Poetry Slam Tonight at La Paloma

TONIGHT!

Both Tony Kranz and Lisa Shaffer are among the sponsors. 

According to Mary: Bill of Rights

If you haven't read it yet, check out the North Coast Current post on Mary Fleener.

Tell-A-Vision: Beyond Sustainability

Now through Sept. 6 - disgusting national political money orgies, re-runs and a holiday weekend means you can toss the television.  But, we can share with each other our ideas or Tell-A-Vision. Here's one to start the conversation (and for the editor to try and work off the demons and disgust of the last week).

It's the perfect time to imagine Encinitas thriving in way that restores balance, replenishes and renews.  A campaign update (shown on her Facebook page) sent out to the hundreds of her supporters from Lisa Shaffer today,

"This election is about preserving what is wonderful in Encinitas and making good decisions about the future - land use, traffic, environment, business, financial management, and our overall quality of life. A few hours now could make a big difference in the next four years."

Stay with me on this one, this Tell-A-Vision post on permaculture does relate.  Shaffer's quote above seemed a fitting way to say we don't have to view all of these areas in isolation and divided into separate issues as has been the way for so long. Shaffer is a leader in sustainability, so I know she sees these connections that Councilwoman Barth, council's only strong advocate for sustainability currently.  If these two were  joined by Tony Kranz there would be real advocacy for healthy food and all the other connections. On his Facebook page he says,

"Please like the page at the link below. It's an organization on a mission to change the world by helping kids to learn healthy eating habits. I think it's very worthwhile and believe you will too. Encinitas local Mim Michelove and her business partner Camille Sowinski are doing great work with the teachers and administrators at our elementary schools."  Healthy Day Partners

Good decision making would rely on the ability to "learn, unlearn and relearn" what our community needs to thrive in the 21st century.  Good decision making dismisses "truthiness" for the shallow and short term posturing of the status quo measured in spread sheets alone. Good decision making takes what is at hand, be it people or resources and increases value by utilizing everything possible. No mocking or belittling or marginalizing or blaming or attacking ever helped individuals or a community to flourish. That includes hippy bashing too.

Sustainability, public service, climate change and economic development have all been twisted by our council majority.  We instead can have so much more honesty and integrity if we had a council majority of Barth, Shaffer and Kranz open to ideas like these students from University of Massachusetts permaculture experiments have presented below.  The last, part 3, is presented first. It best connects the dots of growing healthy food to land use, business, environment, education, financial and community involvement.  Parts 1 and 2 for the curious.

And, a few hours now making a difference for the next four years - for the next twenty-four years is how we might envision. Right now it volunteering for the campaign, but it is like the planting of 101 trees in Leucadia recently, imagine permaculture gardens throughout all five communities, used to restore the soils on the agricultural acres at the heart of the city.  Imagine composting on a citywide scale as is done in many cities along the Pacific coastline.  Frugal, resilient, building health and economic strength - re-envisioning, re-skilling and so much more. Abundance available, but without the extractive and poisoning methods of conventional tilling agriculture.

It's important to note that there are so many positive garden experiments with school children and others throughout Encinitas, despite no support from the city council majority. Mim Michelove and Russell Levan have a million stories between them regarding the EUSD school district gardens. Sheet mulching, shown in part 1 below was one of the dozens of first steps taken at Paul Ecke Central's School As A Garden several years ago (2 volunteers instead of the 1,000 in the video). Zero cost is a really compelling idea for transforming and revitalizing the land. Let nature and time do the most of the work. (Picture the last 12 years of the Hall Property being enriched month after month with food waste, manure and mulch for no cost but hauling, for 144 or so months to restore the degraded soil.)

Part 1

Landscape design and permaculture planting could work miracles beyond healing the soil and growing food. As Councilwoman Barth said about capturing water runoff at Crest Drive's private property edges.

"Vegetation is the solution. The more you replicate the natural environment the better it is. This is where we need to get this storm water, this runoff addressed - in the landscape plan. Mother Nature knows how to do it, so let's step back and try to replicate that more than big drain pipes, curbs, gutters and pavers."

Part 2

Let's start allowing known facts and experiences in the natural world inform our conversations, our decisions about the present and the future.  All problems of the world solved in the garden, the man says. This lifted from the end of a post about trees transforming our world posted March 23, 2012.

This is a vision.  It could be a real conversations with experts in the field who live in our community or are available outside of our city staff regularly used consultants. Dump Stocks and Muir.  Vote Shaffer and Kranz. 

Quote of the Day

Tuesday is Dues-day: Gen. Plan Woes A Lifetime Ago

Tuesday is Dues-day. The dues are schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported? 

