Last April we posted about Teresa Barth being recognized by the Sunlight Foundation for her letter to the editor regarding a Sunlight Ordinance for Encinitas City Government. Capitalized for emphasis as this was also a campaign theme for both Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz.
This was only one of several posts here at Encinitas You Need Us tagged sunshine.If you scroll to the very bottom of the page you'll find our permanent link to Sunlight Foundation.
This theme will continue to be central to our political posting here. Check out the video below for the many offerings from this organization that can help us all shine bright lights at our city government, dark money magnets like We Love Encinitas, our shady Congressman Issa and much more.
Six months ago - over the July 4th holiday week - this post on Secrecyintroduced the über secret TPP international maneuvers.
Well, the election is over and it is clear that the TPP is still working to foist corporate power against sovereign nations worldwide. Sounds like hyperbole, but it's not. And activists have taken many different approaches to protest and work to stop this movement. We the 99% around the world will be the ones to suffer.
One approach is called the Dracula Strategy, because dragging something into the light will expose this slow-motion corporate coup.
Full story is here, for details and background on the TPP.
Here is a vision for tomorrow. No, really, tomorrow as in Wednesday, October 24th, the last Encinitas City Council Meeting before the election for a new city council. Even though activists are usually working on researching the agenda packet to be prepared to speak, another approach just might be timely.
What about our preferred council candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz speaking at Oral Communications about the overwhelming support for change in the council members? After more than a year of meet-ups, events, canvassing, flyer handouts and campaign writing, filming and every day spontaneous testimonials from voters - they have so many stories to tell. Picture council commissions filled with some of the best-qualified and most council interactive dialogs.
Similarly, our regular council-viewing community have their own stories from others to share. In three minutes each can give the idea of the sheer numbers of people contacted listened to, written about and befriended during this election year.
See, the council majority has proven over the last 12 years that Jerome Stocks is not only immune to fact-based criticism, he thrives on retaliation and revenge. Muir is the weighted right hand and Bond is over. Without these players, Gaspar is . . . alone and pettiness or petulance won't be indulged.
What about describing the long silenced minority running the show? Give examples of innovative ideas - like bioremediation of the contaminated soils - and how a transparent, interested council might treat the subject. Share your daydream of how the city manager might be effective in removing obstacles and challenging the staff to provide more and better support.
How would a council without fear of public discussion of financial strategies and risks envisioned to move back room, highly complex subjects into a series of intelligible forums. There are so many business friendly ideas and insights Lisa and Tony have to share.
All kinds of people have stories they've gathered of an active general population craving more support for walkable streets, more open space enhancement, community gardens, healthy air / oceans / wetlands and our urban forest. Just standing and reciting lists of things like this - with a big broad smile (and maybe even a blub or two) would bring a glad hearted feeling to the many, many people who are watching from home.
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."
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 arehttp://shaffer4council.comand http://tonykranz.com.
I have long been a champion of Open Government and the Peoples Right to Know. I also believe government should welcome the public’s participation in the decision making process.
In California, the cornerstone of openness and transparency in government is the Brown Act. This is the state’s open meeting law that requires local governments to prepare and post agendas for public meetings and disclose decisions made in closed meetings. Because these requirements are considered to be a state mandate the state must reimburse the cities, counties and other agencies for the costs associated with these requirements
When the state budget was adopted, the money to reimburse those costs was cut from the budget. By suspending the mandate, the state also suspended the requirement to continue posting public meeting agendas.
Without public notice of where and when meetings are scheduled and what business is to be addressed the public is shut out of the decision making process. Furthermore, actions taken in closed sessions may never be revealed to the public.
In such cases the public will have no basis for challenging the secrecy and no remedy for correcting it.
That is why I requested that this issue be placed on the August 15 council agenda, the first meeting after the summer recess, to ensure that in Encinitas, the Brown Act requirements and all legal remedies will be enforced. [ed. bold]
It is critical that the City of Encinitas send a clear message to the citizens that we value open government and public participation. I believe the city council will agree and will join other cities in reaffirming our support for the agenda and disclosure requirements.
Show your support for open government by contacting the city council and let them know you want the city to continue with the current Brown Act posting and action disclosure requirements and their enforceability by any of the judicial remedies provided in the Brown Act.
