Encinitas Mayor Bond is good buddies with Former Encinitas Mayor Dalager. If he didn't know the extent of Dalager's issues, it is his obligation to find out and watch out for the public's interest and faith in city hall.
A person is innocent until proven guilty in California, Bond also said. That is not exactly true. A person is guilty or not, at the time the crime occurred. In the legal system Bond is correct, and it should stay that way. In the electoral system the people have an obligation to question fishy behavior of their elected officials. It is their democratic duty. When elected officials decide to hide relevant facts or cover over concerns, the public should NOT ASSUME INNOCENCE when it is time to cast their ballot. That would be stupid. Instead, they should use their judgment, especially when there are no assurances in this town that there will be good official investigations. They should never accept obfuscation like Dalager peddled and they should be wary of those who enabled Danny or acted uninterested in getting the issue day-lighted.
Dalager sent everyone in town a mailer saying we deserved to know the whole story, but then failed to tell the public the whole story. We now know why. He was guilty and he would have been found out. That is why he hung up on reporters, why he would not let reporters see his kitchen appliances, and why he didn't want to tell everyone all the details of kitchen-gate or the more serious charges about the loan with the developer. Dalager denied the charges and said they were all trumped up as electioneering tactics.
None of it smelled right and shame on the public for saying so. The public was... just so divisive.
At a recent meeting Jim Bond said something like, "That UT reporter couldn't track an elephant with a bloody nose through a field of snow." Good thing there were some citizens to help him track the Pachyderm.
Here is exactly what he said:
Now that Danny has pleaded guilty, I wonder if Mayor Bond will apologize to the watch dog reporter and to the "lynch mob." After all, Mayor Bond didn't assume the watchdog was innocent before being proven guilty.
Thanks to Jeff McDonald and Jonathan Horn! We knew Dalablabber was skating on thin ice. Bond's support of his malfeasance is reprehensible. Also, Bond actually said the UT reporter couldn't track an elephant in snow with a bloody nose....wonder how long he had practised this put down and he still got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteGood work, Dumanis; but, you forgot to charge Mrs. Houlihan who accepted hundreds of dollars in meals from the owners of Aztec Appliances AND also voted on the same 2/2 stalemate over the retaining wall next to Beacon's parking lot.
ReplyDeleteWhen will Houlihan be charged for 'conflict-of-interest'?
She NEVER disclosed her reception of gifts from the owners of Aztec Appliances before she cast a vote that evening.
Making stuff up, Mike?
ReplyDeleteWe got to stop paying people so much. Why does a city manager need to get paid all that money? Do they actually earn it?
ReplyDelete"Our investigative reporter with the Union [Jeff McDonald], I'm beginning to believe, couldn't track an elephant in 2 feet of new fallen snow with a bloody nose."
ReplyDeleteGosh darn, Jim, you sure got it wrong. I was at that council meeting and was flabbergasted by the insult.
Both Jim Bond and Jerome Stocks supported Dalager during the election with paid robo-calls. I received both of the them. The endorsements put a big question mark over both of them and shows their poor judgment. And it doesn't reflect well on Gaspar either.
Dalager got off better than he deserves but at least he now has a record.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for freedom of the press and not freedom of politicians.
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ReplyDeletePower corrupts. When these supposedly average citizens get the bug for civic duty they soon find its easy to fudge the rules. They get content and soon think they are untouchable. There is accountability when the free press brings it to the attention of the people and they demand the court system do its job. Too bad the press won't bring out the lazy over paid public employees and get them fired also.
ReplyDeleteMe love Area Man's comment.
ReplyDeleteWhen is the DA going after the kingpin of special interests- Stocks?
ReplyDeleteA good start. Now we may learn about the $100,000 loan that Dalager had with a private developer and his relationship with the bank he was acting as a "greeter" for while on the City Council. I have been told Stocks had his kitchen redone by Aztec before Dalager had his done. Is this true ? If it is, there is an other obvious investigation.
ReplyDeleteImagine if you will, a Rod Serling voice-over as you wait in line for punch at the party next door to your place. "Watch this," you say to a former neighber who's standing next to you. You remove a small container from a jacket pocket, and you swiftly spill between 3 and 4 ounces of a clear, odorless liquid from a Slim Price Vodka bottle into the big bowl where various hunks of sliced fruit have been stained a deep red from the punch.
ReplyDeleteLittle do you know . . . the former neighbor smiles when he talks to you, but he also tells others that you're an ass. Living down the street these days, he tries to impress his new neighbors with stories about how vital he was to the complicated operations of the local county fair, but explains that sexual harrassment from kids selling Girl Scout Cookies had left him disabled (PTSD). Fortunately, his pension and the out-of-court settlement he received from the Girl Scouts made it possible for him to keep his Hawaiian vacation home.
Most of those details are irrelvant, though, because you have just entered . . The Justice System.
You've been cuffed and stuffed and less than two hours after an "anonymous" 911 call, you're booked and jailed for attempted murder.
The cops show you the Slim Price Vodka bottle and the short one asks you to explain why you've tried to kill everyone at the party. You think you don't really need a lawyer, so you reply, "It was just a joke. That bottle contained water, not vodka." "Likely story," says the tall one.