You’re a citizen, an advocate for democracy with this first step, paying attention. 

General Plan Update - Just a Reminder

"General plans are often called a city’s constitution…a statement of who we are and what we value as a community.

The State of California requires all cities to adopt a general plan that includes required elements – Land Use, Housing, Circulation, Resource Management, Noise and Public Safety. The city also included an optional element – Recreation and Public Health is also proposed. The plan also states community goals for how the city should grow (or not grow) in the future.

There’s not been a comprehensive review and update of the General Plan since it was written over 25 years ago. A variety of state laws, court rulings and new issues such as sustainability and climate change have made it difficult to simply “tweak” sections and maintain internally consistent policies throughout the plan."

Twenty-four years ago when the first General Plan for Encinitas was written, a local news source, The Beach News, precursor to The Coast News published an article with the local citizen's key concern in the title, "Will high-priced housing run residents out of town?" Twenty-five people showed up for the meeting organized to by city officials to question the future of the new city of Encinitas.

When the question and answer session opened, a resident stood up and said he makes $25,000 a year at Scripps and felt he doesn't make enough money to continue living here in the new city of Encinitas. "Are we outpricing ourselves out of living here?" he asked on the discussion of new developments planned for the city. 

"I think this is a potential problem, he added.  "The character of he community comes from those non-classical types of people who live here.  I want to keep these people here."

Another resident agreed, explaining that she had spent the last several weeks apartment hunting for a friend.  "A two-bedroom apartment costs from at least $600 to $1,000," she said. "People who are just starting out are being forced to move to San Marcos because they can't find reasonable housing here."

Twenty-four years later it seems that particular strategy, if it was one, worked.  Wish we had the figures on the numbers of people who were forced to move due to an inflated housing bubble, rising costs, upzoning or low paying jobs, especially for young people starting out.  

A couple of years ago the city website had a demographics section for visitors to see Encinitas at a Glance. (Click to make larger) Activists have asked (with little success all year) where the city statistics come from and have gotten a mix of answers when the question is addressed - creating an almost continuous cycle of number crunching challenges.  Density, density, density - building height and El Camino Real being unacceptable for more density seem to be the constant themes despite affordable housing being the ostensible theme.  

The original community group would have understood the line I read this week. 

"The economy’s only valid purpose is to serve life," David Korten Yes! Magazine.

Conversely, one from the ERAC gang was quoted as saying, "The General Plan purpose is to drive profits."

What is the overall mission?  These two statements couldn't be more opposite. What is community character without talk of the diversity of populations, incomes and outlooks? Where do the teachers, bank clerks, dental hygienists, nurses, tree trimmers, Scripps worker and line cooks live?

You can see in the chart above that the glut of jobs available are low wage jobs.  How many of in this labor force can even live in this city? Everywhere I go I ask the food server, grocery clerk and store clerk, "Do you live in Encinitas?"  Very few answer yes.  

The city worker jobs aren't even listed.  How many of those are in the range of former fire chief Muir, Patrick Murphy or other Department Heads?  Truth is, most Encinitas city staff can't afford to live in Encinitas.  And given how out of date, one can only surmise from published facts nationwide, the numbers of low income, unemployed, underemployed and falling incomes for the middle class mean more Encinitas jobs and homes and travel requirements are under deep stress. The anticipated stress in the next twenty-four years with climate change, overwhelmed resources and economic decline haven't even been touched!

Yet, the city council and the workshops focused on density and building height.  Why can't we challenge the city council majority, city staff, ERAC, GPAC, Encinitas Right to Vote group and all City Council Candidates regarding our mismatched labor market and housing market.  We can ask, as some have been doing continuously, for the most current and accurate population statistics, housing statistics and labor statistics. 

A city of millionaires is not what most Encinitas voters want. You don't have to be a liberal to know that outcome is a dead community. 

Dedicated to Labor Day weekend. It used to celebrate so much more than meat on a grill and sales. Something vital is missing.

Seen at Leucadia Art Walk Bus Stop

More Free Time

Putting on the Big Show

In the hot mess that was this last meeting on Aug. 22, 2012, Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar and Councilman James Bond treated their position on the City Council with all the decorum (ahem) of 19th century carnival barkers. They treated the justice system, specifically the Grand Jury, like a freak show. And, if Gaspar was speaking truth and she doesn't know how the Grand Jury works, it could be even more creepy.

Mayor Stocks laughed out loudly when earlier Bond rumbled his snappy put down aimed squarely at the late Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan's husband. Jerkism hardy har har! He's a jerk for having threatened to sue the city. This is a council majority that closes all doors and forces citizens to sue to be heard and then calls them a name.

