Great Stories. Many Encinitas residents are asleep at their wallet and have no clue what kind of debt their City has spent on their behalf. Besides 33% of all the City Expenditures going to the fire department salaries, pensions, and perks.... the council has elected to complete several trophy projects that benefit a small percentage of the population at the expense of all of us normal residents.... here is the breakdown per resident. The current population of Encinitas is close to 60,000. Let see what our Council and City Manager have decided to buy with our wallets.
1. 3 new firestations- the first ones budget is 4.5 million. you know it will be overbudget say $5 million each. That’s $15,000,000.00 or $250 per person or $1,000 per a family of 4. I think the money could be spent on existing problems that benefit the good of the citizens beyond our high paid firefighters stationed at these three existing stations to get have a Ritz station while on their 9 shifts per month. 2. Library - $20,000,000.00 +, that’s $333 per person or $1,300 for a family of 4. How many people use the library a day…. I bet less than 500. I think that kindof money could be spent on existing City problems that affect more than 500 people per day. 3. Public Works Yard- $11,000,000 Needed but not at that size budget. The City should sell the Quail Gardens property to offset the costs of this unexpected monster…. That’s $183 per person or $733 for a family of 4. 4. Hall Regional Sports Complex- $60,000,000.00+, that’s 1000.00 per person or $4,000 for a family of 4. This doesn’t include the huge overhead liabilities and operating costs…. I don’t know about you, but I could get a lifetime membership at the YMCA for much less than a $1,000…. And it would cost the city anything… and why would I want to spend $4,000 of my hard earned money, so Carlsbad soccer teams can play soccer in Encinitas and cause even more traffic nightmares in our neighborhood. This is the biggest joke council has gotten us into.
Total debt for trophy projects…… a whopping $106,000,000 or $1,760 per person or $7,066 for a family of 4! That a lot of debt for a small City of 60,000.
They haven’t even addressed such problems as the grade separations of the railroad tracks, flooding in town, or the hazardous conditions along many of its roadways.
I am not pleased with this high spending council getting our city in big debt. It’s time to nix the supporters of the trophy projects, especially the hall regional sports complex.
Suggestions to get us out of this mess Council has gotten us into:
1. Sell the Quail Garden Property- $5,000,000 +
2. Sell ½ the hall property and redesign the project to be more passive- $20,000,000 in assets and reduce long term liability. 3. Renegotiate public employees pensions down, and cut much of the deadwood. As the Story about Chula Vista shows, this long term liability will strangle this City and we will spend all our our money of staff costs and no fixes to existing City problems.
Even with these significant actions, we will have over $75,000,000 in debt the council has spent for us. You better think about this before you vote next year.
Voting resident- you hit the nails on head with your comments. Regarding getting rid of the spenders on the council, we have 3 up of reelection soon. They must be removed and fiscally conservative( note to old hippies in Leucadia-fiscally conservative and politically conservative are different animals- so don't get your panites in a jumble)council members elected!! Sadly the two women on the council have never had to meet a pay role with their own hard earned $$$, so they have NO clue what life is like other than tax and spend, tax and spend!! They need to be kicked out of office also. ***The library- a big waste of $$$. ***The Hall property- 500K per year in payments/year and NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT !! ***The firehouses-What a waste of $$ Why do they need a mini gym to work out?? Go to LA Fitness Any why do they work out on city time?? And why do they do their shopping on city time?? I can't go to the gym and go shopping on my employers time!! But then I don't earn over $100K per year as does the average city firefighter!! ***Why does the city manager earn almost $3 per person while the city manager of Oceanside earn but $1.20. Do we get 2.5times more value for our $$$.
You've brought up important points and I have asked hard questions and I want answers for I am...The Truth Seeker!!
Yep, only a few years ago we were a healthy city in the black and the Ecke Ranch developments were to be the answers to all our financial needs. But even with the megabucks they've increased us with in tax revenue, we've mismanaged Encinitas into a multi million dollar hole; not unlike the city of San Diego. So beware of Quail Gardens Drive becoming the next commercial corridor here promising relief. But selling off open space like the Hall property to help pay for errors could be a Trojan horse in my opinion, creating more housing: ie. congestion, crime, etc.
