Mrs. Gaspar goes to Washington

Jenkins: Gaspar to run for Supervisor

Wow!

We didn't think Kristin Gaspar would seek higher office so soon, but Logan Jenkins says he has the goods: Escondido Mayor Sam Abed is too conservative for the district and is having trouble fundraising. Assemblyman Brian Maienschein isn't running. Nor is San Diego Councilman Mark Kersey. Which leaves Gaspar.

It makes sense once you think about it. A positive, moderate woman to go after the moderate and female vote against the hostile-work-environment tarnished Dave Roberts (or whoever replaces him on the Dem side). She doesn't have a lot of accomplishments to run on, but who needs accomplishments these days? Gaspar has to be the favorite in this race at this point if she gets enough support from the county GOP machine to edge Abed out of the primary.

What's this mean for Encinitas? A much lower chance of the Republicans re-taking the city council majority any time soon. They couldn't come up with a single new viable candidate in 2014; how are they going to find two winning newbies in 2016?

Kranz and Shaffer plan to renege on unanimous deal to appoint Gaspar mayor

In a stunning display of bad faith, crass political calculation, and petty vindictiveness, Council Members Tony Kranz and Lisa Shaffer have initiated agenda items to strip Kristin Gaspar of her unanimously-agreed six-month turn as mayor that was to begin June 11.

12A. Council initiated item from Council Member Shaffer to reconsider Mayor and Deputy Mayor transition scheduled to take effect June 11, 2014.

2014-05-28 Item 12A - Council Member Shaffer Initiated Item

12B. Council initiated item from Council Member Kranz for reconsideration of the pending transition of Mayor and Deputy Mayor duties.

2014-05-28 Item 12B - Council Member Kranz Initiated Item

The mayor-sharing was agreed last December and heralded as an example of the council's new civility. Apparently civility (and fair play) ends as soon as your colleagues have a policy disagreement over the purchase price of Pacific View.

At the time of the deal, council members expressed concern that incumbency would be an advantage (we think this concern is way overblown; just ask Mayor Stocks and Mayor Dalager). All council members were given a chance to say whether they wanted to run for mayor. Only Teresa Barth and Kristin Gaspar expressed any interest, so the council cordially agreed to allow each of them to serve for half the year.

Now that Kranz has decided he's running for mayor, he wants to change the rules.

Anyone involved in future dealings with Kranz or Shaffer would be wise to remember exactly how far you can trust them. For that matter, so would the voters.

This naked power grab bears a striking resemblance to the tone-deaf and bull-headed move by Mayor Jerome Stocks to appoint one of his allies to fill the council seat of the late Maggie Houlihan, when the magnanimous thing to do would have been to appoint Houlihan's (and the overwhelming majority of the public's) chosen successor.  That move was a catalyzing moment that marked the beginning of the end of Stocks' political career.

There's also plenty of irony in the fact that the defining issue of Teresa Barth's first several years on the council was that she was repeatedly passed over for a turn as mayor by a council majority her supporters viewed as bullies.  Now Barth's majority allies want to do the same thing to Kristin Gaspar.

An Encinitas Christmas Carol

Many Encinitans felt Scrooged when Paul and Kristin Gaspar and developer David Meyer set up a sham charity, "We Love Encinitas," to send out political mailers supporting the re-election of Jerome Stocks and Mark Muir.

Yesterday's Union-Trib brings some welcome news:

Nonprofit donates to other charities

We Love Encinitas, a nonprofit committed to the education and distribution of positive information about Encinitas, has made contributions to four local charities:

• The Hand to Hand fund through the Coastal Community Foundation, which promotes economic independence and positive change in the lives of women and girls.

• The Community Resource Center, a social services agency dedicated to providing domestic violence services, food programs and emergency/transitional housing assistance to women, children, individuals and families.

• Conner’s Cause for Children, which provides critical financial assistance to families struggling to cover the out-of-pocket costs of caring for a child with a life-threatening illness or injury.

• The Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA.

It was not clear from the news article or from We Love Encinitas' web site how significant the group's contributions were, or whether they amounted to more money than the group spent on the political campaign.

It is also not clear whether this is just another legal and PR ploy to create the appearance of a legitimate charity after being caught red-handed, or whether the Gaspars have seen a ghost and changed their hearts.

But in the holiday spirit, let us hope this is a true Christmas miracle.

Coming soon to a gutter near you

In what is apparently the first expenditure by Encinitas charity "We Love Encinitas" since the campaign season, the group has inserted flyers among the mattress ads and other detritus wrapped in plastic and thrown unsolicited on Encinitas lawns, gardens, and driveways.



Though the expenditure seems odd, we suspect that WLE's lawyers told them they had better start spending some money outside of election season to try to create the appearance that the charity is something other than a campaign ploy.

In other WLE news, a commenter points out at North Coast Current that WLE's claim of 501(c)(3) status was likely fraudulent, as the brand new group wouldn't have had time to get IRS approval.

More fingerprints on sham charity: Kristin Gaspar's, and developer David Meyer's

Last month, we learned that the charity sending out campaign propaganda to support incumbents Jerome Stocks and Mark Muir was tied to Paul Gaspar, husband of councilwoman Kristin Gaspar.

When questioned by the North Coast Current, Kristin Gaspar declined comment and directed questions toward her husband.

Now the trail goes directly to Kristin Gaspar.  The Coast News obtained the October 22 We Love Encinitas filing with the California Secretary of State which lists Kristin, not Paul, Gaspar as the agent for service of process.

More troubling than Gaspar's dissembling is the revelation that developer David Meyer is also behind the group.

The documents also list David Meyer, a real estate consultant and land developer in Encinitas as the secretary and chief financial officer of the group. Meyer’s past advocacy includes forming a political action group to oppose policies promoted by the late Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan.

A page from We Love Encinitas' Articles of Incorporation. It lists Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar as the agent for service of process. Documents filed later list Paul Gaspar as the agent for service of process.
In an email, Meyer said that any questions about his involvement with the group should be directed through We Love Encinitas, and not his personal email and phone number.

All requests for comments from We Love Encinitas, including whether the group has been granted or is applying for 501 (c) 3 status, have gone unanswered.

Who does Kristin Gaspar represent? The people of Encinitas or special interests like developer David Meyer?