You can also help to ensure a permanent, statewide solution. Senator Leland Yee’s Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 7 would place on the statewide ballot a simple constitutional requirement: “Each public body shall provide public notice of its meetings and shall publicly disclose any action taken.” If approved by the voters, it becomes the law and could not be “suspended” again without a vote of the public.
However, this bill is stuck in the Appropriations Committee. Contact Assemblymember Fuentes, Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and Speaker of the Assembly John Perez and let them know you want SCA 7 (Yee) released from the Appropriations Committee suspense file and to allow the bill to go to the full assembly for a vote.
Have you heard? The next negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will take place in San Diego, California from July 2-10, 2012. FromPublic Citizen, a trusted and extensive resource on the complete backstory.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade”
agreement is a stealthy policy being pressed by corporate America, a
dream of the 1 percent, that in one blow could:
offshore millions of American jobs,
free the banksters from oversight,
ban Buy America policies needed to create green jobs and rebuild our economy,
decrease access to medicine,
flood the U.S. with unsafe food and products,
and empower corporations to attack our environmental and health safeguards.
Closed-door talks are on-going between the U.S. and Australia, Brunei,
Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam; with
countries like Japan and China potentially joining later. 600 corporate
advisors have access to the text, while the public, Members of Congress,
journalists, and civil society are excluded. And so far what we know
about what's in there is very scary!
Here is a chance at democracy in action, alongside young activists from the Occupy San Diego and other groups working on behalf of the 99%. Saturday's march banging on pots and pans as they did in Quebec looks inviting.
California Councilwoman Teresa Barth recently wrote an open letter publicizing her support for increased government transparency. In the letter, Barth maintains that Encinitas, California needs stronger transparency laws. She writes, “At the June 10, 2009 City Council meeting, I proposed a citizen’s task force to work with staff to craft a Sunshine Ordinance for Encinitas. My colleagues said the city was already in compliance with existing laws and a Sunshine Ordinance was not necessary. I believe we should set a higher goal. We should strive to do the 'Best Not the Least.'" She urges all citizens to tell the city council to support a Sunshine Ordinance. She argues, “The right of the people to know what their government is doing is fundamental to democracy.” For the whole story, check out her post on Coast News."
Holy Blogosphere! Our very own Mayor in Exile, Teresa Barth, wasrecognized by a state-wide blogfor her fierce support for government transparency and it makes us proud. The pride is for a lot of things like advocacy for open government, like her constant reminders to her colleagues that 21st century tools, technology and challenges must be incorporated into the city’s rules and processes; like listening to all the voices around the state, the coastal cities next door and the city neighborhoods and for keeping up with bloggers, Facebook connections, local events and organizations.
Last week she featured the blogosphere in her weekly newsletter and it’s with real gratitude we honor her today as a champion of the young, of change and 21st century tools and above all for paying attention to what matters. By those newsletter links alone Teresa Barth may have opened a world of new communication avenues to people who may never have considered stopping by each day to check what is posted at Encinitas You Need Us blog, Our Mayor blog, Encinitas Undercover blog, Encinitas Taxpayers Association blog or the Leucadia Blog. Barth has inspired the link love here and connections to these blogs named along with Teresa Barth’s website and two great candidates will be located now in the sidebar.
This Sunlight Foundation statewide blog who honored Barth is another really good resource. It will be given some link love too, along with some others we think activists might discover as good sources of information.
Keeping priorities straight, Gerald Sodomka reminds the council majority what constitutes good government. We can't hear this kind of clear statement of what matters enough. It is not unreasonable to expect this from our elected leaders. We shouldn't be be scolded, mocked, belittled or blamed for wanting the best government possible. And, we should never have to be forced through the courts, bullying or public humiliation to be silent or go along to get along.
Councilor Teresa Barth shared personal background regarding the theme of transparency in government during this June 10, 2009 city council meeting. Just good enough was not then or now a goal she supports. Keeping expectations tiny is not what Encinitas citizens should aim for in their community's governance.
Three years later, after a successful 2010 campaign and despite being the only minority voice on the city council, Teresa Barth is still advocating for open government.
More video clips from this June 10, 2009 meeting where the Sunshine Ordinance policy for the city of Encintas was agendized and discussed (in itself a major victory), will be shared this Sunshine Week.
This week will be devoted to sunshine, letting the sun shine on all that goes on in our local governance. Encinitas You Need Us was created for the express purpose of making video clips available to the public at large.
