The Fool

Amongst Encinitas residents who follow the political realities of this city there are all kinds of speculation swirling about who the next mayor for 2013 will be.

Because we have a political climate unlike any we have seen before here, the allegory that comes to mind for this citizen is the tarot card, The Fool. This is when we step off into a new adventure with the sun behind us to light our path, carrying all we need with us, taking the steps which may be risky or appear to be.

Not actually knowing how to read tarot cards, the wikipedia gives boatloads of symbolism.  Tis the season of magical fantasy and belief systems, so this can be added to the mix. If you are part of the booga, booga Yoga-is-the-devil crew or war on xmas crowd you probably aren't reading this particular blog.

Back to the Mayor 2013 selection . . .  Encinitas Underground weighed in on this last week. The range of reactions in the thoughtful and the hateful comments prompted this notion of how fervently we each would like to control the outcome based on our own views. Some sounded like he or she was owed specifics. Others applauded wit and intelligence. The thing is, our representative democratic system is set up so that we vote and then we let these representatives step up and do the governing. We are vigilant, vocal and present and do what we can, but those five vote.

We can feel like we are in free fall, or like the Fool, we can take a kind of leap into the unknown (doubts yipping at our heels) and take the risk of trusting in this process. The sun is the bigger element than the cliff.  Because Jeebus, I'm sick of cliff as a metaphor.  Even in this allegory I choose to see it as illusion or perceived rather than real damn cliff. (My allegory = my rules.) The sun symbolizes the most important issue Teresa Barth has always promoted, open government and specifically the Sunshine Ordinance.

Councilwoman Barth is the most senior member of the council. Have we arrived at a place where we consider a person an expert on her own experiences? We can imagine she'd love to be mayor and so would the most vocal of us in the community and thousands more.  She has been passed over, marginalized, ignored, ambushed and maligned for six years by that other (now defeated) majority.  Community feelings are naturally really high and protecting her or promoting her is central.  We can trust her to know exactly what she feels is best for herself and the community. She's earned our trust countless times. Perfection isn't available to any on the council or the community.

For those who can't imagine anything right about Kristin Gaspar as Mayor, the big bright spotlight  shining on every aspect of her reign is a compelling argument. (See yesterday's Dracula Strategy.) Not just past actions are open to scrutiny.  Regardless of who's mayor we have a new council. Knowing Deputy Mayor Gaspar's facile arguments, crony scripts and happy talk can now be challenged by more than one voice is good.  Having a majority to vote against special interests or wasteful spending is good.

The following concept to embrace the negative came from a post yesterday, Screw Positive Thinking! Why Our Quest for Happiness is Making Us Miserable.

But many of the proponents of the “negative path” to happiness take things further still, arguing — paradoxically, but persuasively — that deliberately plunging more deeply into what we think of as negative may be a precondition of true happiness.

Perhaps the most vivid metaphor for this whole strange philosophy is a small children’s toy known as the “Chinese finger trap,” though the evidence suggests it is probably not Chinese in origin at all. In his office at the University of Nevada, the psychologist Steven Hayes, an outspoken critic of counterproductive positive thinking, keeps a box of them on his desk; he uses them to illustrate his arguments. The “trap” is a tube, made of thin strips of woven bamboo, with the opening at each end being roughly the size of a human finger. The unwitting victim is asked to insert his index fingers into the tube, then finds himself trapped: in reaction to his efforts to pull his fingers out again, the openings at each end of the tube constrict, gripping his fingers ever more tightly. The harder he pulls, the more decisively he is trapped. It is only by relaxing his efforts at escape, and by pushing his fingers further in, that he can widen the ends of the tube, whereupon it falls away, and he is free.

In the case of the Chinese finger trap, Hayes observes, “doing the presumably sensible thing is counterproductive.” Following the negative path to happiness is about doing the other thing — the presumably illogical thing — instead.

Love that concept and the post is highly recommended, like the Fool, "deliberately plunging more deeply into what we think of as negative may be a precondition of true happiness."

Just getting this far along the journey makes me happy.  If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.