Back at the party, panic ensues. Deputies return, tell people to calm down, and they pepper-spray the crowd. Some of the guests are feeling a little queasy. Could it have been the pepper spray? That's why their eyes hurt, but why do a few others report other symptoms not usually related to pepper spray? Were those little red bumps on some people's tongues there prior to the party? How about all those swirly lines in everyone's fingertips? Rumors about the punch swirl through the gathering and because the bowl and its contents have been confiscated and entered into evidence, the rumors will grow in complexity as will anxiety from waiting for the official lab analysis. LSD? Anthrax? Local TV and radio reporters swarm to cover the breaking news.
Six weeks later, lab results arrive. Chemists detected small, but possibly significant quantities of pesticide in the punch. Had someone failed to thoroughly wash the fruit? Or was there a more sinister plot?
During the press conference, the SDSO's public relations director explains that after a thorough background check, it's discovered you once read a newspaper article about fluoridated water and wrote a letter to the editor to protest the practice. So, despite never having been charged with a crime of any sort, you have a history of interest in the effects of toxic substances added to otherwise relatively harmless beverages. And in terms of the word "harmless," sugar content might be a factor, but maybe not.
The jury finds you not guilty. Your lawyer congratulates you, shakes your hand, and later that day, uses what you've paid him to make a down payment on that new Gulfstream Jet he's wanted.
Yes, this is an invented scenario. But the truth is that every single one of us is one misunderstanding or misinterpretation of events or one malicious fabrication away from some radical lifestyle changes.
When I have a little more time, maybe it would be fun to select someone at random and do some digging for dirt. In terms of the Encinitas political scene, it might be interesting to find out whether the people throwing the most stones live in the glassiest houses.
Rodney B. Scow
Encinitas
Rodney,
ReplyDeleteSo what's the innocent explanation for taking a $100,000 loan from a developer, not disclosing it, and then voting to give that developer a huge break on city fees?
Sometimes a crook is just a crook.
And public officials must be held to the highest ethical standards, or we'll end up a banana republic.
Me love WC's comment
ReplyDeleteWC:
ReplyDeleteYour homework is incomplete. Your facts are not in order. Your logic is flawed. Your credibility, which may seem intact to a casual observer, suffers as a result. It's obvious that you are intelligent, but please help us all understand whether or not you are willing or able to be thorough and admit you have been wrong. Show the rest of us an intelligent way to explain your own errors. The temptation to maintain a self-righteous stance in the face of new information is great, I know. So let's see whether you're more interested in standing on your current foundation made of sand, which could be another issue altogether, right? By the way, repeating conclusions based upon partial truths and misrepresentations in order to garner support has, throughout history, been an effective means of influencing others--especially after you've gained their trust. Me So Anon's penetrating, insightful response provides one frightening, mindless example.
PS: What's the developer's name?
Who was the source of the loan?
People who hold public office are held to a higher standard because of the great potential for harm that comes with power. Dalager knew the law, knew he got a "steal" and knew he didn't disclose it, not once but twice. How can anyone defend his actions! FYI, nobody pleads guilty to a misdemeanor unless a felony charge is possible, that's the ammunition the DA uses to get conviction on a lesser charge without the risk and expense of a trial.
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ReplyDelete@Rodney: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/08/encinitas-mayor-took-undisclosed-loan/
ReplyDeleteNow please stop the inane rhetoric.
Doggone it. I'm sorry. I forgot about the newspaper. I need to remember that everything I read in the newspaper is perfectly factual, completely true, and written by people who never allow their own personal biases to influence which "facts" they choose to include in their stories. I guess I should stick to fiction. Sometimes, it's difficult to avoid being inane. I'm trying to quit, though.
ReplyDeleteI also apologize to Violet. I remember working for a company that disposes of dead puppies from the animal shelter. I remember the day my boss reminded me that all of us at Dead Pets, Inc. should know that all of the company's employees were held to a higher standard than other companies in our line of business. Just think--if we all remembered that we are all held to a "higher standard," even the atheists would have to admit their mistakes.
ReplyDeleteRodney- Me thinks you so boring and writing in a manner that know logical person can follow. For all us common folk that can't read between under over and in 4th dimensions through the lines, Please clarify, what is you point?
ReplyDeleteRodney B. Scow- Let do some digging into your past. Run for office please.
ReplyDeleteTo Rodney:
ReplyDeleteI was at the council meeting when Dalager was the lone vote (1 to 4) to support giving the developer a quarter million dollar gift by waiving the in lieu funds that are always required when the developer doesn't want to build the required low income housing on a 10+ house subdivision. Dan Shelley was there and spoke in favor of the waiver. The developer was a group of Iranian investors who had bought the land from Shelley. He obviously was still involved in the deal. He has since died.
I was puzzled by Dalager's vote at the time. Why would anyone vote to give a developer such a large undeserved gift? When the news of the unreported loan came out, it all became clear.
The Watchdog got it right. Yes, Dalager pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge to avoid the more serious felony charge. It's common in plea bargaining.
Dalager plead guilty and is taking his punishment. He has to live with it, not us. Forget enough of the past and focus on the present to keep these dopes running our government in check. We have lots to worry about in between surfing, work and the rest of life. Pensions, the Hall Park, Bonds dementia, Stocks drinking, Maggie and Teresa becoming more like Shelia every day, good grief!
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