A raspberry to the increasingly irrelevant North County Times for endorsing all 3 Encinitas city council incumbents. Not only is endorsing the status quo boring, it defies their own logic.
NCT: EDITORIAL: Encinitas trio merit return to city council
How quickly the NCT forgot it's previous Editorial comments about the Encinitas incumbents:
Encinitas approves 20 percent raise for city manager
May 14, 2007 NCT Roses & Raspberries
The 'City Manages to Overpay' award
A raspberry to the Encinitas City Council majority for being the latest to overcompensate their chief executive. Council members James Bond, Jerome Stocks and Dan Dalager voted to boost the salary of City Manager Phil Cotton, by all accounts a fine public servant, to $198,723. So Cotton apparently cottoned up to the council enough, in just six months on the job, to earn a 20 percent ---- or $33,723 ---- raise. What's more, the council tried to sneak it through by putting it on the consent calendar ---- more typically reserved for minor, noncontroversial items to be approved en masse.
In a bizarre race to cripple themselves at the bargaining table when public employee unions come a-calling, local councils are competing to overpay their city managers. Escondido shells out $243,310; Poway, $237,350; San Marcos, $237,008; Carlsbad, $228,968; Vista, $216,587; and Oceanside, $207,525. Even tiny Del Mar pays $160,000 and Solana Beach, $156,870. It's good to be the city manager. Taxpayer, not so much.
NCT criticizes city for holding special meetings: When is a 'special meeting' not so special?
Jim Bond's lame "State of the City" address
Raspberries and Roses
"A raspberry to Encinitas Mayor James Bond for his ill-prepared and self-serving State of the Community address last week. Bond's delivery indicates he has become entirely too comfortable in office. Unless voters see more substance and less stale style from the mayor, they may send Bond right back to retirement in 2008."
Comon' NCT, we need some fresh meat on the council. Try to think outside of the box, go to a different restaurant for a change. NCT, you are in a rut man. You used to know how to party but now look at you. You are old and stale man. ZZZZzzzz. You gotta reach for the brass ring every once and awhile in life you know? Can't have leftover meatloaf every Saturday night for the rest of you life you know what I'm saying man? Go talk to the pretty girl, she digs you man and you don't even have the balls to go over there and introduce yourself. NCT, you've turned into your parents man.
Not only do they print that trash, they refuse to print letters to the editor with a contrary view. Journalism or facism?
ReplyDeleteOJ GUILTY -- maybe there is karma -- watch out Stocks and Bond.
ReplyDeleteWhat have they done for us in their time in office? Nothing good. It's sad that out of 65,000 people in town, our council is this bad. Vote them out. Brandenburg and any other two running, but no incumbents.
ReplyDeleteJP,
ReplyDeleteThe NCT endorsement is weird. I just posted my first thoughts on that endorsement over on the ETA blog: http://encinitastaxpayers.org/blog/index.php?blog=3&p=311&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
It is one thing to endorse the incumbents; it is another to give them props for open government, the library, and preparation for rainy days. It was almost like the editors wanted their endorsement to be disregarded.
I find it suspicious that the NCT editors tend to be for keeping the tax rates low, but somehow they only give a nod to Sheffo, and seem to have forgotten all the attempts that the incumbents have taken to increase the cost of living in Encinitas.
I wonder how much money, or favors, it cost the team of Stocks and Bond to get the NCTimes to have the nerve to print that editorial. Perhaps a debt had to be paid off? Perhaps a drinking game and the NCTimes lost. It is so full of B.S. that on self-respecting newspaper would actuallly endorse those clowns unless------? The facts as I heard them of a "reliable source" was that Deborah Cervone took offline the endorsements. In fact I have an actual e-mail that she sent to me that states just that. Think I will keep it for future use. So, either she was lying to me (that's a no no Deborah) or the NCTimes was bought off. Or is it something even more? Let's see.
ReplyDeleteOn another topic. The Hall Property. Does it seem strange to anyone else but me that the Parks and Rec. Dept. (that would be staff) is filing an appeal to keep the 5 fields. Not exactly sure who they are going to file it to, as I was under the impression that the City Council had the final word. The Parks and Rec. Commission, had NO say in what was designed, except for the sidewalks and buffer zones. Sort of strange to me. More on another post. Got ot go download a few e-mail keepers."