According to Mary: Kids

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: Get Up, Stand Up

Tuesday is Dues-day.  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 = Action

And then there are the dues demanded of us above and beyond simply paying attention.  Sometimes we need to get up, to make a stand. One advocate, Councilwoman Barth is only one vote.  She has been rendered ineffectual by every device this non-cooperative majority can use to silence her and obstruct her agenda requests or motions. That means our voices are silenced too. Dozens of clips illustrate these facts.

This week is hot! It's one of those weeks of mobilization for anyone involved in seeing Encinitas prosper for all of us (not just the few) and revert to a democratically governed community. The ordinance that is being forced out of the administrative to-do list and into the public sphere is a cobbled together bit of mayoral office takeover by the majority dance team of Gaspar and Stocks.  That reference is for the Mayoral Mambo from the Our Mayor blog last month describing how coordinated Stocks and Gaspar's re-write via an unagendized mayor selection ordinance.  Both that video clip and a more professional description are in the previous post from Patch by Lisa Shaffer. It is really important to grasp what fancy footwork is going on to control the mayor and deputy mayor seat for several years.

For New Encinitas residents to become incorporated into the body politic and not just labeled Nimbys (as Mayor Stocks called Cardiff and Old Encinitas and Leucadia groups throughout the years), they can gain the insight into both majority manipulation attempts and pushback from the public.  The public is kept as docile and marginalized as possible in the arcane formality that is a council meeting.  Even so, opportunities can be seized - sometimes unexpectedly - to make a forceful difference. Showing up in numbers is a start.

It's citizen show time.  Get up, stand up. One doesn't have to shout, rant, preach, condescend or bully; though, sadly some do. I personally believe all should get up out of the chairs and stand while the public speakers challenge this ridiculous takeover attempt. We should feel the embarrassment, the exposure, the fear of being counted if this means anything at all. We'll survive to feel good about ourselves for doing this.

Those of us who watch council meetings live streaming or on television need to peel our eyeballs from the screens and our butts from our chairs and head to Encinitas Civic Center, 505 S. Vulcan Avenue by 6 pm. on Wednesday night.  Without trying, 80-100 people should be there if all the regulars show up with a friend. New Encinitas leading a crowd to city hall could light a real fire under this fair city and help stop a really bad thing from happening on Wednesday night.

P.S. Forgot to thank Bob Marley for the title.

Encinitas Deserves a Real Discussion about Mayoral Selection

Copied from Encinitas Patch, March 26, 2012. by Lisa Shaffer

 

Who should run Encinitas – the voters, or the cronies on the Council?  On Wednesday, March 28, the Council could vote for a change that would anoint Kristin Gaspar as mayor for the next two years, regardless of who the voters elect in November. Fearful of the growing anti-incumbent movement in our city, Stocks and Gaspar contrived a proposal that would make Ms. Gaspar the mayor for the next two years, based on the 2010 election.

Under the current system, the mayor is elected by a majority vote of the Council. Without the proposed new change, when the voters elect new Council members in November, that new majority could elect someone else, such as Teresa Barth, who has never had the opportunity to serve. Under the proposed new ordinance, Ms. Gaspar would be anointed Mayor and could choose her own Deputy Mayor. In 2014, whoever got the most votes in 2012 would take over for two years.

The idea of a 2-year mayoral term is worth consideration. The idea of an elected mayor is worth consideration. Unfortunately, the Mayor has never put either topic on the agenda nor asked for a substantive staff report. No jurisdictions have been identified that use the proposed two-year, retroactive system. Our neighbors in Solana Beach and Del Mar rotate the mayoral position in a clearly defined process that could easily be implemented in Encinitas with an amendment to the municipal code. Instead, with no discussion, the current majority is trying to lock in their control before the next election, fearing, apparently, that they won’t have such tight control after November.

This Council can make changes if it decides to. Unfortunately, the public can’t stop them, at least until the November election. However, it seems only fair that any change voted now should only take effect after the next election, so the people know what their votes mean. Nobody knew in 2010 that their vote then would determine the mayor for the 2012-2014 period. Generally when incumbents change the rules, the change goes into effect after the next election, not retroactively.

The whole idea makes no sense. The person elected two years earlier might have shown him/herself to be undesirable as mayor. Why lock in the choice two years ahead of time?  It makes no sense unless your sole objective is to lock in one current council member and lock out another.