Gratefully Teresa Barth is not amused.  She's well known for the using the Thomas Jefferson quote in her communications, "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."  For her this means knowing the facts before opening your mouth and not treating the dais as a carnival sideshow or self-promoting infomercial selling party lines or revising history.

And here is a friendly reminder, please remember to specifically exclude Teresa Barth in accusations that belong in the laps of the council super majority.  It is difficult enough for our councilwoman to try a separate herself from this majority carnival gang, make her points, get on the record, remain civil, go above and beyond with outreach, homework and civic participation.  Remember, it is mostly just about being deliberate in your phrasing (council MAJORITY, not just council). To be lumped with the others must be extremely disheartening if not irritating.

In the final portion when future agenda items were requested, Mark Muir asked about the Economic Development Corporation being placed on the agenda, specifically the North County Economic group. Teresa Barth asks if this is related to the Supervisor Bill Horn project. Stocksplaining, the mayor assures her and all of us poor rubes, no.

Barth may well be correct in her assumption. The non-profit San Diego North Economic Development Council "has used the taxpayer grants to coordinate Prosperity on Purpose."  This Bill Horn pet project is right up Jerome's alley, no transparency and funneling tax money to developers. NCT article on this is titled, "Questions raised about supervisor-backed Properity on Purpose".


Editor Note because respect is respect: Frank Zaitshik, who runs Wade Shows, a carnival business with over 100 amusement rides and attractions that entertains over 15 million people each year speaks about Carnival Barker terminology. Zaitshik, a second generation carnival worker -- a term he prefers to the word "carny," which is some used as a pejorative. He says he has spent much of his life battling negative stereotypes about his industry. 

The reference to 'carnival barkers' and 'sideshows' is really a thing of the past. "It's not like the olden days. The carnival industry has modernized and is more high-tech. In fact, there are very few barkers or sideshows these days."

Environment: Who Is Listening? Who Isn't?

Councilwoman Barth hit it on the head yesterday with this cartoon on her Facebook page saying,

"I thought of this cartoon at last nights council meeting when the Deputy Mayor said she never had an Encinitas resident tell her they support "these sustainable living concepts". I guess she hasn't been listening!"

EYNU Editor:

Councilwoman Barth takes the high road and doesn't do more than a mild rebuke to Gaspar and her peers who treated this Beacon Award with such disdain.

Convesely, we would add something stronger. Deputy Mayor Gaspar did a real disservice by not correcting the false information and in fact adding her own misinformation.

This is the stuff of crazy uncles emails filled with capital letters and exclamation points. Or is it?  In fact it isn't from citizen's groups at all. It is highly coordinated astroturf to frighten white suburbanites and create paranoia.

"Bike lanes, transit and higher density are evil because they give people alternatives to cars, and that can never happen in America." 

Fundamentally, that is what is happening here. Big Oil is paying for CFACT and either directly or indirectly the fight against Agenda 21; The Kochs are promoting it like mad, right across the country. Same big companies, same reason: to keep America in its happy motoring ways, to make any alternative just about impossible. And that is how we have to paint them: not concerned citizens worried about the United Nations, but representatives of big oil out to preserve their turf.

In practical terms some will never be able to hear the facts of who is paying for this and their financial stakes.  Passion and groupthink can swamp judgement (and that is counted on by these groups).  But it is completely unacceptable for a public servant like Kristin Gaspar to claim support of environmental goals on the one hand and promote lies regarding sustainability on the other.

Arts Alive Banners Beloved; Stocks? Not So Much

Yet again, Jerome Stocks and James Bond tell their fabricated versions of the "Maggie Houlihan Image on the Arts Alive Banners" again.  In doing so Bond called Ian Thompson, Maggie's husband a jerk.  Stocks found this hilarious.

Dodi Crawford of DEMA and Danny Salzhandler of the 101 Artist Colony should never have to make pleas for something that is so beloved of a community just because of the arrogance and hubris of Jerome Stocks. At the August 22 meeting they both make clear they have never gotten anything from the council, they only create good things and follow all the rules.

And Jerome Stocks response? Stocks stared malevolently at someone, Danny Salzhandler?, or  someone else in the audience of half a dozen people while he made up a lot of excuses for disallowing banners of any kind for four months and stalling a few months more with a subcommittee.

Mayor Stocks: You are not the victim.  You are the perpetrator.