Could it be that the Parks and Rec. were 'guided' by someone to change the park plan that the community designed by adding the phrase,
ReplyDelete’maximize sports fields', to guide the changing of the design of the park.
There is no reference in any council meeting minutes to direct anyone to change the plan that the citizens designed.
Or parks and rec. made the changes on their own, without any input at all, on their own.
Oh, those darn incumbents. Did they direct park and rec. to add that directive? (wink)
No Karma, just smarter people in Nevada than california!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree I think their is something in for the Times. It would be interesting if someone could research and find out what the Times is getting out of it. I thought the Tribune was "THE REPUBLICAN " paper. Next they will be saying Pallin for President (Mcain 72 and three cancers , two heart attacks).
ReplyDeleteVote for Stocks at Jerome risk!!
ReplyDeleteOh good, we just spent $560,000,000 on occupying Iraq.
ReplyDeleteResults, we are going to get over $1,000,000,000,000 more in debt, and thousand of young Americans and hundreds of other will die, and more people will hate America throughout the world.
Wow. Thats great leadership. I can't waite for more of the same with McCain.
Doug Long, the Chairman of Parks and Rec appealed the Planning Commission's decision not to accept the EIR; the commission was not charged the $250 as it is an appendage of the council.
ReplyDeleteIf Doug Long appealed as a Parks and Rec. Commissoner, this is news to me. Being on theParks and Rec. Commission I will restate that it is the Parks and Rec. Dept. that appealed the Planning Commission's decision. The Parks and Rec. Dept. had to pay for the appeal, using money from the Hall Property fund. Please get the facts straight.
ReplyDeleteHey Dr L,
ReplyDeleteDid Park and Rec change the park plan that the community designed by adding the phrase,
’maximize sports fields', to guide the changing of the design of the park.
According to Parks and Recreation Director Chris Hazeltine, Doug Long did appeal the Planning Commission's decision on the Hall Property's EIR.
ReplyDeleteGood grief! The Planning Commission did not deny the EIR. The commission denied the project as presented and accepted/certified the EIR. Doug Long must have appealed the denial of the project as presented, presumeably because it suggests reducing the number of playing fields (among other recommendations).
ReplyDeleteGrandstanding pure and simple. THe City staff was presenting the recommendations to the Council anyway. Long is gambling that most voters agree that the maximum number of playing fields is necessary.
Doug Long and Danny Dalager just don't understand that this park will never get built if they don't compromise with Cardiff. Teamwork guys, it's not all about you.
In the spirit of clarity I need to fix a typo from my last post. I had meant to write;
ReplyDelete"According to Parks and Recreation Director Chris Hazeltine, Doug Long did not appeal the Planning Commission's decision on the Hall Property's EIR."
The voters of this city will elect;
ReplyDeleteMaggie Houlihan because the perception is that she is honest, trustworthy and responsible.
James Bond, because he is the Grandpa that tells us all to put away a little money for the future, and they like his name.
Rachelle Collier, by default, because voters are pissed off, ready for a change, and Jerome Stocks represents "business as usual." I could be wrong about Rachelle because the third seat could be complicated by the numbers (Robert Nanninga votes cancel out Rachelle Collier votes, giving the seat back to Jerome Stocks by default).
Maggie Houlihan is being abandoned for Rachelle Collier. Rachelle is nice, soft-spoken, unassuming and considerate of others.
ReplyDeleteMaggie talks a lot to cover over her failures and obvious short comings as a elected official.
Say no to Houlihan and yes to Collier.
GOOD GRIEF! I call bullshit on the previous poster. Just because Rachele is nice, doesn't mean she will be able to stand up to the likes of Jerome and Jim. At least Maggie can do that. If you are going to vote for the 2 white men, then vote for Maggie over Rachelle.
ReplyDeleteYou betcha!
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with nice?
ReplyDeleteTeresa Barth is nice but has stood up to the boys. Pam Slater-Price is nice and has done wonderful things for our community.
Does everything have to be in-your-face? Nice doesn't mean weak.