End of the 3 vote rule

Last week the Encinitas city council repealed the controversial 3 vote rule. The rule that was put in place last year made it so that during a meeting a 3 vote majority would force an item to be placed on the agenda for the next following meeting. the 3 vote rule allowed for the practice that had been the rule before to continue, being that the mayor could direct the city clerk to put anything s/he chose to be put on the agenda. After the council revision, it only requires a 2 vote minority to place something on an agenda (essentially a motion, and a second). Of course any action on an agenda item (any real policy-setting or decision making) still requires a 3 person majority.

The rule was highly criticized as silencing and restricting of the council minority voice and was often dubbed  as 'agenda tyranny' by many people on the online community.

Now, this was one of the most divisive issue I think I've seen this year, and its all bogus. The old rule was that one person had all the power regarding the tiny issue that is putting things on an agenda for a meeting during an earlier meeting; that person was the mayor. That is true 'agenda tyranny,' when one and only one person can dictate the agenda. The rule that was put in place (the 3 vote rule) was a HUGE step away from that agenda tyranny. Everyone came out all up in arms against this led by the ever warping and twisting Teresa Barth. Barth, who was in search of a good divisive campaign issue to twist into something its not in order to try and run some good smear campaign tactics, especially considering the attorneys threw the $15 thousand dollar harassment case back at her because there was nothing there. I could make my usual comment right now about how she owes the public back that $15,000 (Phil Cotton's monthly salary), but that would be redundant. Ooops, looks like I kind of just made the comment. Some people even went to fraudulently say that the rule was a violation of the brown act and other laws on governance.

Here's the facts. Before the 3 vote rule, it was all at the mayor's discretion, and it didn't matter what the rest of the council thought. The 3 vote rule empowered the council to essentially override the mayor and enforce that with a majority, an item HAD to be placed on the agenda. The 3 vote rule was the exact opposite of what it got twisted to be portrayed.

All that being said, I think it's excellent that the city revised the policy to a simple two person minority; i just despise the way the minority bastardized this procedural rule. I think theres nothing wrong with a two person minority in order to get something on an agenda; after all, I realize that someday maybe the side I support won't hold its steady majority, but at that point it might be time to move out of the city anyway.

I'm sure that the comments that ensue will all be about how terrible I am, and how tyrannical and evil the council majority is.

Bluff Collapse on Neptune

As you may or may not be aware by now, the bluff behind a house on Neptune gave out today and collapsed. From the early reports I heard no one was injured, thank god. This raises an interesting question that (surprisingly) don't have an opinion on. Who is responsible for bluff maintenance: the city, or the property owners? I would assume the city just because that would ensure uniform maintenance procedures and see to it that it gets done instead of leaving it in the hands of someone who could be negligent. However, I'm not truly sure of this opinion and don't really know the arguments on either side.

For once I don't really have a firm opinion on the subject that I am blogging on, but I would love to hear yours! Please feel free to (respectfully) comment on your stance at who's job it is to maintain the bluffs?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope anyone who happens to come across this has a very nice 2011!

Barth receives a pension?!?!?!?!?!

The North County Times recently published an article about elected officials who receive a pension from governmental institutions.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_244f4cde-73a6-521e-83f4-40737f0c5b46.html

Encinitas councilwoman and bane of my existence Teresa Barth was listed as one of many north county officials who recieve a government pension (hers is from the state of California for work at the fairgrounds in Del Mar). Though her pension does not amount to a whole lot (less that 14,000 a year as reported by the article), it is interesting that the woman who was elected to some degree because of the fact that she speaks out against pension systems (and the city of Encinitas' pension program specifically) receives a government pension. She was quoted in the article as saying that because she has a pension in gives her special insight into the way they work Personally, to me that argument is a little lacking and I still look at this as Barth being a blatant hypocrite; but then again, I'll be the first one to admit my bias against her and some of the things that come out of her ever-running mouth.

As you may or may not know, the pension system in Encinitas is something that many (including myself) say is out of control. It is one of the few things I don't agree with my majority faction on.

What do y'all think about Barth's double talking?

Drama at City Hall

As I have said before in Encinitas there are two definite factions and nary a meeting in between. The current majority faction on the council being the Good Ole Boys Association with its new de facto leader Jerome Stocks who took party power after the downfall of Dan Dalager. Stocks is aided with the help of folks like Doug Long, Tony Brandenburg, Kristin Gaspar (Good ole gals?) and occasionally (and with more frequency) James Bond. The Minority Faction being the group that hasn’t quite found itself yet with its leader Teresa Barth and members like Rachelle Collier, Tony Kranz, and (sometimes) Maggie Houlihan.

A lot of the time I get criticized for being a self proclaimed member of the majority group that seems so hated by the people online (but apparently loved by the voters considering that they continue to stay the majority power year after year). But what people don’t realize is that I don’t support all the ideals/actions of my majority group; and at heart, I really just want to restore sanity to crazy Encinitas politics and see what’s right for the city. So all you haters hear me out!