We Write Letters

No Elected Mayors in Encinitas

Elizabeth Gilpin, Encinitas

On the ballot in November will be a measure to directly elect the mayor of Encinitas. Having an elected mayor is a dangerous proposition, given the current way the city council operates. The mayor is in complete control of council meeting agendas. A mayor elected for a four-year term could stymie council discussion or action on issues important to the citizens of Encinitas.

What is needed is a formalized system for the office of mayor to rotate on a yearly basis among the members of the city council. Such a system would cultivate an atmosphere of respect and collaboration. Alternately, the rules for setting the agenda for the city council need to functionally allow for matters to be placed on the agenda, even if the mayor objects.

Until or unless this happens, vote no for an elected mayor.

North County Times, August 19, 2012

Tuesday is Dues-day: Who Votes in America?

Tuesday is Dues-day. The dues are schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported? 

You’re a citizen, an advocate for democracy with this first step, paying attention.

Citizen Tip = Said Another Way, Who Isn't Voting?

Infographic this week, will no doubt aggravate our friends on their smart phones with the tiny screens.  Sorry. Be aware of who isn't voting.  The unemployed, the overworked, people of color, the sick and disabled.  In a word, the disenfranchized, who know they have been sacrificed by the overlords in power. Does Encinitas hold a future vision where they can feel secure, they can thrive? 

click to enlarge

August 26th is the 92nd anniversary of the Women's Right to Vote under the US Constitution.  Remember, women are not a monolithic group and there is great diversity.  But the disenfranchised are slanted dramatically towards the female gender.  Yes, you can be old or young, poor, sick, disabled, underpaid, unemployed (underemployed or overextended) a person of color, gay AND a person with a uterus. In a culture celebrating violence, coping with returning vets suffering PTSD and the economic depression that's a reality for the bottom 25%; domestic violence is on the rise. Young women will be more affected by the wrong votes than any other group (magnified again by any other cultural bias markers.)  Let's help get as many young women to the voting booth as possible. 

From the National Women's Law Center,

"Voting's not just your right — it's also your responsibility. Women's votes make the key difference on issues ranging from fair pay to reproductive health to social safety net programs like child care assistance, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid."                 

Click HERE for an interactive site to find out about voting registration, dates, mail-in ballots, voting early, ID requirements and more.

Hot

Unlike much of the country this summer, Encinitas has had pleasantly moderate temperatures.  The last couple of weeks of hot days and warm nights caused lousy sleeping and eating patterns and intermittent blog-brain lethargy and minimal contributions from the troops.

National news from corporate media continues to incite with guns, hate, rape, lies, violence, porn, crap programing and suppression of alternatives.  This affects people differently. Reading comments with online publications and blogs was like wading in fetid ditchwater with ugly, mean words from some. Yet, for some this cruelty just heats up the transformation into helplessness and despondency.

Had a few cold ones with friends yesterday and came away thinking that cooler minds will prevail. Just knowing we are all in this together is a soothing balm. It won't control the weather, it won't control the empire's descent or the media's hold on the nation.

New approach, think of this as a test run for the next century.  Posting should increase as the body, the brain's acclimation to higher temperature (and entrapment by FIRE) does what it does.

Show of Force Won the Day

Update: At end
Encinitas citizens! It looks like it's showing up in real numbers with clarity of purpose that matters right now.  The Crest Drive neighborhood's more than 2 dozen speakers, the well prepared organization of Kevin Farrell's diligent application, and organizing from several groups, a petition drive with hundreds of signatures and familiar faces from other neighborhoods all contributed to a successful appeal.

The following clips capture most all of the public speakers, grouped with 3 or 4 each. Pass them around the city, send them to organizations you belong to with this optimistic sense of power to the people. This first one begins with Appellant Kevin Farrell, Architect for the proposed Backus Residence.



Rick Backus, owner of 1794 Crest Drive property, Boone Hellmann UCSD campus architect who lives in Cardiff (punched holes in staff report compliance imperatives) and Ron Grimes who heads the Palomares Heights Association gave history of threats to Crest Drive since 1982.



Debbie Barley, Elizabeth Cotton, Charles Smith and Alan Aberhothe (?) all question what is going on with the city staff's lack of service to community. What can't be shown at a council meeting are the months and months of struggling with staff. Only through testimonials like this is a bright light shown on the behind the scenes city processes.



Appellant Kevin Farrell's daughter, L Farrell (?), Jennifer Lutz with her dad, John Lutz and Kyle Malloy speak out. Public Hearing of the appeal of Engineering conditions for public improvements adjacent to 1794 Crest Drive. What a good sign for Encinitas when younger people show up at the city council meeting ready to speak.



