Stocks wrote a post at SD Rostra that rewrote the UT endorsement and then commented on that post (can you say self-obsessed?) defending, complaining he was a victim, accusing and of course snarling true facts™ (not true facts).
Lees brings out a whole other dimension of Stocks dubious campaign finance behavior besides the previously documented outside donations:
"Talk about disconnected from the community. First off, historically, over 2/3rds of Stocks campaign donations came from outside of Encinitas. About 4/5ths came from from developers. Only about 1/5th of his donations came from Encinitas.The Buy Local logo is from the city website. You would think that incumbent council members would have attempted to do the right thing. You would be wrong in this case.
Second, let’s look at campaign expenditures. Stocks has spent only about 1/10th of his campaign expenditures’ expenditures in Encinitas (about $1,700). In contrast, over 4/5ths of Lisa Shaffer’s campaign expenditures have been in Encinitas (more than $29,000) and nearly 60% of Tony Kranz’s were spent in the city (more than $12,000). And the majority of their contributions are from Encinitas.
What does this say about who is in touch with the voters and businesses in Encinitas. Who supports Shaffer and Kranz? Who do they support? And who is in touch with the business and “voters” from outside the city?"
When asked, Lisa Shaffer said that she would have liked to spend all of the donations in Encinitas, saying she only spent outside when nobody in town could provide the services.We have said this repeatedly all year long. Our chosen candidates walk the talk.
Stocks, Muir and Forrester don't even talk to the community (Mo Muir aside). Their campaigns are best characterized with the icon here. By the way, the big box stores are located here, but they are not local businesses. Shaffer discovered a local print shop that actually sent out all of the work, thereby negating the reasons for support spelled out below. It isn't about punishing businesses - as one of Stocks' troll patrol claims. This is about strengthening businesses that live and invest in Encinitas. This conversation needs to continue. The current super majority have closed out these kinds of conversations and the public is hungry for them.
Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally Owned Businesses
1. Local Character and Prosperity
In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character have an economic advantage.
2. Community Well-Being
Locally owned businesses build strong communities by sustaining vibrant town centers, linking neighbors in a web of economic and social relationships, and contributing to local causes.
3. Local Decision-Making
Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.
4. Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy
Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.
5. Job and Wages
Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.
6. Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
7. Public Benefits and Costs
Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.
8. Environmental Sustainability
Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.
9. Competition
A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.
10. Product Diversity
A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
© Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