The truth be told: The Redlight cameras were to generate untold amounts of $$$ for the city. The city has stated in the past that as many as 100 cars a day run the red light at El Camino and Encinitas Blvd. At $300 a pop, of which the city receives $100 thats $10,000 per day in red light fees. Quite a bit you have to agree. Where is all that $$$ going now?? Never been an accounting of those funds. And why not??? These are the questions and I want the answers for I am ... The Truth Seeker!!
Let's don't leave out how much we pay our contracted City Attorny, Glen Sabine. I have all of his billings from 2002, and they seem to be a lot of money. He has only used a paralegal one time, at least that is what he states in his billings that Jace Schwarm signs off on. I would give you an exact number, but I am saving that for the right time and place. I do believe that his contract is up so I have e-mailed the NCTimes and Coast News regarding his less than stellar performances. He actually told a La Mesa citizen that he would face litigation if he did not apologize to their mayor over someting he said in a Council meeting. Glen put it on his own stationary. He has also threatend me with litigation. And here I thought he was just supposed to help the City Council. Kudos to Teresa for going to Calaware to obtain the correct information about open and closed sessions.For those of you that don't know about Calaware, you might want to check them out at Calaware.com. They are a non-profit organization that helps citizens get accurate information. Fee for joining is $25.00. Not too bad for sound legal advice. This is, I believe, where Teresa Barth obtained her information on the illegality of the "special" sessions being held by our Council. They were really "closed" sessions. Big differences between the 2. Obviously Mr. Sabine had not read the Brown Act.Let's remove him and get a decent attorney.
The Hall property is actually costing $1.5 million per year. The original lease revenue bonds were for around $23 million with repayment over 30 years. Total repayment with interest will be around $45 million. The city always forgets to mention the interest cost when talking about the purchase price. $60 million is probably a good estimate of what the park will cost if built as presently planned. If the city finances the park with lease revenue bonds, you can double the cost of the park to $120 million. Such a deal!
I heard today that state property tax revenues are falling with many homes being revalued downward because of the drop in the housing market. Our Governor is asking all state entities to budget for an across-the-board reduction of 10%. I wonder what our city will do. Mayor Bond seems to have his head buried in the sand. And we have a Financial Director who was on leave for more than 2 months and is now back it what appears to be a different position. She no longer signs the Warrants List. Check it out on the city website for yourself.
It is nice to hear folks care. I have been to three fire stations and they should be better. I want my fire fighters to work out. I want a community park not a water thirsty 'Special Use' park. Scaling down seems like a good option across the board. I do not believe that the whole council and counsel is evil.
At least there are people like us that give a crap. If there is a financial disaster on the horizon, we need someone that can bring it under control. Cutting Staff will be the biggest bang for the buck.
Is Mr. Cotton up for that task? lets see.
I want to see 30% of revenues going towards capital improvements and included in next years council goals.
Anon8:38- The fire stations are run down. So what?? But any house in Encinitas, unless it's brand new right out of the box, it's also old. Doesn't stop anyone from buying an old house and living there. The fire stations are kept old and ugly to con the citizens into buying new, bigger and more expensive fire houses. Why do they want 3 refrigerators for each new fire house?? And why does each frig cost $8,000?? As for fire fighters working out, it's great, let them do it on their own time!!! NOT CITY TIME!!
I seek the truth. I tell the truth. I am the truth seeker!!!!!
Hey I want to work out too on tax dollars... what a joke... with that kindof incentive, why are there so many fat firefighters... they get paid to workout, yet they chopse to eat. Tough digs.... check out the last two fire chiefs.
$5 million a pop for a new fire station which the City already owns the land is way to much... most houses in encinitas cost $400k to build... I say $1 million should build a pretty dam nice first responder building, not $5 million. the only ones that benefit are the few lucky enough to become fire fighters. the rest of us pay for it. Lets set priorities based on benefits to the majority, not the politically select few.
