{"id":3236,"date":"2008-09-12T07:18:27","date_gmt":"2008-09-12T14:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=3236"},"modified":"2008-09-12T07:21:35","modified_gmt":"2008-09-12T14:21:35","slug":"the-riehl-world-carlsbad-six-web-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=3236","title":{"rendered":"The Riehl World: Carlsbad Six Web Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Candidate<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Enter the Carlsbad Six, City Council candidates ranging in age from 19 to 74.<\/p>\n

Their campaign Web sites suggest they can be divided into three groups: the Insiders, the Outsiders, and the Long Shots.<\/p>\n


\nThe Insiders, Ann Kulchin<\/a><\/strong> and Farrah Douglas<\/a><\/strong>, are the two with the most direct connections to city government. Kulchin has served continuously on the council since 1980. Her Web site consists only of her picture and resume. She gives no hint of her council member priorities.<\/p>\n

Farrah Douglas has been actively involved in community affairs, most recently on the Planning Commission and the Prop. D Citizens Liaison Committee. She lists eight issues facing the city, from the new city charter to Ponto. Except for citing her vote approving the Ponto Vision Plan, she doesn’t reveal her positions on the other issues, inviting voters to stay informed and send her their opinions.<\/p>\n

The two Outsiders, Thomas K. Arnold<\/a><\/strong> and Keith Blackburn<\/a><\/strong>, have been active community volunteers. Neither has ties to city government. As a journalist, Arnold has covered city government meetings throughout the county. He raises four issues of special interest to him, slamming the current council for their decisions on all of them. He seems to be the maverick of the bunch.<\/p>\n

Blackburn is a Carlsbad police officer and an active community volunteer and philanthropist. He doesn’t give his position on the issues, listing instead the attributes of his character that qualify him for public office. He pledges to retire upon his election and donate his council salary to charity.<\/p>\n

Evan Delaney Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> and Glenn R. Bernard<\/a><\/strong> are the two Long Shots. A Cal State San Marcos student, Rodgers has the most interesting Web site, including links to her opponents’ Web sites with an invitation to compare their campaign promises with hers. Refusing all donations and endorsements, she vows to spend no more than $100 of her own money on the campaign. Her top priority, a second public swimming pool, is just one of the issues on a long list ranging from cleaning up the city to anti-bullying.<\/p>\n

Bernard, a retired Marine officer, has no Web site. The League of Women Voters posts his responses to their standard questionnaire. The self-described “Uncandidate” refuses to post signs, calls for no more home building until there’s been five years without a drought and opposes hiring or promoting city employees who don’t own at least one U.S.-made car. He lists his wife, son and daughter as his “key endorsements.”<\/p>\n

Carlsbad’s council has been a model of civil decision-making in the past.<\/p>\n

Two open positions, one incumbent and a tighter budget are good reasons for voters to choose carefully from among the Insiders, Outsiders and Long Shots on November 4. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3236"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}