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.