Just when you think you have heard all from these activists, they provide more insight into the community. Within the 15 minutes that these regulars activists participated in this one hour long public hearing. Several captured here are Mark Wisniewski, Delores Welty & Sheila Cameron.



Lastly, the issue of costs. Speakers like David (last name unclear), Ted Goldberg and Jennifer Hewitson raised the issue of the exhorbant costs. Ellen Speert spoke about Nature Deficit Disorder while many simply shared their stories of moving from somewhere else and Crest Drive was a place they love. Sandra Goldberg, Elizabeth Gilpin, Jerry Louis, Helen Konig and Mark Scoular.



Apologies for spelling and other name errors.

Update: From Patch article comments:


kevin farrell
10:03 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
As a follow up to my accomplishment for this particular case on Crest, the mandate from the city engineering department for drainage swale, curbs and sidewalks in all parts of encinitas will now change. It is up to all builders, owners and design professionals to question and scrutinize the forced ROW (right of way) items from this engineering department. All old encinitas areas are effected by our 5-0 City Council vote. I would like to thank this City Council and all whom assisted in this
8 month endeavor. My goal is to keep our Community Character in our control, not an overbearing engineer's.

Kevin Farrell, Architect

Tamara Backus
6:13 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
Thanks you's to everyone who came and spoke at the City Counsel meeting last week! Kevin Farrell put together an incredible petition drive and appeal, and we will be forever grateful! We were so heartened by the number of passionate Crest Dr. and non-Crest Dr. residents who came out and patiently waited for their time to speak in support of this appeal. Crest Dr. is a magical street that should never be changed, and we are so pleased that our Mayor and City Counsel came to that conclusion, as well!
Again, Thank You to all who signed the petition and came to support us in our appeal!
Warmly,
Rick and Tammy Backus

Hey Girl

The conventional wisdom of local elections is to steer clear of party politics and it used to make a lot of sense.  But those days are over in the US when a major political party has so aligned with corporate and theocratic forces as to be a public threat to fully half the population. 

I'm talking to women.  This last week has further debased women in the country with the newly announced vice presidential candidate being aggressively hostile to women's rights for control over their own bodies.  This isn't a special interest, issues question.  This is about fundamental civil rights, human rights, misogyny and a profound question of humanity.  

Corporate media is rarely (never) credited on this blog as it is viewed as a major part of the US loss of democracy and justice. In this instance, Rachael Maddow represents a lone voice in speaking directly to women in this country; that is half of the population.  Even if this is preaching to the choir, it's important for all of us, including men who would be allies to women, to pay close attention.

Ryan is known all across the web as ZEGS or Zombie Eyed Granny Strarver.  But, that's another post for another time.  

Thank You from Lisa Shaffer, from Teresa Barth

Update below . . .
"Tonight's City Council meeting went past 11:00 pm but it showed the potential for good governance. With 30 public speakers, all in agreement, the Council upheld an appeal from Crest Drive to use common sense and respect for the beauty and uniqueness of the community instead of blindly applying inappropriate and destructive city ordinances."

"Power to the People, where it should belong! Thanks to everyone who took the time to speak." [editor emphasis]

Councilwoman Teresa Barth had this exchange with Shaffer,

"Lisa thanks for staying for the entire council meeting. You have the right stuff!"

Shaffer replied, "Thanks. I also chose not to take time to make statements on the various agenda items in light of the number of other speakers. Clearly there are opportunities to bring the staff and their "customer service" training into closer alignment with the citizens they purport to serve..."

Note: The many new faces and fine speakers from the Crest Drive neighborhood who spoke at this Wed., August 15 council meeting will be captured in video clips and available later today.

Update: Most public speakers for the Crest Drive appeal have been captured in video clips now posted on encinitasyouneedus YouTube Channel.

Quote of the Day

(Atlas Shrugged) is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

Dorothy Parker


She may not have even said this.  It still is a really good line.  It is gross to read so much bilge about this execrable crap of a novel as though it has value beyond teenage identity explorations.  And besides this, Ayn Rand's sociopathic philosophy and her personal journal writing is/was seriously creepy.

Tuesday is Dues-day: Magical Intent

Today is Dues-day, but what are the dues?

Paying attention . . . Yes, by simply schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported you can legitimately call yourself a citizen, an advocate for democracy.

For most people local politics only becomes a reality when you are afraid for your home, your property or your neighborhood. Fears can be physical, financial and cultural.  Fears can be great motivators, as so many activists' stories of initial involvement attest.

