Thursday, August 2, 2012

A few thoughts on the council candidates so far

The Leucadia Blog has the list of candidates who have taken out (but not yet filed) papers to run for City Council.
Bryan Ziegler
Kevin Forrester
Mark Muir
Tony Kranz
Lisa Shaffer
Barbara Yost
Shoja Naimi
Here are a few initial thoughts, which I reserve the right to amend and retract.

Jerome Stocks will file unless he gets a good-ol-boy seat with good pay on a do-nothing government board.

The more yahoos who enter, the less likely the incumbents get tossed. Every unknown name added to the ballot splits the Dump Stocks vote and makes Stocks / Muir more likely to be re-elected.

Bryan Ziegler ran for Supervisor and lost badly, taking a distant 4th place, apparently with little or no campaign organization. Encinitas City Council looks like his consolation prize. He calls himself a "Tea Party Republican," but he doesn't seem to think pensions are a problem:
The employees pay for their pension just like other people pay for their 401K [WRONG - employees sometimes pay a modest amount into pensions which is almost never anywhere close to enough to cover the benefits they are guaranteed].

[...]

The County's pension is 100 percent paid for and is a model for the rest of the country. [WRONG - it's only 52.2% funded].
It would be a huge mistake to elect someone so dangerously uninformed on pensions when Encinitas' own pensions are so severely underfunded, but let's not stop there. What kind of person keeps running for elective office with little or no campaign and little or no public support? Has Ziegler ever been involved in any Encinitas civic issues? He strikes me as someone who wants to BE a Council Member for the title but doesn't have any idea or interest in DOing anything for the people of Encinitas. Read his Patch interview and see if you disagree.

Kevin Forrester is an attorney for real estate developers. He has a very good Constitutional / property rights link list, including SCOTUSblog, Volokh, and the Castle Coalition. He is an ally of Stocks-Muir-Gaspar.

Mark Muir is, well, Mark Muir. The guy who rose to the top of a demanding physical profession while morbidly obese by buttering up the right power brokers. And now a set-for-life-at-55 pension beneficiary who will receive millions of dollars from Encinitas taxpayers over his retirement.

Tony Kranz is back after losing last time to Gaspar's huge outside money campaign and that little confrontation with the Obama=Hitler guy. Kranz has a web site up and is actively involved in civic life, frequently speaking at City Council and seen at most local events. He is an ally of Teresa Barth and in opposition to Stocks-Muir-Gaspar.

Lisa Shaffer seems the most serious of the challenger candidates, with the most content on her web site and an active calendar of events. She has been active in writing commentaries in the Coast News and on Patch and speaking on good government issues at City Hall. She is a UCSD professor. She is allied with Barth and Kranz.

Barbara Yost lives in Olivenhain Village Park [but she could throw a rock to Olivenhain], doesn't have a web site up, and hasn't been active in Encinitas affairs that I know of.

Shoja Naimi is the owner of Roxy, and is involved in 101 DEMA. I do not know whether he would be allied with Stocks-Muir-Gaspar or Barth-Kranz-Shaffer.

Please correct me where I am wrong.

31 comments:

  1. Informative & helpful -- much appreciated, W.C.!

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  2. Thank you for this. I love your wry sense of humor.

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  4. Correction: Barbara Yost lives in Village Park (New Encinitas)

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  5. Kevin Forrester sounds scary, he is just what Encinitas does not need: a Stocks buddy, a champion for concrete and paving paradise.
    Brrrr!

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  6. Thanks, good initial observations.

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  7. Yes, Barbara Yost lives in Village Park. I met her recently. She said a website is coming. She's also active with the dog people, so that should guarantee her a certain number of votes if she can motivate her fellow dog owners. I don't remember her ever speaking at city council meetings.

    The remarks about all the candidates seem to be right on.

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  8. Dog people...you know why we have a dog park on Orpheus? A local couple paid for all 5 counicl members a free trip to Hawaii. When I expressed my disgust, I was told "hey, whatever it takes".

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  9. Barbara Yost- anti roundabout.
    anti streetscape.
    anti Leucadia

    I'm sure she and L!nn are great friends.
    Me?? I'm anti Barbara Yost.
    PS- my dog doesn't like her either.

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    1. I support Barbara Yost, Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz.

      I don't support bullies and name callers who try to drive people away from participating here.

      I've met Barbara and she definitely does support Leucadians and neighborhood self-determination all over our city.

      Solana Beach has now rejected roundabouts, which are actually considered traffic circles, which don't have the safety features of roundabouts, according to the Dept. of Transportation, which defines roundabouts as having at least two lanes. Del Mar is voting on their specific plan, including installing traffic circles, there. Public opinion has been "lukewarm" according to a UT article.