No wonder there are so many fat fire fighters. Maybe they could start emptying the trash cans at the beach to work off some of those calories. How much is there range and microwave. How much for that bigscreen high defination on the wall and lounge chairs?
City Priorities are out of control. Vote for someone beside the developers buddy’s Jerome Stock and Doug Long who you know will support any upzoning.
One asks what explains this Councils poor behavior. The answer is that they can continue doing it and no one votes them out. They have been doiing it so long, with the exception of Teresa, I think that they have forgotten the citizens. They look at activists as trouble makers, and they figure the rest of the citizens are happy, because the study they paid 10K for told them they were.Council needs a reality test. Novemebr of 2008 would be a good beginning.
Many of the extravagant expenses outlined here are the result of 2 very clear origins to me.
One was the very cozy relationship of a former councilperson with the fire department who enthusiastically told them to build whatever they wanted, then supported their wishes across the board.
The second element is the fact that the Water Board and the Council are one in the same. I know that may not make a great deal of sense right off the bat, but without a separate responsible entity looking out for the ratepayers of the Water District, the Council has been able to play some very clever games with the funds and disposition of the Water District's assets (lease revenue bonds, forced relocation of their facility, etc.)
I firmly believe that if these two entities were split up at cityhood, we would not be in this position. This should be a key issue in the coming election.
1) one is a player 2) one is loosing it 3) one is a fool and can even fool himself 4) one is a cocker spaniel puppy 5) one is idealistic
Would any of you put this group in charge of your personal finances and investments? It is sobering to know they are in charge of your city's finances and investments. Their mismanagement will come back to bite you in the wallet or in your quality of life.
Yes, a firefighter friend of mine told me that 5 million dollar stations were not necessary. So it makes me wonder who's idea it was anyway. Firefighters do have gyms, kitchens, TV's etc at the current stations, and there's nothing wrong with that. Keeps them from having boney girl arms when they have to carry you off buildings and stuff. (Of course paying $8000 for a refrigerator smacks of people in on the take, but is that alleged price credible?) I just hope the 5 million dollar fire stations work out better than the 5 million dollar storm drains did (that made drainage worse in Leucadia.) Why no one is responsible for that boondoggle is still a mystery to me.
Council is not evil; it is incompetent and hired an overpriced "connected" manager who doesn't have the courage to think for himself.
The City Attorney is smarmy. He doesn't care about the truth, just getting what he wants. Look up Glenn Sabine on the SD County Recorder's web page. He had three County Tax liens recorded against him. These are public records.
Sabine was able to pay these off, recently, because of all the money he has sucked out of this City with his "lawsuit factory." He can drag out litigation, always a win-win, for him.
Truth Seeker, I dig you, and all of you guys for your on-target posts. I think we all do care, or we wouldn't be posting here. Christy Guerin was and still is on the gravy wagon. James Bond is on his way out, thank God.
Stocks is incredibly rude. Come to a closed session and check out his Council Chamber manner, there. He closes his eyes and leans back, with eyes shut. Won't wait five minutes for James Bond or Maggie Houlihan to arrive, just calls a quorum. Arrogant doesn't begin to describe this petty man.
Dalager says he doesn't know squat about art. Does he know squat why he voted to allow a bogus "Art Administrator" who makes over $100,000 a year, when we give out very few art grants, yearly. Jerome Stocks voted for the Art Director, too, and he voted no on all the art proposed for the library. Too expensive, he said at the Council Meeting. We didn't need the "ad-hoc" art committee composed of the "art administrator, Jim Gilliam (sp?) and Jerome Stocks, and staff, who "spent many, many hours" deciding whose art to display at the library, sponsored by you and me. We have an Art Commission. Give them something to do. Christy Guerin was afraid to delegate. She had to micro-manage everything, right down to the Sister City/50th Bday Party for her, and trying to sneak in changing the name of B St to Guerin Gulley. Glad she's gone, can't wait for us to kick out Jerome, to bid adieu to Bond.
Why isn't the Council Meeting Video available within 24 hours? The City needs to again make a replay available on Thursdays, because not everyone can watch it, on Wednesdays. This probably would cost the City very little. They are becoming less transparent, not more. Their website is currently unsearchable using text searches.