Council leadership seems so indifferent to public input that they put the item on the “consent agenda” which means it would not get any discussion in the Council meeting, no staff report and no recorded Council vote.  This is wrong! It is a very significant change to the way Encinitas operates and who holds power. It needs to be publicly debated.

Consent Agenda Item 9 deserves everyone’s attention. Contact the Council members and let them know what you think. Come to the meeting on Wednesday and speak to the item.
The proposed ordinance change is unfair, undemocratic, and poorly written. What do you think?

Taking Center Stage at Encinitas You Need Us

Councilwoman Barth has a central role for voices unheard by many in this city.  Although Teresa's arguments, votes, questions and outlook will continue to be included in the clips and posts at Our Mayor Stocks blog, she is most welcome here.  She'll be invited to guest post any time.

This week's council meeting was difficult to edit because the majority's behavior towards Barth though outwardly polite, was hyper-mocking in history re-writing, dismissive of her comments and motions and patronizing.  At the end of the meeting the Deputy Mayor even claimed Barth's comments as her own.  This is by no means the first time for openly taking credit for Barth's words and accomplishments; Wayside Horns anyone?

People at the meeting and those watching at home shared with each other how proud they were when Teresa Barth spoke boldly, openly about being in the Twilight Zone. We need to tell Teresa too, I guess. Whoops.  Anyway, this is what she had to say.

On Saturday, February 18, Teresa Barth released this statement summarizing the situation. 

It’s Not Broken, “It’s Fixed”

I have been passed over for the position of Deputy Mayor or Mayor for three years and been denied a position to affect change or implement any creative solutions unexplored by the majority. I have been put into an unwholesome place, marginalized and disrespected. It poisons all discussions.

After more than four years the tactics used to stifle dissent are clear; like using a nugget of truth to misinform.  It’s true; there are no formal criteria for the position of mayor or deputy.  The past decades are filled with the ethical approach that each council member should be given the opportunity to serve in these positions.  The criteria was simple - being elected to the council and sharing these roles. It was an expectation of professional courtesy and civil behavior.

Yet this council majority had an "excuse" for breaking this tradition each year:

In 2009, Dan Dalager nominated out-going Mayor Maggie Houlihan back to the position of Deputy Mayor claiming her chemo treatments meant she’d "missed out" on some of the mayoral activities. Yes, he used her cancer as an excuse.

However, Councilman Jerome Stocks was later quoted in the Coast News. “The bottom line is I wanted to send a message to Ms. Barth."  He went on to say . . . "Don't be petty, don't be rude and duck hard votes."  Yes, he spoke of petty, rude and ducking hard votes without a trace of irony.  

·      Questioning the city's open government policies (or lack of) is my job, it’s not petty. 

·      Jerome Stocks is not allowed to define rudeness and expect to be taken seriously.

·      I have never ducked a vote but Kristin Gaspar can’t say the same.

Deputy Mayor Gaspar has recused herself repeatedly from votes on the Pacific View property because "she wasn't on council when the issue began." Using that reasoning she shouldn't participate in discussions about the Hall property, the General Plan Update or numerous other issues.  So who is ducking hard votes? 

I am not alone in seeing the hypocrisy of their actions.

In 2010, the North County Times editorial board gave Bond, Stocks & Gaspar a "Reindeer Games Raspberry"for choosing petty politics over civility by failing to appoint me to mayor or deputy mayor.

UT columnist and political writer Logan Jenkins gave Gaspar the “Bonehead First Play” award for "failing in dramatic fashion to live up to her campaign pledge to bridge, not widen, the bitterly personal schism on the council....She's either naive or she's secretly spoiling for a fight while pretending to be Ms. Sweetness and Light"

In 2011 the North County Times editorial board gave Gaspar a “Find a Better Excuse Raspberry” for her position on Pacific View.  

North County Times columnist and political writer Tom Arnold made this "Christmas Wish" for me..."The ceremonial position of Mayor....I know they don't like you, but hey, they need to take the high ground."

Yet at last Wednesday's council meeting my colleagues pretended that the process was "broken & needed to be fixed" a bizarre statement considering they broke it.  They have plans, I’m not included and neither is the public.