Behind-the-scenes dirt on the Mark Muir protest

Some interesting tidbits crossed my desk this week from a number of off-the-record sources:

• Muir's people were boasting in advance of the swearing-in that the Union-Tribune was in the tank for them and would downplay coverage of the anti-cronyism rally (looks like they were right).

• The Deputy Sheriffs' union was abuzz with talk of an "Occupy City Hall" unruly protest. This is why an absurd number of deputies surrounded City Hall for a gathering of mild-mannered, middle-aged professionals and retired folk who are no more a threat speaking about Mark Muir's misdeeds than they were last year speaking about Dan Dalager's misdeeds. It is not clear whether this "Occupy" panic was a result of institutional paranoia or a deliberate campaign by the Stocks-Muir gang to smear their opponents as dangerous radicals.

• One neighborhood association that is currently fighting a high-density development upzoning asked all its members NOT to attend the rally because they feared retaliation by the council majority (this is truly chilling and a perfect example of how cronyism and concentrated power undermine democracy).

The Stocks-Muir gang played the political theater well, bringing in friends and family and city union members' friends and family, many of them not from Encinitas, to give the media the appearance that the public was evenly split on the Muir appointment. Many of the local papers (and even usually-good local online news sources) fell for this, not just the Union-Tribune. A couple that got it right were Wehtahnah Tucker of the Coast News and Alison St. John of KPBS)

Fortunately, Logan Jenkins today broke the Union-Tribune's code of downplay and hammered the council for the Muir appointment:

A brick — the Red Cape and Bull award — to the Encinitas “pro-business” (for lack of a better label) majority — Mayor Jim Bond, Jerome Stocks and Kristin Gaspar — for appointing Mark Muir, the city’s fire chief, to fill the late Maggie Houlihan’s council seat.

This decision wanted some tact, some humility, some spirit of compromise. None was displayed.

No one should have been surprised that a weird whirlwind was reaped Wednesday night as more than a hundred Encinitans gathered outside City Hall to protest the Muir appointment.

The council majority argued that they were picking the most qualified person to serve out the last year of Houlihan’s term. It wasn’t a political move. It was all about competence.

That may even be true. Muir, who retired before the surreal swearing-in ceremony, has a solid resume, including a stint on the Olivenhain water and SANDAG boards. He’s well-regarded.

But he also has a history as an unusually active political player on behalf of Stocks and Bond. The appearance of conflict looms.

Instead of choosing a neutral candidate, someone who could have capably held Houlihan’s seat until the 2012 election, the majority seemingly took pleasure in baiting the greenish Houlihan “progressives” they view with Olympian amusement.

Jenkins has a history of being close to Jerome Stocks, so this feels to me like a "scales fall from my eyes" moment for him. Jenkins started criticizing Stocks and Bond when they angrily demanded the removal of the Surfing Madonna, and he's been critical of Gaspar for breaking her campaign promises and worsening the acrimony on the council.

If there's one thing I have to criticize about Jenkins' column, it's that he continues to view this battle as "pro-business" vs. "greenish." True, Barth is, and Houlihan was, a lefty greenie, but a large number of the protesters are not. Many are just against corruption and financial mismanagement. The majority is pro-developer, not "pro-business." Encinitas businesses, like Encinitas families, will be burdened for decades by the majority's fiscal profligacy. Look at the majority's record on pensions, for example. Stocks voted (with Houlihan) to boost pensions 35%, a decision that will absolutely ruin the city's finances in the future. Stocks and Bond and Gaspar have stonewalled agendizing pension reform since. That's not a green issue; that's a mainstream issue very popular with the public at large.

NASA invades Leucadia

Are they chasing E.T.? Or do we have a new launch pad on the 101 puncture path?

An essay that has absolutely nothing to do with Encinitas

Is there no shame?

Your special edition HoodLink is up!

From the excellent periodic publishers at HoodLink, a call to action and an explanation of the threat that the crony council poses to the future of Encinitas.

November 2011 HoodLink

Natives getting restless now

Mutiny in the air!

Encinitas residents are planning to gather at City Hall Wednesday at 5 p.m. to protest Mark Muir’s recent appointment to City Council. Muir, who will step down from his post as Fire Chief before being sworn into office Wednesday night, was appointed to fill Maggie Houlihan’s seat last week.

According to a written statement released on behalf of the group by Steve Meiche, one of the organizers, some residents are calling for Muir to step down due to what they claim are “instances of political favoritism, cronyism, conflict of interest and ethical policy violations.”

Even in laid-back Encinitas, you can only push people so far. The arrogant and brazen appointment of political crony Mark Muir could be what finally rousts the voters and runs the council good old boys out of town.

The fix is in

After a string of public speakers spoke against cronyism and Mark Muir and no one spoke in favor of Muir, Mayor Bond nominated Muir and Kristen Gaspar seconded.

A 3-1 vote for cronyism over the wishes of the public will follow shortly.

I must admit, I held out some hope that Kristen Gaspar would display a little independence and good judgment. Boy, was I wrong. This gang is brazen in their contempt for the public.

Occupy Encinitas today

Occupy Encinitas is back today at noon at 101 & Encinitas Boulevard. The first one, a couple weeks ago, had a good turnout of at least a few hundred. It was the only Occupation in North County that day, and drew people mostly from outside of Encinitas. Today's is likely to be smaller because there are five Occupations from Del Mar to Oceanside.

The Occupiers have a legitimate grievance. Wall Street made themselves filthy rich, crashed the economy, and then got bailed out at our expense (don't believe the "TARP was repaid" canard -- TARP is trivial compared to the trillion-plus dollars printed out of thin air by the Federal Reserve to lend to the banks at 0%). The new crony capitalism literally is privatized profits and socialized losses, and the banks get away with it because they own the politicians of both parties with very few exceptions (Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul being among the few). I've written more about this here.

Unfortunately, the Occupiers' legitimate message is being drowned out by the crazies. A small minority of mentally ill, druggies, thieves, racists, etc., is causing some problems, but that's to be expected in any large group. The bigger issue, though, is that a large plurality if not majority of the protesters are radical leftists who don't just want to stop fraud and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington, but want to smash capitalism completely. Calls for free education and a government living wage for all are monumentally naive fantasies of unlimited resources in a very resource-constrained world. These dreamers don't know it, but destroying free enterprise would make things a lot worse for everyone. I've been to the Occupation, and unfortunately, many participants appear to have similar utopian socialist dreams.

Wall Street is crooked, as are its lackeys in the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and Congress. You don't have to be a Marxist to want to change that. The problem is not capitalism, it's crony capitalism.