I don't think we should develop half of the Hall property. We should have bought it, then done the bare minimum to have a passive use park. We could have developed the Pacific View property, with fields. The fields there were paved over for the Public Works Yard. The neighbors were fine with it. We could have bought that property for much less than the huge sum we are spending on Mossy, with no loss of tax revenue.
Teresa is practical and an idealist. Seems like she knows how to think for herself.
This is a long post, but, hey, I've been gone for awhile.
At this point, a lot of people are going to want a clean slate. Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth should both be calling the DA about the Brown Act Violations. By continuing to go participate, vote in closed sessions, without 72 hour notice of agenda items, every Council Member who does so is continuing to break the State Law. Teresa Barth is keeping her campaign promises. She had said that having SDWD board of directors & council be one and the same does have the appearance of a conflict of interest. Right on.
The others are all so busy making the law, they think they are God. Time to get a new religion. Maggie, please use your head, have a heart, and wake up from the pipedream woven by a devious or bumbling crew of gravy boaters that have latched on to City Hall, making it so that only millionaires can afford to live here. These political sucker-uppers are telling middle or modest income spectrum residents, "Get out, and we'll bulldoze your homes, do a bit of "in fill" development to boost the city's depleted general fund.
James Bond said a long time ago, the operating expenses are going up too fast. Dalager agreed. Then they both lost their nerve, seem blinded by complacency, denial, and muddled thinking. Maybe they were under Guerin's "spell," but there is no excuse for this overspending, underthinking, denying, now.
Might doesn't always make right. "The majority," our questionable quorum has got to go; we all know it.
What I find funny is the "Republican" Jerome Stocks reminds me so much of G.W. Bush. He talks about small dollar issues being too expensive but then promotes the mammoth expenses and gets their governmental bodies in huge debt for the future generations to deal with... not their problem.
Bush has is Iraq "war".... making profits for his buddy's at Halliburton and costing us citizens trillions (that right, trillions) of dollars in debt, deaths, and lower respect around the world.
Stocks has his trophy projects and government perks..... Giving perks to the employee unions ((thank you very much!!!) and himself and building a regional sports complex for his small (but willing to support his runs for office) soccer lobbying organizations.....
Jerome Stocks is the classic "not walking the talk" guy and has and will continue to greatly damage Encinitas for our future generations.
Fiscal responsibility and Water District's separation from the council are going to be the biggest political issues of the 2008 council elections. I really hope we have candidates with the huevos to see the big picture and do something about it. The present council and numerous councilpersons before just sat up on the dias and reacted to what was placed before them. Folks, the job is much bigger than that. We need original thinkers who are not afraid to steer the ship, not hire a consultant to do it. We need someone to speak the hard words, and follow up with action. Good leaders don't just read their packets prior to the meeting and react to the issue at hand.
The true problem is how people are elected. Developers give you money, firemen give you money, soccer moms give you money, etc. It seems the ones who were elected without taking the dough are the good ones, the ones who don't owe, or aren't owned by some group, and are free to make those tough decisions without compromise. I want my politicians to make decisions with ALL of us in mind, or at least make decisions with a greater common good in mind.
2008 can't come soon enough. From the top to the bottom there seems to be a true lack of concern for the future. Encomber future generations, it won't hurt us.
Our council has not had any cost conscious leader since Dv Vivier.All the council does is troll for votes. Extravagance was Kerry Millers legacy.Overhead galore $110,000.00 a day for what? Time now for a reprasial by outsiders. beyond politics . Auditors and efficiency experts who know costing and benifits from the real competitive marketplace. Civil Service is a political welfare system we can"t afford.
Great Stories. Many Encinitas residents are asleep at their wallet and have no clue what kind of debt their City has spent on their behalf. Besides 33% of all the City Expenditures going to the fire department salaries, pensions, and perks.... the council has elected to complete several trophy projects that benefit a small percentage of the population at the expense of all of us normal residents.... here is the breakdown per resident. The current population of Encinitas is close to 60,000. Let see what our Council and City Manager have decided to buy with our wallets.
