by Richard J. Riehl on February 27, 2009
There didn’t seem to be much more to say about Carlsbad’s Bressi Ranch NIMBYs and their attempt to keep developmentally disabled persons from moving into a group home in their neighborhood. But then I read the letter to the editor last week that suggested that, regardless of their legal rights, the new neighbors would be foolish to move into a community where they were not wanted. Sound familiar? That’s the same argument that was once used to discourage persons of the wrong race, ethnicity or religion from moving in next door.
Last year County Supervisor Bill Horn defended himself against accusations that he’d engaged in a quid pro quo deal with developers. With imaginations like that, he scoffed, his critics should write novels. Since a novel wouldn’t fit in this space, I wrote him a fairy tale instead.
This time it was the unhappy campers of Bressi Ranch that reawakened the bard in me.
Once upon a time, in The Land of Troubled Assets, the NIMBYs were nervous in their village by the sea. Having recently immigrated to the edge of the village, they had found homes where they could live among those who looked alike, acted alike and thought alike.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on February 15, 2009
How much does it cost to buy a seat on Carlsbad’s city council? If you’re Keith Blackburn, it comes to $100,932 in donations from supporters, plus another $11,875 in loans he gave his own campaign, according to the city clerk’s office. That’s a record for city council campaigns, coming to about six dollars a vote.
It pays to be an incumbent. Anne Kulchin spent only $32,411, or $1.58 per vote, to retain her seat on the council.
Farrah Douglas missed capturing a seat by coming in third. She spent $83,787, or $4.38 a vote. She left another $1,462 remaining in her campaign chest, vowing to keep her options open for future elections. She lost to Blackburn by only 1,321 votes. Makes you wonder if she’d be on the council now if she’d spent the money she saved.
What this all means is that Carlsbad has entered the big leagues in campaign spending. Mayor Bud Lewis’s $65,000 campaign in 2006 set a record. That seems a paltry sum compared with the 2008 big spenders. And history shows political corruption grows when it’s generously irrigated by big money. Illinois’ impeached ex-governor Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to sell President Obama’s senate seat is the latest example.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on January 16, 2009
Those of us of a certain age may remember “Geraldine,” the late comedian Flip Wilson’s alter ego, who loved to say, “The devil made me do it!” when she did something wrong.
I thought of her when I read about how Barratt American’s president, Michael Pattinson, explained why his Carlsbad-based homebuilding company went bankrupt last month. According to Pattinson, his bank was the devil that made him do it, canceling his line of credit and seizing control of all his North County projects.
“What upsets me is that a company that I was loyal to was not loyal to me,” Pattinson sniffed. “But we’re big boys. We know what goes on in this world, and what goes around comes around. I’ve got my boxing gloves on, and I’m up for the fight. I’ve lost Round One, but there’s 14 more rounds to go.”
Pattinson’s pugnacious vow to rebuild his empire, without remorse over the $10.9 million he owes his 11 creditors in San Diego and Riverside counties, is astonishing.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on December 19, 2008
If a new power plant moves in next door to the surfside smokestack and towering concrete walls of Carlsbad’s Encina Power Station, the city’s prime coastal property will become the poster child for both poor planning and fossil fuel addiction.
Mayor Bud Lewis and his City Council are trying to persuade the California Energy Commission to require the new plant’s site to be moved away from the coast. They want the property to be redeveloped to increase beach and lagoon access. The power plant’s owner, NRG West, says other locations are not feasible because of adverse environmental impacts and technical problems that would diminish the plant’s electrical transmission capacity.
The California Energy Commission will settle the argument with a final decision planned for March.
All three players in this drama appear to agree on two major points: our growing regional population needs a new, fossil-fueled power plant, and the old one cannot be shut down for another seven to 15 years.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story. . .
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on October 31, 2008
Last week I voted for Evan Delaney Rodgers and Farrah Douglas to fill the two open slots on the Carlsbad City Council. My wife and I have a long tradition of voting early by absentee ballot. It’s more convenient and it gives us the small satisfaction of dodging the usual last gasp campaign smears.
When I first heard Rodgers was running because she’s a competitive swimmer and wanted the city to build a second community pool, I figured she was an immature, single-issue candidate, not to be taken too seriously. But the more I learned about her, the more I became convinced the nineteen-year-old college student is precisely what the city needs on its governing council: a fresh voice that speaks for a neglected constituency.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on October 24, 2008
We’re hearing a lot about Joe Six-Pack lately, the mythical resident of a mythical Main Street who politicians fall in love with each political season. Office seekers abandon their “ing’s” when they’re talkin’ about their plans for helpin’ folks who are just tryin’ to make a livin’. They love to have their pictures taken with Joe in his yellow hardhat. They seek him out in bowling alleys, delis and bars.
What makes Joe so popular? He’s become the living symbol of common sense wisdom. Politicians believe winning him over is the key to winning elections.
From their many letters to the editor and online chatter, Carlsbad’s Joe Six-Packs seem to be alive and well, but not very happy at the moment with the leadership in their local schools, regional hospital, and congressional district.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on September 26, 2008
Carlsbad’s mayor, unlike most politicians, doesn’t like to make speeches. Bud Lewis prefers video presentations for his yearly State of the City reports.
They’re undoubtedly more enjoyable than the usual drone of self-congratulations. But I wonder if it’s worth sacrificing substance for entertainment value. Was his latest annual report, delivered last month at the La Costa Resort, just another taste of Bud light?
This year’s 24-minute version, titled “Challenge and Opportunity,” opens with quick-time images of clogged freeways and a bustling downtown. Off-camera voices accompany the frenetic scenes, residents expressing their individual concerns: “We’re runnin’ out of water,” “Don’t allow huge buildings to go in,” “A few of the shops down the street have gone out of business,” “I’m really disappointed at parking fees at Tamarack Beach.”
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on September 12, 2008
The biggest challenge facing Carlsbad’s leaders in the near future will be to agree on spending priorities without the safety net of an ample reserve fund.
The city’s yearly budget surpluses may soon disappear because of the planned opening of new city facilities and a reduction in new development as the city reaches build-out.
Enter the Carlsbad Six, City Council candidates ranging in age from 19 to 74.
Their campaign Web sites suggest they can be divided into three groups: the Insiders, the Outsiders, and the Long Shots.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on August 29, 2008
Have you noticed every other year at this time your local member of Congress takes a keen interest in your opinions while listing the wonderful things they’re doing for you in our nation’s capital? It comes in the form of a glossy mailing, made possible by your taxpaying generosity. Since public funds can’t be used for campaign purposes, you’re expected to believe the arrival of these mailings shortly before the next election is purely coincidental.
The mailers all seem to carry the same message, showing how the incumbent’s priorities perfectly capture the prevailing political winds. After recounting the many ways they’re looking out for you, the officeholders ask for your feedback in a brief opinion survey.
The questions are cleverly designed to confirm the politician’s own position or to persuade you to agree with positions they’ve already taken. A loaded question like, “Do you believe Congress should grant amnesty as a pathway to citizenship to the 12-20 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States?” leaves little doubt about your expected response when you’re confined to a yes or no answer.
[click to continue…]
RSS Feed-Posts