks, traffic gets worse and worse with no road improvements, upzoning without ryhme or reason, it goes on and on and on...
JP,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. You hit nail on the head. We need new blood at city council. We don't need professional politicians like Duke Cunninham, Brian Bilbray, James Bond, Christy Guerin, etc.. We need people that want the city to reflect the community not their special interests.
At least we have bocce ball courts, that rules.
ReplyDelete"Money for nothin, chicks for free."
ReplyDeleteI want my MTV
ReplyDeleteJerome is neither. He is a wantabe upstart career politician.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't fight the council at all over the raise, his quotes are from after the meeting. It was a political move not one of conscience.
Well, Jerome said NAY, loudly. He didn't say anything else about the raise, during the Council Meeting,, maybe because they all knew it was going to pass.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't stay and speak against the raise, as Bob Bonde did, for the same reason. And everything we object to always just passes, usually unanimously. What does it mean that the raise is going to be retroactive? Retroactive to when?
The Editor of NCT in today's paper, 10/16/06, wisely gave Encinitas City Council a raspberry under The `Fattening Civic Pocketbook' award "20 percent - or one percentage point for every year tat the city's been existence - is nauseating."
When they say retroactive, it usually refers to the fiscal year. So 'prolly retroactive to June 30.
ReplyDeleteBilbray is dodging debates with Busby, another headline in today's NCT editorial section.
ReplyDeleteThat guy's a jerk, in my opinion. We saw plenty of big old Dalager signs in the right of way, off La Costa Ave., yesterday. They are in your face, and are huge, pushing the limit of four by four for businesses.
And according to Encinitas Municipal Code, crosses are not structures. I don't know how big the crosses were on the Bowman property, but I don't think they should have been forced to take them down.
Why didn't Dalager come forward on that to defend his Christian beliefs? Not to mention individuals' First Amendment rights and property rights.
why do they keep talking about a raise to a little over a $1,000 a month - that means nothing - Bond made $56,597 last year - the council people are paid well for what little they do - and health and dental and pension to boot.
ReplyDeleteYes, JP, thanks. This is a great post.
ReplyDeleteWhat Council didn't mention about their raise is that the Government Code, State law, says that cities must have 250,000 population for Council Members to be given $1,000,000 per month. I don't see how Council is now getting more than that, when we started out at less than 50,00O, in 1986, and the maximum amount of pay raise is for 5% a year. The Government Code does not specify compounded interest, and that should not be given, either.
James Bond changed his last name to Bond, for obvious reasons. He also said they were the lowest paid City "employees." Well, they are part time. And they did not take the job for the pay. Also, Mr. Bond did not mention the benefits of all the other boards he sits on.
Additionally, Council also sitting, separately, as the SDWD Board of Directors, has a direct conflict of interest. They are voting on contracts that will cost the ratepayers money, such as the bad deal to give no credit for the former SDWD headquarters, the actual structures, but to charge SDWD $300 per square foot for use of the new Mossy property, on which SDWD will also have to pay a proportionate amount of the half million dollars needed to upgrade that facility which Dalager assured us was "turnkey" in his interview in the Coast News with Bob Nanninga.
I don't think Dalager meant to lie, but it was a misrepresentation to the public through ignorance.
ReplyDeleteAlso not included in determing that SDWD ratepayers would have to pay $3.5 million for rights of use of the Mossy property (not ownership rights, as SDWD ratepayers had on the former property taken away without proper eminent domain hearings, which would have insured a more realistic sellng price) was the rental income that SDWD was receiving from the rest of the City for using SDWD's facilities for Encinitas' public works yard requirements.
This is one more reason why Phil Cotton, our old boy, new city manager, was rammed down our throats after closed sessions. Someone from the outside might have been objective enough to see the inherrent unfairness in all this shuffling of money without voter approval, to construct monuments to the ego of Encinitas City Council. Council wanted someone who would preserve the status quo, as they get to define it, without allowing for open hearings and public comment.
Isn't anyone going to comment on the NCT article over the weekend about the stairs at Beacon's? There is a real chance that they will not upgrade this beach access, and that might mean no access over time, if no one speaks up.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is going to continue to go on and on unless some people help T. Barth get some signs up. Those who aren't activists or zealots will vote for the name that is in their minds just before they enter the polls and there aren't many Barth signs up.
ReplyDeleteIf Councilman Bond believes that he is only a city employee, he should immediately resign from the Council. He was voted in to oversee the city, not be a city employee. Mr. Bond, pull out the flow chart on the hierarchy of the city, and you will find that the people who elected you are above you on the Council, next after the Council is the City Manager, followed by the city employees.
ReplyDeleteMr. Bond, if you don't like Council work find a job that you enjoy. You obviously only care about the money. What is your current at the trough total public salaries and benefits? Last count it was about $56,000. You also have the satisfaction of being a BFP. Toast your retirement now.