ReplyDelete1. 3 new firestations- the first ones budget is 4.5 million. you know it will be overbudget say $5 million each. That’s $15,000,000.00 or $250 per person or $1,000 per a family of 4. I think the money could be spent on existing problems that benefit the good of the citizens beyond our high paid firefighters stationed at these three existing stations to get have a Ritz station while on their 9 shifts per month.
2. Library - $20,000,000.00 +, that’s $333 per person or $1,300 for a family of 4. How many people use the library a day…. I bet less than 500. I think that kindof money could be spent on existing City problems that affect more than 500 people per day.
3. Public Works Yard- $11,000,000 Needed but not at that size budget. The City should sell the Quail Gardens property to offset the costs of this unexpected monster…. That’s $183 per person or $733 for a family of 4.
4. Hall Regional Sports Complex- $60,000,000.00+, that’s 1000.00 per person or $4,000 for a family of 4. This doesn’t include the huge overhead liabilities and operating costs…. I don’t know about you, but I could get a lifetime membership at the YMCA for much less than a $1,000…. And it would cost the city anything… and why would I want to spend $4,000 of my hard earned money, so Carlsbad soccer teams can play soccer in Encinitas and cause even more traffic nightmares in our neighborhood. This is the biggest joke council has gotten us into.
Total debt for trophy projects…… a whopping $106,000,000 or $1,760 per person or $7,066 for a family of 4! That a lot of debt for a small City of 60,000.
They haven’t even addressed such problems as the grade separations of the railroad tracks, flooding in town, or the hazardous conditions along many of its roadways.
I am not pleased with this high spending council getting our city in big debt. It’s time to nix the supporters of the trophy projects, especially the hall regional sports complex.
Suggestions to get us out of this mess Council has gotten us into:
1. Sell the Quail Garden Property- $5,000,000 +
2. Sell ½ the hall property and redesign the project to be more passive- $20,000,000 in assets and reduce long term liability.
3. Renegotiate public employees pensions down, and cut much of the deadwood. As the Story about Chula Vista shows, this long term liability will strangle this City and we will spend all our our money of staff costs and no fixes to existing City problems.
Even with these significant actions, we will have over $75,000,000 in debt the council has spent for us. You better think about this before you vote next year.
Voting resident- you hit the nails on head with your comments. Regarding getting rid of the spenders on the council, we have 3 up of reelection soon. They must be removed and fiscally conservative( note to old hippies in Leucadia-fiscally conservative and politically conservative are different animals- so don't get your panites in a jumble)council members elected!!
ReplyDeleteSadly the two women on the council have never had to meet a pay role with their own hard earned $$$, so they have NO clue what life is like other than tax and spend, tax and spend!! They need to be kicked out of office also.
***The library- a big waste of $$$.
***The Hall property- 500K per year in payments/year and NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT !!
***The firehouses-What a waste of $$ Why do they need a mini gym to work out?? Go to LA Fitness Any why do they work out on city time?? And why do they do their shopping on city time?? I can't go to the gym and go shopping on my employers time!! But then I don't earn over $100K per year as does the average city firefighter!!
***Why does the city manager earn almost $3 per person while the city manager of Oceanside earn but $1.20. Do we get 2.5times more value for our $$$.
You've brought up important points and I have asked hard questions and I want answers for I am...The Truth Seeker!!
Yep, only a few years ago we were a healthy city in the black and the Ecke Ranch developments were to be the answers to all our financial needs. But even with the megabucks they've increased us with in tax revenue, we've mismanaged Encinitas into a multi million dollar hole; not unlike the city of San Diego. So beware of Quail Gardens Drive becoming the next commercial corridor here promising relief. But selling off open space like the Hall property to help pay for errors could be a Trojan horse in my opinion, creating more housing: ie. congestion, crime, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe truth be told: The Redlight cameras were to generate untold amounts of $$$ for the city. The city has stated in the past that as many as 100 cars a day run the red light at El Camino and Encinitas Blvd. At $300 a pop, of which the city receives $100 thats $10,000 per day in red light fees. Quite a bit you have to agree. Where is all that $$$ going now?? Never been an accounting of those funds. And why not???
