San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Richard Riehl

Carlsbad’s Bogus State of the City Video

by

Carlsbad’s elected officials like to describe their city as a special place, where scenic beauty mirrors civic harmony. Unlike other city leaders, there’s no need for our mayor to summarize, in a public address, the city’s achievements and challenges the previous year, identify opportunities and threats in the years ahead, and outline the titular city leader’s plans to address them.

In North County’s Camelot, a 15-minute video rolled out at a pricey Chamber of Commerce dutch treat luncheon is designed to show there’s simply not a more congenial spot than right here in our Village by the Sea.

This year’s State of the City Luncheon will be held at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa on August 18. You may reserve a seat at the table now for $59, or pay $99 at the door. If you’re a Chamber member you merit a more modest $69 late fee. Members may also claim a table for ten for $625, no late fee required.   [Read more…]

Will District Elections Loosen the Grip of Carlsbad’s Old Guard?

by

Two years ago Carlsbad’s city Council voted unanimously to let a billionaire Los Angeles developer bring a traffic-laden supermall nightmare to the unsullied shores of the city’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

The Council could have allowed 30 days for citizen feedback before approving the project, or schedule a special election to determine its fate. But all five council members chose to ignore the pleas of outspoken opponents at the Aug. 25, 2015, council meeting. Mayor Matt Hall claimed naysayers were led by outside interests.

He was wrong. Citizen action launched an initiative drive leading to the defeat of Measure A, a special election that stopped the developer in his tracks, wrangled an apology from the mayor, and replaced a hapless council member with the election of Cori Schumacher, a leader in the “No on A” campaign.

Fast-forward to this year’s May 9 meeting, where city leaders, on a 3-to-2 vote, bowed to the threat of a lawsuit charging the city with violating the California Voting Rights Act with its at-large elections.   [Read more…]

Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall’s Profile in Cronyism: Formalizing Appointments to City Committees

by

At last month’s May 9 meeting, first-year Councilmember Cori Schumacher called for a discussion of how to formalize the process for appointments to city committees and commissions to improve public transparency. Mayor Matt Hall was stumped.

“We’ve done this same process for almost 40 years,” he patiently explained to the rookie council member, “and it seems like it’s worked out all right up to this point. Help me understand what we need to fix.”   [Read more…]

Carlsbad Council Bows to Lawsuit Threat, Approves District Elections

by

Before casting his vote against district elections, Carlsbad city Councilman Mark Packard called the California Voting Rights Act a “bad law.” He explained with furrowed brow, “The closest analogy that has come to my mind is the Stamp Act. It disenfranchised the colonists at that time. I believe that this law disenfranchises the citizens of Carlsbad.”

The councilman’s history lesson didn’t include the fact that colonists wouldn’t have been allowed to vote on the Stamp Act unless they were free, male, landowners and members of the predominant religious group. Had England passed a Colonial Voting Rights Act, I think those disenfranchised colonists would have called it a good law.   [Read more…]

Darrell Issa’s 2016 Report Card Revealed

by

The day after Rep. Darrell Issa cast his vote in favor of the GOP’s 2017 American Health Care Act, I received his first 2018 campaign mailing, disguised as a “Constituent Survey” to qualify for free postage.

There’s no mention of the Congressman’s position on healthcare in his mailing. Instead, he trots out his GovTrack.com’s 2016 Report Card to prove he kept his promises of “Effective Leadership. Real Results” in the 114th session of Congress. GovTrack.us is “a project of Civic Impulse, LLC, a completely independent entity wholly owned by its operator and receives no funding in any form from outside organizations.”

Like a kid who tries to keep his parents from seeing his entire report card, Issa attempts to do the same with his constituents.   [Read more…]

Are Carlsbad’s Good Old Boys Losing their Grip?

by

According to the city’s 2016 survey, only one in four Carlsbad residents are “very confident” that their city leaders will make the right decisions for them. That’s down from one in three in 2014. Overall, the share of residents who have confidence in city government dropped from 84 percent to 74 percent in the last two years.