Last Tuesday, Council on a 3-2 vote approved that our (kinda) new mayor will be Bond (…….James Bond), with the forever loved, admired, and adored Jerome Stocks as deputy mayor. The motion was put forward by Gaspar and approved by majority.

The Barth-ites are all up in arms because not only did the Good Ole Boys get their way, but they did it about one year after Jim Bond specifically told Teresa that she was going to get a council leadership position this year to avoid ‘putting her out in the cornfield’ and letting her get stepped over again. Bond made it clear that he changed his mind on this position and thinks its okay to stick her in the cornfield because he was unimpressed with what he thought were behaviors unfit of a mayor during the last election cycle, and thus could not support any kind of Barth leadership. Was it really that he was appalled at her behavior, or just that the good ole boys making a political power play to back seat Teresa again? I don’t know, but what I do know is that it really doesn’t matter.

Being mayor in this city means just about nothing and isn’t something to get fired up about. The fact that Jim Bond is mayor does not mean there is going to be some kind of broad policy change on the council. Some people would argue that the mayor has liberty to put whatever he wants on the agenda, but with the new 3 vote rule, the council has the same liberties.

I think the person who is happiest after this vote is Stocks just due to the fact that it means Teresa isn’t in a leadership position for at least another two years (the majority will get their way next year too). There exists a lot of baggage between Stocks and Barth over that fraudulent harassment suit. Can you blame Stocks though? Sure, political retaliation over a ceremonial position that arguably should be Barth’s this year isn’t great; but I would be mad as hell too if I were him. Anyone with one eye and a half a brain could see that whole harassment thing hadn’t a leg to stand on.

Here in lies the place where I get really impartial and it affects my journalistic commentaries. After the harassment scandal I just have such a hard time even looking at Teresa Barth. Setting politics aside all she did with what I refer to as ‘Harassgate’ was run up a $15,000 bill for something that was absolute nonsense backstabbing and create massive city council in-fighting. Personally (and this is going to sound extremist), I still want her to write the city of Encinitas a $15,000 check. If you really think about, tensions would not be nearly as high as they are on our council had it not been for that incident, and without those tensions Barth could feasibly been voted in mayor by now. On this one, I’m going to make the ruling that I think she made her own bed and now she has to sleep in it.

Now, here is the problem with what happened on Tuesday. Directly after the vote Houlihan accused everyone and their mother of being in violation of the Brown Act. This is only going to create more infighting and polarizing of the council. What are you thinking Maggie? And if you admittedly can’t prove anything, why even bring it up? And let’s be honest here, we all know that:

1) the majority could have easily figured out this political move without talking before the meeting, they wouldn’t even need to meet in secret before the meeting to figure this out.

2) All 5 council members are talking about agenda items before meetings all the time, not just the majority, and not just on the subject of who they appoint to the ceremonial mayor post.

3) If this is the worst offense against the Brown Act we have in Encinitas then we’re not doin’ too shabby.

With all this mayor controversy when it comes down to it at the end of the day at least both factions can come together and hold hands and jointly exclaim: ‘At least Andreen isn’t our mayor’ and take solace in that fact!

Holiday Cheer

On Saturday evening I attended the Encinitas holiday/Christmas/Whatever you'd like to call it parade, where I and 7 other youths marched in the last parade group of the evening along side the vintage Cadillac that Santa rode in (as is customary for the Y.C. to do). I have been going to the Parade for many years and found this one to be the best one in memory. I have always thoroughly enjoyed the parade and never known why. I finally understood on Saturday as I was decorating the Cadillac with tinsel waiting to march. The reason that the Encinitas holiday parade is so enjoyable is because it incorporates all the best parts of our town in one 2 hour long event. It isn't about large helium-bloated cartoon characters held on to city workers with ropes as other bigger parades are, or about building an edifice of your Chevy to make it look like reindeer. It is just a bunch of community groups driving and walking through a section of our town with a few banners with people on the side lines their to cheer them on and show a sign of support. It truly shows why Encinitas is great. Thanks to the City and all participants for making a wonderful and family friendly event for all the community to share.

A round of applause to the Downtown Encinitas Main Street Association for the 'L8 Night' program

For the month of December, DEMA is putting on a great program every Thursday night. Over 20 stores are participating in the program which has been given the handle: "L8 Nights" do to the fact that the participating stores will be open from 5-8pm. Not only will the stores be open later, many will be rolling out some special sale prices and providing refreshments as well. In addition, there will be live music throughout downtown and traveling holiday carolers. On top of all of those other great things, there will be a very special guest in the lumberyard on the select Thursdays (Dec. 2, 9, 16, and 23). That's right, the one and only real Santa Claus will be in the Lumberyard from 5:30 - 7:30pm. It is wonderful that DEMA is putting these events together to bolster local business on the 101 and provide a fun community event.

http://www.encinitas101.com/l8-nite-thursdays/