ReplyDeleteThese are the questions and I want the answers for I am ... The Truth Seeker!!
Let's don't leave out how much we pay our contracted City Attorny, Glen Sabine. I have all of his billings from 2002, and they seem to be a lot of money. He has only used a paralegal one time, at least that is what he states in his billings that Jace Schwarm signs off on. I would give you an exact number, but I am saving that for the right time and place. I do believe that his contract is up so I have e-mailed the NCTimes and Coast News regarding his less than stellar performances. He actually told a La Mesa citizen that he would face litigation if he did not apologize to their mayor over someting he said in a Council meeting. Glen put it on his own stationary. He has also threatend me with litigation. And here I thought he was just supposed to help the City Council. Kudos to Teresa for going to Calaware to obtain the correct information about open and closed sessions.For those of you that don't know about Calaware, you might want to check them out at Calaware.com. They are a non-profit organization that helps citizens get accurate information. Fee for joining is $25.00. Not too bad for sound legal advice. This is, I believe, where Teresa Barth obtained her information on the illegality of the "special" sessions being held by our Council. They were really "closed" sessions. Big differences between the 2. Obviously Mr. Sabine had not read the Brown Act.Let's remove him and get a decent attorney.
ReplyDeleteThe Hall property is actually costing $1.5 million per year. The original lease revenue bonds were for around $23 million with repayment over 30 years. Total repayment with interest will be around $45 million. The city always forgets to mention the interest cost when talking about the purchase price. $60 million is probably a good estimate of what the park will cost if built as presently planned. If the city finances the park with lease revenue bonds, you can double the cost of the park to $120 million. Such a deal!
ReplyDeleteI heard today that state property tax revenues are falling with many homes being revalued downward because of the drop in the housing market. Our Governor is asking all state entities to budget for an across-the-board reduction of 10%. I wonder what our city will do. Mayor Bond seems to have his head buried in the sand. And we have a Financial Director who was on leave for more than 2 months and is now back it what appears to be a different position. She no longer signs the Warrants List. Check it out on the city website for yourself.
Financial meltdown on the horizon?
It is nice to hear folks care.
ReplyDeleteI have been to three fire stations and they should be better. I want my fire fighters to work out. I want a community park not a water thirsty 'Special Use' park. Scaling down seems like a good option across the board.
I do not believe that the whole council and counsel is evil.
At least there are people like us that give a crap. If there is a financial disaster on the horizon, we need someone that can bring it under control. Cutting Staff will be the biggest bang for the buck.
ReplyDeleteIs Mr. Cotton up for that task? lets see.
I want to see 30% of revenues going towards capital improvements and included in next years council goals.
Anon8:38- The fire stations are run down. So what?? But any house in Encinitas, unless it's brand new right out of the box, it's also old. Doesn't stop anyone from buying an old house and living there.
ReplyDeleteThe fire stations are kept old and ugly to con the citizens into buying new, bigger and more expensive fire houses. Why do they want 3 refrigerators for each new fire house?? And why does each frig cost $8,000??
As for fire fighters working out, it's great, let them do it on their own time!!! NOT CITY TIME!!
I seek the truth.
I tell the truth.
I am the truth seeker!!!!!
Hey I want to work out too on tax dollars... what a joke... with that kindof incentive, why are there so many fat firefighters... they get paid to workout, yet they chopse to eat. Tough digs.... check out the last two fire chiefs.
ReplyDelete$5 million a pop for a new fire station which the City already owns the land is way to much... most houses in encinitas cost $400k to build... I say $1 million should build a pretty dam nice first responder building, not $5 million. the only ones that benefit are the few lucky enough to become fire fighters. the rest of us pay for it. Lets set priorities based on benefits to the majority, not the politically select few.
$24,000.00 dollars for refrigerators- My God!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder there are so many fat fire fighters. Maybe they could start emptying the trash cans at the beach to work off some of those calories. How much is there range and microwave. How much for that bigscreen high defination on the wall and lounge chairs?
City Priorities are out of control. Vote for someone beside the developers buddy’s Jerome Stock and Doug Long who you know will support any upzoning.