The level of satisfaction varies by ZIP Code. North Carlsbad residents (92008 coastal and 92010 inland) were almost twice as likely to lack confidence in city leadership (27% and 36%) than those living in South Carlsbad (92011 coastal: 17 percent and 92009 inland: 15 percent).

It’s a tale of two cities.   [Read more…]

Will 2018 Election End Carlsbad Cronyism?

by

There’s a sign that “times they are a-changin” in North County’s little Village by the Sea after Cori Schumacher was elected to the Carlsbad City Council in November. A leading activist in the successful campaign to stop a billionaire LA developer from despoiling the natural beauty of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, Schumacher has already established a new model for a council member’s responsibilities.

In the absence of a job description, Schumacher has written her own. Her newsletter to constituents within days of each meeting describes the issues that were up for a vote, gives background from her research on each, and explains her support or opposition. She hosts town hall meetings to invite feedback on the issues, as well as her decisions.   [Read more…]

Carlsbad Leaders Use Alternative Facts to Bring in ‘Big Brother’ Stationary Cameras

by

Fifty-one stationary cameras, in 14 locations, together with six mobile devices added to the ones already installed on two police cars, will soon capture the license plate numbers of all cars passing through the Carlsbad. They’ll be submitted to a national database that tracks stolen vehicles and those involved in crimes.

At its March 14 meeting, on a 4 to 1 vote, the Carlsbad city Council approved the $802,000 plan to conduct surveillance of residents and non-residents alike.

The justification for placing everyone under suspicion until they’re cleared in cyberspace was driven by a misleading police report on the city’s crime rate. Only newly-elected Councilmember Cori Schumacher challenged the numbers and the threat to privacy rights.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Plan to Make Education Great Again: Abandon Public Schools

by

President-elect Trump described his choice for Secretary of Education in a Nov. 23 tweet as a “passionate education advocate,” who will “break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.” Tweeting her reply, Betsy DeVos vowed to work with Trump “on his vision to make American education great again.”

Will tweets follow, identifying those years of greatness, together with the plan to return to them? Don’t hold your breath.

Over the last half century eight presidents (four Democrats, four Republicans) recognized the shortcomings of American education.   [Read more…]

The Trump White House: Pulpit for a Bully?

by

In her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kṻbler-Ross described five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In the wee hours of the morning on November 9, I entered Stage One.

When I had gone to bed the night before, I remained hopeful, but harbored a gnawing dread that Trump could actually win. That week’s Saturday Night Live skit of an election night party with true believer Democrats, captured how I felt.

Shortly after midnight I woke up to check the latest news on my iPad. I couldn’t believe what I saw. There had to be a terrible mistake. By sunrise my brief encounter with denial had turned to anger. If I were 30 years younger I would have joined protesters in the streets.   [Read more…]

Who Owns Councilmember Cody Campbell?

by

Hint: They’re Not Vista Voters

Of the $16,874 from a total of 41 donors to Cody Campbell’s campaign for reelection to Vista’s City Council, only $2,640 came from city residents. He could thank the six of them by having them over for dinner.

To thank the others he will have to drive up the coast to Irvine and Newport Beach, after stopping in Oceanside to thank Mayor James Wood for his $300 donation and visiting other generous residents of Vista’s neighboring cities.

But take a closer look at the out-of-towners to get a clue to their affection for the politician.   [Read more…]

Why I’m Voting for Tanner and Schumacher for Carlsbad City Council

by

On Sept. 10, 2015, I received a developer’s glossy mailer, urging me not to sign a petition to vote on his City Council-approved plan to build a shopping mall next to the city’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The five beaming faces of Carlsbad’s mayor and city council appeared above the headline: DON’T SIGN THE PETITION. A handy Signature Withdrawal Request card, addressed to City Hall, was attached, in case I’d already signed it. That was the day I decided not one of those elected officials deserved my vote in the next election.

Unfortunately, there are only two open seats on the November 8 ballot. The incumbents needing replacement this year are Keith Blackburn and Lorraine Wood. Check out their campaign websites here: Blackburn and Wood. You’ll find the two say nothing about the need to regain the trust of the community.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry