City Seeks Nominations for Most Over-the-top Employee AwardWe are honored to be mentioned by the witty and mysterious Guerrilla, though we suspect he may be poking a bit of fun at our rabble-rousing friends.
It’s widely known that many city of Encinitas employees are over the top. To determine which employee crowns the list, the City conducts a biennial competition that starts with soliciting nominations from residents.
To qualify as a nominee, the City employee must be grossly overpaid, far too powerful, callously underhanded and unresponsive to citizens’ input. Those qualifications narrow the choices but focus the public’s mind.
To avoid internal favoritism, the City asks that nominations be submitted to W.C. Varones at http://encinitasundercover.blogspot.com/. In due time, the City Council will choose the award winner.
Citizens interested in nominating employees may wish to start by browsing the very large $100,000+ Club.
Ditto re previous nomination: Gus Vina, our city manager.
ReplyDeleteVina
ReplyDeleteIs that Gus in the photo?
DeleteEnvy is an ugly thing: it equals low-life-dom. How 'bout tryin' to cure cancer or feeding the poor instead of literally pickin' on cripples? Cindy has been gone for about a decade and is seriously ill with M.S. This is what we mean when we say that W.C. gets all his information second-hand. Not exactly the Good Samaritan is he? Cheap thrills: beginning to think your Grandma is supporting you, Mr. Libertarian.
ReplyDeleteIt's safe on the sidelines, or under the bed. Not exactly a Profile in Courage, eh Water Closet?
Um, yeah, maybe this contest wasn't such a good idea. Damn you, Encinitas Guerilla!
DeleteI didn't expect anyone to pick low-level employees, much less retired and disabled employees. I have removed that comment.
Anon 3:55, I don't think that this is about 'envy.' I think that it is more of a case of resentment that we are forced to pay unreasonable wages and retirement benefits to people who have few professional standards of performance except to be cronies. In comparison to most other organizations in the area, many staff members are overpaid and rewarded to be lazy, dishonest, inept, and ineffective. It is a system that is built on the wrong set of rewards since most residents in Encinitas work in high-level jobs, where we are expected to demonstrate high professional standards.
DeleteGus Vina praises staff for bad work, and he is a poor example for them as well. The worse it gets, the more people Gus tries to bring in to shield himself from responsibility. Hiring a new PR person to deliver another layer of BS only weakens his status as a manager and exposes his insecurity. He is so poorly regarded by now, that he has weakened the image of Council through their continued support of him. His passion for “team building” has Council playing on HIS team. There is nothing wrong with team building except that Council should be playing on the citizens’ team—not Gus’ team. He is supposed to work for them, and they are supposed to work for us.
The current culture at the City is a mismatch to our Encinitas voters since we deserve to have people of high standards that mirror our own personal and professional values. Many at the City are lacking in the basic skills to do their own jobs, and most certainly should not be getting the benefits and pay that they are currently getting.
Gee, WCV, don't blame the Guerrilla! That's an endangered species. Weasels, however, are thriving.
DeleteCindy Adams wasn't as bad as Joan Kling is. Kling is a pure "yes woman." She helps Glenn Sabine, who is not technically an employee, but is a contracted "officer," our City Attorney. Is he a sworn officer? I know as an attorney he's an officer of the Court, but I never knew if he's a sworn officer of Encinitas?
ReplyDeleteSabine should be eliminated, ASAP. People should send comments, if they have them about Sabine or Vina. Their evaluations will be addressed in closed session, next Month, coming right up.
Next, reduce Gus Vina's pay to $150,000, or let him go. He is being paid more, here, in Encinitas, then he received as interim City Manager in Sacramento, a MUCH larger city, a position from which Vina resigned when he got his cushy job in Encinitas, after a vote of NO-CONFIDENCE by Sacramento City Council.
We need a housecleaning, starting at the top. All new "cabinet members" should have a pay reduction of 20%, down to no less than $100,000. We don't have to start out new hires at such outrageous rates of pay just to justify Gus Vina's exorbitant salary. Only by attrition and reducing salaries will we be able to cut back on operating expenses, either that or keep raiising fees and rates on citizens/consumers/ratpayers.
Think about it, all of Vina's strategic planning has been to get Council behind HIM, VIna, so that Council will have more confidence in "upper level management," and more DISTRUST of the people. The City has seen "common folks," the people, as it's opponents, not on SAME TEAM with Gus, Glenn, Barth, Shaffer, Kranz and crew, and their 101 Mainstreeter/cheaters, already with a 101 Coordinator lobbying for big growth, and a soon to be hired, over-priced PR Communications Specialist that no one in the PUBLIC wants or needs to be hired.
Give more money for charitable non-profits, and and less, or NONE to City biz ass. subsidiaries. The government is to be by and for the people, not by and for businesses Mainstreet USA associations partnering with the City to leverage insider influence through their "symbiotic relationship," which feels more like incest, when sponsors are subsidiaries and subsidiaries are sponsors! Even the State of the City address event was sponsored, with Peder Norby and Gus Vina on the State of the City Address Committee . . .
The State of the City Address should be an AGENDA ITEM, not a speech given by our Mayor, with all of Council in attendance at a $20 per plate dinner, sponsored by and benefiting the 101 Mainstreet Associations and the Chamber of Commerce. These business groups aren't automatically subsidized in many other cities!
Enough. Many of us know of your troubles with the city and Sabine and the code enforcement. Buttering up to Sheila couldn't even help did it? You might try going away and reinventing yourself then come back in a year or two as a kinder and gentler version of yourself .
DeleteYeah, you might try that 6:54. Why don't you respond to WC's initiating post, and keep your "know it all" unsubstantiated and irrelevant personality attacks out of it? You are somone who should definitely go away and try reinventing yourself. Stop attacking posters under the cover of anonymity, trying to get "personal" with them to drive them away. It won't work. You only reveal your own true nature.
DeleteAnon 6:54, why do you assume that you know the identity of the person you are attacking? Remember, this issue carried by a 4% spread with several thousand people supporting it.
DeleteI think that the member you are trying to flame makes valid points!
Anon 1:11 and 1:19. Husband and wife I presume. Your text reveal yourselves. Look how much fun you have together. Nice way to spend a sunny Sunday. Enjoy.
DeleteAnon 6:47. I am one of the 6700 Yes on A voters. We won, and I support this call to change in Encinitas. You sound like a sore loser who is trying to even the score by picking on people.
DeleteI support all citizens who as for City staff and City Council to improve on the job. This intiative would not have been needed if we had better leadership at the City.
Leadership?? In Encinitas?? LOLOLOL. Now that's a good one.....leadership in Mayberry by the Sea???
Deleteinteresting... the fire chief now makes $210,000 a year! that is a significant raise since Muir left
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? Who approved that?
ReplyDeleteThey need to be fired and someone needs to be held accountable.
This is rediculoius. Council needs to firehouse now.
He is bankrupting this city like he did Stockton and sacraments .
Who was the guy found dead in Leucadia Friday night near the park??
ReplyDeleteNo news at the county coroner yet.
DeleteNothing in Patch or newspapers either.
WCV
The dead guy is Mr. Fiscal Responsibility - killed by the Encinitas City Hall!
ReplyDeleteNo truer words were even written! They are going through all of these 'visioning' activities and 'team building' with Gus and the Council, yet Mr. Fiscal Responsibility is never invited to the table!
DeleteGus Vina needs to stop treating our City budget as his personal slush fund to do with as he pleases!
Torches and pitchforks. Raise them high so the council can see them and you!!!
DeleteWhat happened to Leucadia's Webcam?
ReplyDeleteIs it dead too?
http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/Leucadia/1/show.html
Was it ever live? What was the picture?
ReplyDeleteThe surf at Leucadia's favorite and probably best break. It was indispensable for anybody who wanted to check the waves and conditions without driving, biking or walking to the overlook.
DeleteIt was a time delay web cam and definitely was not live streaming. It has not worked for at least 5 years now.
DeleteYou don't need a web cam to know when it's good at Beacons.
It's never that good but there is always something to ride out there.
If by live streaming you mean video, it wasn't. It posted a new still photo every few minutes. I don't remember the exact interim. The camera is on the Neptune house that used to have a ham radio antenna on the roof. The camera and wind meter are still there, but the camera isn't working anymore. It went down about two weeks ago.
DeleteThe dead guy is Mr. Fiscal Responsibility - killed by the Encinitas City Hall!
ReplyDeleteThe one that pulled the trigger- Sacramento Gus.
Sacramento Gus is the fastest check book drawer in the west. With his check book in hand and hair trigger signature he has brought down huge Agencies including the City of Stockton, the City of Sacramento, and was part of the posse who brought down State of CA.
Now he is fighting to kill the City of Encinitas future. Will our City Council let hime or will they save our City from this financial beast?
Not looking good at this point. Another ballot initiative needs to be drawn to limit salaries and pensions of the Civic trough feeders. This Council won't be addressing it anytime soon (ie, like never).
DeleteI guess if the State Assembly can give themselves a 5% raise, Encinitas will also give raises. Strange times indeed.
ReplyDelete