Are firefighters not able to work out in the current fire stations? How much do our firefighters make? Do our local heroes need a raise?
ReplyDeleteBefore cutting staff, which is a great idea, let's put them to work, by not hiring high priced consultants.
ReplyDeleteThose who complain can go find employment elsewhere.
The council is not evil. I don't think this blog has many people that would call any of them EVIL. That doesn't mean any of them would call them GOOD.
ReplyDeleteWhat explains the council's bad behavior?
One asks what explains this Councils poor behavior. The answer is that they can continue doing it and no one votes them out. They have been doiing it so long, with the exception of Teresa, I think that they have forgotten the citizens. They look at activists as trouble makers, and they figure the rest of the citizens are happy, because the study they paid 10K for told them they were.Council needs a reality test. Novemebr of 2008 would be a good beginning.
ReplyDeleteMany of the extravagant expenses outlined here are the result of 2 very clear origins to me.
ReplyDeleteOne was the very cozy relationship of a former councilperson with the fire department who enthusiastically told them to build whatever they wanted, then supported their wishes across the board.
The second element is the fact that the Water Board and the Council are one in the same. I know that may not make a great deal of sense right off the bat, but without a separate responsible entity looking out for the ratepayers of the Water District, the Council has been able to play some very clever games with the funds and disposition of the Water District's assets (lease revenue bonds, forced relocation of their facility, etc.)
I firmly believe that if these two entities were split up at cityhood, we would not be in this position. This should be a key issue in the coming election.
The city council is not evil, no.
ReplyDelete1) one is a player
2) one is loosing it
3) one is a fool and can even fool himself
4) one is a cocker spaniel puppy
5) one is idealistic
Would any of you put this group in charge of your personal finances and investments? It is sobering to know they are in charge of your city's finances and investments. Their mismanagement will come back to bite you in the wallet or in your quality of life.
Yes, a firefighter friend of mine told me that 5 million dollar stations were not necessary. So it makes me wonder who's idea it was anyway. Firefighters do have gyms, kitchens, TV's etc at the current stations, and there's nothing wrong with that. Keeps them from having boney girl arms when they have to carry you off buildings and stuff. (Of course paying $8000 for a refrigerator smacks of people in on the take, but is that alleged price credible?) I just hope the 5 million dollar fire stations work out better than the 5 million dollar storm drains did (that made drainage worse in Leucadia.) Why no one is responsible for that boondoggle is still a mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteCouncil is not evil; it is incompetent and hired an overpriced "connected" manager who doesn't have the courage to think for himself.
ReplyDeleteThe City Attorney is smarmy. He doesn't care about the truth, just getting what he wants. Look up Glenn Sabine on the SD County Recorder's web page. He had three County Tax liens recorded against him. These are public records.
Sabine was able to pay these off, recently, because of all the money he has sucked out of this City with his "lawsuit factory." He can drag out litigation, always a win-win, for him.
Truth Seeker, I dig you, and all of you guys for your on-target posts. I think we all do care, or we wouldn't be posting here. Christy Guerin was and still is on the gravy wagon. James Bond is on his way out, thank God.
Stocks is incredibly rude. Come to a closed session and check out his Council Chamber manner, there. He closes his eyes and leans back, with eyes shut. Won't wait five minutes for James Bond or Maggie Houlihan to arrive, just calls a quorum. Arrogant doesn't begin to describe this petty man.
Dalager says he doesn't know squat about art. Does he know squat why he voted to allow a bogus "Art Administrator" who makes over $100,000 a year, when we give out very few art grants, yearly. Jerome Stocks voted for the Art Director, too, and he voted no on all the art proposed for the library. Too expensive, he said at the Council Meeting. We didn't need the "ad-hoc" art committee composed of the "art administrator, Jim Gilliam (sp?) and Jerome Stocks, and staff, who "spent many, many hours" deciding whose art to display at the library, sponsored by you and me. We have an Art Commission. Give them something to do. Christy Guerin was afraid to delegate. She had to micro-manage everything, right down to the Sister City/50th Bday Party for her, and trying to sneak in changing the name of B St to Guerin Gulley. Glad she's gone, can't wait for us to kick out Jerome, to bid adieu to Bond.