A planned document dump will be going on behind the scenes throughout the week of more than a hundred clips from the last 5 years. This represents hundreds of hours of meetings capturing highlights, citizen concerns and minority voices not recorded in public records. Many of these clips focus on the public speaking out against the majority in council violating open government ordinances and laws.
Look for these throughout this week and in the weeks to come.
A message from Encinitas leading advocate for Sunshine in government, Councilwoman Teresa Barth, reads.
"Patch is participating in National Sunshine Week to encourage more transparency in government and to protect the public's right to know.
Here is a great opportunity to speak up about what is going on in Encinitas."
This city's council majority and city staff fail at open government beyond the state mandated minimums. Lawsuits, articles, press conferences, letters to the editor, countless public speakers have made this abundantly clear. What is behind this?
The most popular and obvious response is that the council and staff and city attorney are hiding things.
Candidate Tony Kranz has spoken at council along with Kevin Cummins on this theme of document requests for years. Cummins' recent lawsuit win against the city. seem to confirm this suspicion beyond any doubt. But, Jim Bond's attitude in the clip below reveals something added. Cultural, social traditions are front and center; like the paternalistic, authoritarian notion that he has superior ability which the voting / requesting public lacks. Whether entitlement or deliberate attempts to conceal and confuse, it really isn't our elected officials' right to tell us what we should or should not be requesting for public documents.
Jim Bond is so far off the charts in his seeming lack of respect (or even grasp) of people's rights to public records, words fail. He has no right to even ask why a person wants a record. Of course he asked his questions for a laugh, "What would make you happy?" "What would make you just shut up and go away forever?", he did not say.
This is the second time within a month Lisa Shaffer requested specifically the city manager correspondence for 2009 be pulled rather than destroyed. She almost succeeded when Barth made a motion that the new City Manager Gus Vina keep the 2009 city manager correspondence. He agreed until Deputy Mayor Gaspar humiliated him. He reversed himself, the council majority voted against saving these documents and had a good laugh doing it. EYNU editor has some work to do in assembling some of the most obvious potential 2009 City Manager themes that then City Manager Phil Cotton, the City Attorney and the Council Majority of Stocks, Bond and Dalager shared. That is just one fishing expedition, you all are invited.
Disclaimer: The opinions in the post are those of the editor, not the City Councilwoman Teresa Barth or the 2012 City Council Candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz.
2/19/12 Update: Cited in the blog post above, the January 18, 2012 council meeting included Council Candidate Lisa Shaffer's first attempt to save the ERGA (Encinitas Ranch Golf Authority) correspondence (currently under audit) records and 2009 city manager correspondence.
The specifics are important. As stated before, the likely correspondence issues for 2009 may well include Manager Cotton's correspondence over extremely volatile events like the Orpheus Trees being hacked down without anyone assuming responsibility. The documents might be silly stuff. The larger issue is first amendment rights to information. These guys aren't our daddies and we are well aware of we would like to be able to request, to review, to question and / or to store of any city documents, our public documents and records.
It is a fortunate thing that we have intelligent, articulate, dedicated and experienced people like Lisa and Tony running for city council. If you haven't met them yet, it's time.
This blog is - in theory - a delivery system for the Encinitas City Council clips at the YouTube channel, encinitasyouneedus. Navigating the YouTube universe is almost as frustrating as trying to find anything at the City of Encinitas website.
The clip below, from two and a half years ago gives a sound rationale for a volunteer effort being required to support citizen information gathering. This city's council majority and city staff fail at open government beyond the state mandated minimums. By keeping expectations as low as possible, their proverbial nugget of truth (truthiness?), we must be really motiviated to find information on our own.
To the voters of Encinitas who are too busy, too distracted, too overwhelmed or otherwise able to know what is going on at city hall, you need us. You need those of us who are willing to dig in and find answers. This means watching many hours of videos to make clips so you don't have to . . .
You need us to get all of the background clips for major issues, some in your neighborhood, that have been videotaped since September of 2007.
You need us to be vigilant, to watch, to speak up and to capture it all to share.
You need us to allow you to hear all of the voices and perspectives of all of the elected office holders and the public at large.
And, in a really satisfying way, you need us to capture you when you stand before the city council and speak your piece.
If EYNU captures your moment, we want you to distribute it to everybody you know. This is an election year and Encinitas lacks diversity under the closed loop of the supermajority. This must change.
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. 