Citizen Tip = Magical Intent or Harmful Communication

It is good to remember that fear also silences voices and kills civic participation.  This is why the ever increasing use of police power to stifle dissent is so contemptible in a so-called democracy. A less recognized instrument is language used to cause harm. Hate speech and bullying are obvious examples, another is one a social justice writer labels "Magical Intent."

Magical Intent is the principle by which someone who has said or done something offensive, hurtful, rage-making, marginalizing, and/or otherwise contemptible argues that the person to whom they've said or done it has no right to be offended, hurt, enraged, alienated, and/or otherwise disdainful because their intent was not to generate that reaction. 

In other words: "I didn't intend for you to feel that way, so if you do feel that way, don't blame me! My intent magically inoculates me from responsibility for what I actually said and how it was received!" 

This is one of the most harmful—and common—manifestations of accountability deflecting language, rooted in the false contention that intent is more important than effect. It is a most curious habit, given that most of us would readily acknowledge that "I didn't mean it" isn't an excuse for not having to apologize when we bump into someone or accidentally step on someone's foot. Yet we have nonetheless created an entirely different standard for things we say that inadvertently hurt other people. 

Intent does not, in fact, magically render us unaccountable from the effects of our communication, no more than not intending to step on someone's toes magically renders us unaccountable from the effects of our movement. Pain caused unintentionally is still authentic pain.

The limited numbers of activists in Encinitas have a real problem with a few valued people with this particular kind of communication failure and it really hurts us all.  Here is a hint, this post isn't aimed at Councilwoman Barth or Candidates Lisa Shaffer or Tony Kranz.  Why? It isn't that each hasn't been guilty of speaking in a way that has inadvertently hurt another.  This editor has personally (privately) called out each for words that hurt the people supporting them. And, they each held themselves accountable with a commitment to avoid repeating the same error. Not one claimed "magic intent" as the excuse to avoid that accountability. Of course, this doesn't mean this is a pass, merely a reassuring vote of confidence.

Need a visual cue for something invisible?  This is what harmful language does if we could see it as a physical thing.  It stifles others in a way that bullies, rather than peer to peer conversation or debate. And it blames the victim.

This "magical intent" idea is pretty difficult to grasp because our culture has excused this in countless, familiar ways.

McEwan adds, "That's a difficult notion to accept for most of us, because most of us have engaged in this type of harmful communication at some point in our lives, even if it's not a regular habit. Even being presented with the idea that common defensiveness can be abusive is likely to elicit, in some readers, a magical intent response: I don't intend to abuse or manipulate people, so there's no way I'm doing it! 

But that's why this conversation is so important—because a lack of intent to harm doesn't guarantee that one will never harm."

In this 2012 campaign this citizen tip is important on a number of levels.  Besides the simple humanity of caring if we cause harm there is the practical aspect of running a campaign that boldly states an alternative of openness, civility and respect that welcomes the many voices in our community needs to champion healthy communication. Lisa Shafer and Tony Kranz have spoken out in the city council and in speeches, meet-ups, their websites, in commentaries about this very aspect of a need for change in Encinitas. Councilwoman Barth has sat through years of harmful communication without sinking to those levels with her council members, as dozens of video clips demonstrate. And we want dozens more to join this campaign against big money opposition.  We can ill afford to alienate anyone or instill fear in those trying to speak up, speak out and do what they can to move us to that goal.

We who claim to be friends and neighbors all working towards the same goal of replacing the supermajority leader Stocks and his appointed ally Muir have a big responsibility. Sometimes our own private agendas, perfectionism, expectations and issues of control need to be held in check.

One commenter in the post cited wrote something like the paraphrased (for our citizen purposes).

"If someone I trusted has deliberately hurt me, this adds the layer of it being a betrayal - and the more trusted/intimate, the bigger that betrayal.  It's not that the lack of intent lessens the hurt, for me; it's that knowledge of intent makes it much, much worse, as it means my trust has been broken."

Using the press, blogs and public gatherings to demand someone in your circle of activists respond as you would have them is hurtful and politically stupid.  We can ill afford to alienate the very few who are awake and energized to what goes on at Encinitas City Hall.

Bonus Tip: Evil vs. Complex

McEwan acknowledges with this follow-up a realization that may be an aid:

"And, you know, the funny thing is that, in my experience, it's exceedingly easier to apologize in a meaningful way when you view yourself as a complicated person, with virtues and flaws, good instincts and bad habits, the capacity for kindness and a reservoir of internalized ugliness. 

When I acknowledge fucking up and apologize, I don't feel like I'm "giving away" something about myself, as if it's some mystery that I'm not perfect.  It used to feel that way before I fully embraced the idea of knowing and caring about myself in all my sometimes regrettable aspects. 