Oops, that was supposed to be over $1,000.00, not $1,000,000, that State Government Code allows for City Council members for cities of 250,000 or more in population.
ReplyDeleteSorry!
Oceanside moves forward on quiet zones at railroad crossings
ReplyDeleteBy: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer
OCEANSIDE -- With public pressure mounting, Oceanside will again work toward silencing train warning horns on its north-south rail line.
Why isn't Dalager or Stocks demanding that quiet zone improvements be made at Leucadia Blvd. which is the most hazardous stretch of road in north county? The quiet zone improvements include 4 gates, medians and safety improvements to prevent such terrible accidents as the one that happened a few months ago. Come on council-start addressing the communities high priorities.
The council is too busy borrowing money to pay for the fire Mcmansions to worry about pressuring NCTD to fix the railroad crossing.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is in your question.
ReplyDelete"Why isn't Dalager or Stocks demanding that quiet zone improvements be made at Leucadia Blvd. which is the most hazardous stretch of road in north county?"
Quiet zones can only be introduced in areas and intersections that have a below average accident rate
Wrong answer-
ReplyDeleteQuiet zones can only be introduced in areas and intersections that have a below average accident rate.
HOWEVER;
The quiet zone improvements can still be implemented. Its only a matter of time until the data shows a dramatic decrease in accidents (like from one per year to zero per year) With a few years of no accidents and the quiet zone improvements in place, the PUC and NCTD will grant a quiet zone.
We should act now and within a few years, we would have a safe interestion and a few more years a quiet zone in Leucadia.
wrong, wrong answer,
ReplyDeleteI love this blog and the inspiring debates that go on. Wrong answer you provide a valuble insite and I'm not dissing you, just a different opinion.
IMHO, if you install the four crossing arms(as opposed to the two existing) it will do nothing to improve the accident history of that intersection. Idoits will still be idiots and drive or get traped in or under the arms.
The answer is grade seperation. Of coursethat is an expensive answer but nonetheless, that is the answer.
Two Wrongs =
ReplyDeleteThe right solution which is a quiet zone followed by a grade seperation when you can get the money. There are safety opticons - works by detecting that a car is on the tracks and will not lower the existing gate, hense it would not trap someone and would eliminate the traffic accidents. Grade seperation is great, but since Duke is in jail, we aint getting nothing. I rather have a quiet zone then the existing hazard. I do not beleive grade seperatin will happen in the next 50 years.
I think we need louder horns especially when the engine is pushing the train. Todays cars are so soundproof and with the radio blaring or the cell phone stuck in the ear the trains horn just cannot be heard. Sorry, but dont mess with trains as they almost always win in any collision
ReplyDeleteIf the horns get any louder I will start killing people.
ReplyDeleteLets get the train horns 5 DBs louder so they'll blow all the windows out of the adjacent buildings and cars as they blow. That would be cool and really get peoples attention.
ReplyDeleteHorns do not do anything to prevent accidents at crossings. The problem is a grossly hazardous crossing at Leucadia Blvd. with recent blood on Council and NCTD hands.
who was here first trains or you? Move if you don't like the noise.
ReplyDeleteThe whole pushing the train thing is relevant. The rails are so quiet and they grind the wheels of the coaster like a brake disk so they are ultra quite and smooth.
ReplyDeleteThat and the fact that the cars are longer now meaning the engine is further away means it can be difficult to hear it approach.
Logical is stupid- I was here longer than the trains. The trains engines are less than 50 years old. The tracks I have no problems with, Its idiots like you that make living here less enjoyable. You should try and educate yourself before posting.
ReplyDeleteLogical- Thats about 100,000 people your talking about..... the coast line is the most densely populated area. No wonder coastal Encinitas dislikes you barneys in New Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteIs that barneys as in the purple barney or barney of Mayberry? Don't denigrate the knowledge of the other side of Encinitas. Lots of the barneys love the coastal relatives.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the train track first built? I don't see how anyone could have been here longer than the trains.
ReplyDeleteWe live a couple of steets west of the trains, just west of 101, and they don't bother us too much. We are used to them, I guess.
I like puple Barney and Barney of Mayberry, too, though. People in New Encinitas are our neighbors, also. Our faith tradition is to love our neighbors.
Love thy neighbor and hate the 54 horn blasts a day!
ReplyDeleteIf Guerin had kept her word when running for her last reelection the tracks would be underground.
ReplyDeleteCrooked politicians are the reason the trains are a pain in the ass.
If Guerin had kept her word? The reality is that there wasn't any intent to underground those tracks. Guerin brought time to get re-elected.
ReplyDeleteWhat is worst - politicians that don't keep their word or politicians that lie?
Water?
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