      Public opinion at the Encinitas "workshops" was initially nearly 2/3 opposed to traffic circles. Another workshop was held, LTC and Encinitas Council were heavily lobbied by Peltz & Assoc, Peder Norby and No. 101 Merchants Association. At the second survey, just over 50% voted "yes" on so-called roundabouts OR said ANY roundabouts "deserved consideration." The meeting was not so well noticed, as the one held at City Hall.

      Over 50% of Leucadia Business owners opposed roundabouts, too, as determined by a survey taken through the old Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. Still, the North Hwy 101 Leucadia Merchants Assoc, a relatively few number of "leucadians" are using "anonymous operatives" to mischaracterize anyone who expresses concerns about cut through traffic, loss of community character and slower emergency response times as "anti Leucadia." NOT!

      While I do support Barb Yost, I'm anti-bullies, anti-cut through traffic which would endanger the many pedestrians, bicyclists, beachgoers, dog walkers, carriage pushers, my neighbors and myself who use Neptune and streets west of No. Hwy 101, daily, for our recreational needs.

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  10. Change 4 Encinitas,

    When has anyone on the council or any of the candidates stood up to the density increases?

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  11. Who paid for the trip to Hawaii? I would love to know. We live near the park and it sucks! Someone please rat them out.

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  12. Kevin Forrester scares me if he is an Olivenhain lawyer who is friends with Jerome Stocks. That is a double whammie.

    Should we be wearing garlic necklaces around him with Mary Fleener's new zombie cartoon?

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  13. Yea, that dog park is really a awful, awful place... god forbid people have a place to enjoy the outdoors with their pets in a grassy park.

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    1. A German shepherd introduced my dog to Scooby Snacks there. Now he's a complete addict.

      And the place is full of poodle prostitutes.

      Shut it down!

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  14. ya, better a place for dogs to play and shit than for children and families to use.

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    2. That park is dead empty outside of dog hours. I've heard rumors of some dog-hating neighbors with their panties in a bunch over the dog park... guess they're true

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    3. Too much dog crap for me to bring my children. Just make it a full time dog park.

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  15. It is great to have a dog park. What is not is dog owners letting their dogs shit and piss in the playground. I see dog people let their dogs piss and crap on the playground at Cardiff Elementary and say, "Oh, I pick it up". How do you pick up dog piss.
    And if they think it is just fine to leave the piss and dog residue, I wonder if they would consider rolling around in the piss themselves.
    Some dog folks are bad dog folks.

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    1. You sound like a busybody with nothing better to do all day then bother decent honest hard working people walking their dogs. Get a job, a real job, a job that requires you to work, work so much you are too tired to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, ie up my dogs ass, sniffing around looking for poo or pee. You must be some sort of freak, a freak with a fetish for following people and their dogs. Q-What kind of man or woman pays attention to someones dog and notices if it is pooing or peeing?? A- A deviant with a fetish for canine poo and pee. Only in Cardiff!! Pray for yourself deviant.

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    2. 1:05
      You sound like you freakishly like to take your dog to do his business on playgrounds.
      You are scary.

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    3. My dog craps and pees at home. But when I take her for a walk I don't need someone taking video of her as she passes hoping she'll pee or poop for your pleasure. Who's the freak now???

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  16. Are these new comers ringers to dilute the scant votes that are cast? What is considered a "normal" turnout these days - 30%? You know that $tock$ is strategizing with his 'benefactors' - he knows that there is a small activist group that knows what he is up to, but they are disorganized and have little monetary resources to counter his bid for 4 more years of loot and pillage. Watch for fatty Muir to play up the "hero" fire fighter image - Pavlov's response from the general public will be expected. Get behind one candidate - Shaffer or Kranz (or both).

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  17. Good Comments Anonymous. Brillant!

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  18. http://encinitasrighttovote.webs.com/

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  19. And let's not forget the 1300 votes that went to Betsy Aceti, AFTER she dropped out of the race, but her name was still on the ballot. That was a slick trick!

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  20. I'd really like to help Yost's campaign but can find no contact information.

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    1. Don't bother... she hates Leucadia, hates roundabouts and hates Streetscapes. She's no good for Encinitas.
      PS- my dog hates her!!!

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  21. Dump Stocks, Fire Muir, Ban Forrester

    Restore dignity and the will of the people at city council.

    I want council members that represent me not special interests. I want fiscal conservatists candidates that support open government, community characters, and that can stand up to the pressure of RHNA, Sandag, and developers.

    Enicinitas used to be a nice beach coomunity. It is changing to a mess. We can still save what we have but we can't have the good old boy club making decisions for special interests. Enough of this insanity. Let's bring respect back to council.

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