This dynamic -- evil vs. complex -- can be really harmful in interpersonal relationships, too.  I have found that accountability denying language is frequently invoked by members of my family who interpret "you hurt me" as "you're a bad person" and/or "you don't love me," which extends from their own inability to exist comfortably as a person with visible and acknowledged flaws.
That also tends to lead to a cycle of abuse, because if one resists seeing oneself as someone with flawed communication about which one needs to be vigilant, one makes the same mistakes over and over, then deflects with harmful language over and over. 

And after someone communicates enough times that you're responsible for the hurt they cause you, the only choice with which you're left to break that cycle is to disengage."

Lisa Shaffer for City Council 2012

TECHNICAL GLITCH - WILL EMBED WHEN FIXED

Some photographs from Shaffer4council Facebook of last night's walk from the Pacific View Historic Schoolhouse through Encinitas to City Hall, for Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz to file their papers for official entry into the 2012 election for Encinitas City Council. They carried flowers to symbolize Encinitas' flower growing past. 

Trickle Down Garbage

It is rage-inducing to be treated like an idiot.  Can't help it, it started with the young and the uniformed on my mind and how they are being preyed upon by those in power.  Remember when the Denzel Washington character, Joe Miller, in the movie "Philadelphia" would amend his questions with, "Now tell it to me like I'm a 4-year old."  Hence the 30 year history of the gigantic lie that won't die - trickle down economics - offered today in as simple a narrative as possible. The special appeal is the facts are simple, despite our all being told for decades that this is so highly complex.  Translation: you are all too stupid to understand economics.

Update: Apologies for the lack of clarity here.  Rage will do that.  The clip is childishly simple, yet it is effective in conveying a point.  The rage, the criticism was based on 30+ years of being told the economics behind trickle down was so complex most of us wouldn't be able to understand it.  *snort*  Sorry for the confusion.

Reminder - Rally a New Beginning Today

Open Government Advocates Rally at City Hall Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Lisa Shaffer (760-518-0533) or Tony Kranz (760-487-8513)

August 3, 2012
Encinitas, California

On Thursday, August 9 at 5 p. m., Encinitas City Council candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz will finish a three-block walk at Encinitas City Hall, where the candidates will submit their official paperwork for the November election.

To symbolize the history of Encinitas as the “Flower Capital of the World” and to remember the late Maggie Houlihan, the group will carry flowers on their walk from the Old Schoolhouse on the Pacific View site. Houlihan served on the City Council for nearly three terms and made environmental issues a priority throughout her life. Before she died of cancer in September 2011, Houlihan endorsed Shaffer and Kranz as Council candidates. The candidates will speak briefly about what they want to accomplish as Council members.

Shaffer, who teaches business and personal ethics at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management, pledges to work to change the atmosphere at City Hall. “There’s a disconnect between the wonderful City of Encinitas, with its cultural diversity and community roots, and the highly partisan, disrespectful way the City Council has operated in recent years. I want the community to be proud of our elected officials, and to feel welcome to bring their dreams and concerns to the Council. As a Council member, I pledge to represent all the people, and to ensure we are open, accessible and spending our tax dollars effectively and responsibly,” she said.

Kranz has deep roots in Encinitas and is a strong advocate for open government. He is a 1977 graduate of San Dieguito High School and was a 2010 City Council candidate. “Our city spent almost $100,000 on a lawsuit they lost to a city taxpayer who was just trying to get public documents related to a report on the condition of the city’s roads,” he said. “As a City Council member, I will work to ensure the people’s business is conducted in a way that builds trust between the community and our local government, while enhancing public safety and protecting our financial and environmental resources.”

Shaffer and Kranz have expressed concern about the mismanagement of the General Plan update process. While the candidates see some additional development as inevitable, they also feel it is the City Council’s responsibility to protect our quality of life, ensure we address traffic concerns, and maintain our unique community character.

Registered voters in Encinitas will elect three Council members in November. The incumbents are James Bond, who plans to retire after 20 years of service; Jerome Stocks, who has not announced his electoral intentions; and Mark Muir, who has obtained the paperwork to become a candidate for a Council seat, having been appointed earlier to complete Houlihan’s term.

Shaffer’s and Kranz’s websites are http://shaffer4council.com and http://tonykranz.com.

Quote of the Day

I think every year:

-every driver should have to spend two weeks as a cyclist, and
-every customer should have to spend two weeks as a restaurant server.

Tongue-in-cheek comment at post on an innovative idea for including bike riding proficiency as part of a drivers license test. It's all about empathy and perspective.

