By now we're used to the sleazy mailers being sent out by "Voter Education Group" and Jane Twining-Blair and other developer front groups behind the Dalager-Gaspar campaign.
But I was shocked to see the same trash being sent by the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, which I had previously understood to be a mainstream, respectable, Republican-leaning business group.
Now I'm no fan of politician junkets and conferences, but $9,987 is a trivial amount of money for attending multiple conferences over a couple of years. To put that in perspective, Dan Dalager voted to give his developer buddy a break of over $200,000. And Dalager voted to increase the underfunded employee pension benefits by tens of millions. And Dalager has wasted millions overpaying for the Hall Property, and left the city with no funds to build or operate a park there!
The Encinitas Taxpayers Association, with whom the Lincoln Club should be ideologically sympathetic, rated Barth and Kranz A- and B+ and the union-backed Dalager and Gaspar D and F.
Barth responds here.
I do not know if that dollar amount listed is correct but I do attend meetings, workshops and the annual League of California Cities conference as a means of staying current with changing state laws, urban planning, transit, and environmental issues. Registration, transportation and lodging fees are paid by the city. I do not however request reimbursement for any out of pocket expenses or for per diem.
For the last two years the council voted unanimously to designate me as the city’s official delegate at the League’s annual conference. The other council members have had two opportunities to question the expense of attending the conference but they not raised any objections.
I don't know whether the Lincoln Club is corrupt in bed with the Dalager-Gaspar campaign, or if they were duped. Either way, it will be hard to trust anything from them again.
Whine. Whine. Whine. Cry baby cry. Make your mother sigh..you're old enough to know better, so cry baby cry.
ReplyDeleteSeems Encinitas is attracting a lot of attention from outsiders interested in keeping Dan and foisting Kristin on us...wonder what the boys have promised them? The mailer also states there was an investigation into Teresa's complaints, that is totally false, no investigation was done!
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:50,
ReplyDeleteYes congratulations. You may succeed in bankrupting our future to make your union and developer buddies rich.
All the money you make wiLl never buy back your soul.
Encinitas Undercover; please don't divert attention to other incidents and answer the question: IS THIS MAILER TRUE OR FALSE? If its false, what parts are false. Please explain!
ReplyDeleteIf I don't get a response, I'll assume that it's all correct!
11:33,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's true that Encinitas, like many cities, participates in inter-governmental meetings and conferences. If we don't like that policy, we should take it up with the Dalager-Stocks-Bond majority on the council that sets the policy. And if the Lincoln Club is so opposed to this type of event, why have they not taken out hit piece mailers against the dozens or hundreds of local officials in the county who have participated in these events?
Yes, it's true that Barth represented the city at these meetings while Dalager was back home robbing the store.
Yes, it's true that the Lincoln Club has wealthy developers among its board and officers who appear to have persuaded the Lincoln Club to side with unions over taxpayers when it suits their private financial interests.
Why would the Lincoln Club care about our community? That is the million dollar question? There may be more here than meets the eye. Something is brewing and I hope that it can be stopped before we have another Dough Manchester debacle here in Encinitas. Someone should be closely checking the home sales and foreclosures along coastal Leucadia.
ReplyDeleteIt seems there is an awful lot of complaining and accusations of sleazy slates. They're not sleazy if they're true! Barth has yet to give us a satisfactory answer to her spending. Of course there are expenses going to a conference or out of town meeting, but how many are we talking about? I have a business that requires the big annual conference and outside meetings and am very aware of the expense which are pretty standard.
ReplyDeleteThis ought to be very easy to settle, and since Barth ran on "Truth and Transparency" she ought to jump at providing a detailed, itemized expense report, which should be at her fingertips.
The fact that she has not yet provided us the details leaves those of us who aren't blinded by Barth loyalty with the thoughts that the slate merely opens the door to speculation of some impropriety on Barth's spending.
I think the majority of us would like to see our elected officials spend our money frugally. Yes, go to the important conference but don't go to a luxury resort while there.
Everyone ought to be asking for this instead of blindly shaking your fist at Kristin Gaspar.