Why isn't the Council Meeting Video available within 24 hours? The City needs to again make a replay available on Thursdays, because not everyone can watch it, on Wednesdays. This probably would cost the City very little. They are becoming less transparent, not more. Their website is currently unsearchable using text searches.
I don't think we should develop half of the Hall property. We should have bought it, then done the bare minimum to have a passive use park. We could have developed the Pacific View property, with fields. The fields there were paved over for the Public Works Yard. The neighbors were fine with it. We could have bought that property for much less than the huge sum we are spending on Mossy, with no loss of tax revenue.
Teresa is practical and an idealist. Seems like she knows how to think for herself.
This is a long post, but, hey, I've been gone for awhile.
At this point, a lot of people are going to want a clean slate. Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth should both be calling the DA about the Brown Act Violations. By continuing to go participate, vote in closed sessions, without 72 hour notice of agenda items, every Council Member who does so is continuing to break the State Law. Teresa Barth is keeping her campaign promises. She had said that having SDWD board of directors & council be one and the same does have the appearance of a conflict of interest. Right on.
The others are all so busy making the law, they think they are God. Time to get a new religion. Maggie, please use your head, have a heart, and wake up from the pipedream woven by a devious or bumbling crew of gravy boaters that have latched on to City Hall, making it so that only millionaires can afford to live here. These political sucker-uppers are telling middle or modest income spectrum residents, "Get out, and we'll bulldoze your homes, do a bit of "in fill" development to boost the city's depleted general fund.
James Bond said a long time ago, the operating expenses are going up too fast. Dalager agreed. Then they both lost their nerve, seem blinded by complacency, denial, and muddled thinking. Maybe they were under Guerin's "spell," but there is no excuse for this overspending, underthinking, denying, now.
Might doesn't always make right. "The majority," our questionable quorum has got to go; we all know it.
What I find funny is the "Republican" Jerome Stocks reminds me so much of G.W. Bush. He talks about small dollar issues being too expensive but then promotes the mammoth expenses and gets their governmental bodies in huge debt for the future generations to deal with... not their problem.
ReplyDeleteBush has is Iraq "war".... making profits for his buddy's at Halliburton and costing us citizens trillions (that right, trillions) of dollars in debt, deaths, and lower respect around the world.
Stocks has his trophy projects and government perks..... Giving perks to the employee unions ((thank you very much!!!) and himself and building a regional sports complex for his small (but willing to support his runs for office) soccer lobbying organizations.....
Jerome Stocks is the classic "not walking the talk" guy and has and will continue to greatly damage Encinitas for our future generations.
When I think about it, its really not that funny.
Fiscal responsibility and Water District's separation from the council are going to be the biggest political issues of the 2008 council elections. I really hope we have candidates with the huevos to see the big picture and do something about it. The present council and numerous councilpersons before just sat up on the dias and reacted to what was placed before them. Folks, the job is much bigger than that. We need original thinkers who are not afraid to steer the ship, not hire a consultant to do it. We need someone to speak the hard words, and follow up with action. Good leaders don't just read their packets prior to the meeting and react to the issue at hand.
ReplyDeleteThe true problem is how people are elected. Developers give you money, firemen give you money, soccer moms give you money, etc. It seems the ones who were elected without taking the dough are the good ones, the ones who don't owe, or aren't owned by some group, and are free to make those tough decisions without compromise. I want my politicians to make decisions with ALL of us in mind, or at least make decisions with a greater common good in mind.
2008 can't come soon enough. From the top to the bottom there seems to be a true lack of concern for the future. Encomber future generations, it won't hurt us.
Our council has not had any cost conscious leader since Dv Vivier.All the council does is troll for votes. Extravagance was Kerry Millers legacy.Overhead galore $110,000.00 a day for what? Time now for a reprasial by outsiders. beyond politics . Auditors and efficiency experts who know costing and benifits from the real competitive marketplace. Civil Service is a political welfare system we can"t afford.
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