Tuesday is Dues-day: Ethics of Linking

Today is Dues-day, but what are the dues?

Paying attention . . . Yes, by simply schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported you can legitimately call yourself a citizen, an advocate for democracy.

Citizen Tip = Blogs link to connect you to knowledge

Jay Rosen of NYU and PressThink describes the ethic of the link used in blogs, connecting people to knowledge.  This is the tool of the web - to inform without cost or consumerism messaging.

It seems to EYNU that the use of links is not understood in local news sources or familiar blogs. Indeed, very few who comment on news articles, letters or commentaries in the online press even consider linking to blogs, like this one, with video clips and commentary related to articles. Lisa Shaffer has been a notable exception along with several others.

Since blog readership should be growing exponentially, it is clear that blog readers and their friends may not grasp how the linking - the connecting people to information sources is done by individuals. But, people are learning how to follow links and return - how to find their way around and share information - without waiting for permission from a news outlet or official.

We are poised at the onset of the campaign season and time to take off the training wheels to spread information, ideas, events far and wide. In the next 12 weeks there will be more in Tuesday is Dues-day posting about journalism, the press because the standards have seriously broken down.

Most of all, a word of encouragement to all who intend to turn off the television and the media horse race of campaigns for entertainment rather than news reporting to reality where we live.

Rethinking Growth

click on image to enlarge

Who are we? The speaker below shares a story about us, about our being persuaded in our current economic system to "spend money we don't have on things we don't need to create impressions that won't last on people we don't care about."  Clearly, the system is at odds with what we need.  He is questioned at the end about politicians. 

Making some connections from this talk by Tim Jackson to Friday's post where Robert Litt, the Oakland Teacher created a computer lab for free, made possible with donated hardware and a free operating system, Ubuntu Linux. Two completely different men, topics, nations, audiences and goals each connecting to an African concept, and African word. The word seemed to beg for a paragraph of its own.

Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained Ubuntu in 2008: One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

The source of this TED Talk was an article titled "Rethinking Growth" from newdream.org, a link provided by Councilwoman Barth in her newsletter last week. These are valuable resources and potential community strengthening conversations we could be having.  First we need a new city council with open minds like Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz. Lisa's website has addressed some of these very themes.

Rally at City Hall August 9

Open Government Advocates Rally at City Hall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Lisa Shaffer (760-518-0533) or Tony Kranz (760-487-8513)

August 3, 2012
Encinitas, California

On Thursday, August 9 at 5 p. m., Encinitas City Council candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz will finish a three-block walk at Encinitas City Hall, where the candidates will submit their official paperwork for the November election.

To symbolize the history of Encinitas as the “Flower Capital of the World” and to remember the late Maggie Houlihan, the group will carry flowers on their walk from the Old Schoolhouse on the Pacific View site. Houlihan served on the City Council for nearly three terms and made environmental issues a priority throughout her life. Before she died of cancer in September 2011, Houlihan endorsed Shaffer and Kranz as Council candidates. The candidates will speak briefly about what they want to accomplish as Council members.

Shaffer, who teaches business and personal ethics at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management, pledges to work to change the atmosphere at City Hall. “There’s a disconnect between the wonderful City of Encinitas, with its cultural diversity and community roots, and the highly partisan, disrespectful way the City Council has operated in recent years. I want the community to be proud of our elected officials, and to feel welcome to bring their dreams and concerns to the Council. As a Council member, I pledge to represent all the people, and to ensure we are open, accessible and spending our tax dollars effectively and responsibly,” she said.

Kranz has deep roots in Encinitas and is a strong advocate for open government. He is a 1977 graduate of San Dieguito High School and was a 2010 City Council candidate. “Our city spent almost $100,000 on a lawsuit they lost to a city taxpayer who was just trying to get public documents related to a report on the condition of the city’s roads,” he said. “As a City Council member, I will work to ensure the people’s business is conducted in a way that builds trust between the community and our local government, while enhancing public safety and protecting our financial and environmental resources.”

Shaffer and Kranz have expressed concern about the mismanagement of the General Planupdate process. While the candidates see some additional development as inevitable, they also feel it is the City Council’s responsibility to protect our quality of life, ensure we address traffic concerns, and maintain our unique community character.

Registered voters in Encinitas will elect three Council members in November. The incumbents are James Bond, who plans to retire after 20 years of service; Jerome Stocks, who has not announced his electoral intentions; and Mark Muir, who has obtained the paperwork to become a candidate for a Council seat, having been appointed earlier to complete Houlihan’s term.

Shaffer’s and Kranz’s websites are http://shaffer4council.com and http://tonykranz.com.