The Terrible Cost of Constant Squabbling

Let’s Not Burn Dissenters at the Stake

…May End Up Costing Us the Loss of the Lake-Elsinore-Wildomar Patch

The right to free speech is one of our precious freedoms; however it should not be confused with the liberty  to do and say anything you want while using the Patch or other internet sites.

These sites have every right to set their own rules or terms of service and insist that users respect those terms.  That includes the right to make conditions about the language commenters and bloggers employ, and to enforce their rules by removing offensive materials or banning the authors of those offensive postings.  If you want to participate, then you must agree to and abide by the rules. You actually agree to those terms when you sign up for an account.

They also have the right to demand valid users’ names in a specific format, IP addresses, and to remove people with multiple accounts or abusive behavior.  The down side of those restrictive efforts is that the cost of overhead and site administration rise sharply and impose serious financial burdens on media like the Patch.  We know they are struggling to survive, and the squabbling isn’t helping their focus.

Shouting down opponents by deleting their blogs and comments and chasing them off the site will eventually only strengthen how much influence these opponents’ wield within the community.

Most of the general public are and will continue to be offended by the constant acrimony and tasteless, savage personal attacks.  They don’t want that kind of behavior as a trademark for the community they live in.

In my opinion the situation we have now on the Patch is the outcome of not enforcing the stated Terms of Service from the very beginning.  It has led to pure bedlam; an environment so filled with vicious arguments and such hateful commentary that most earnest dialog has disappeared.

Dissenters who are willing to risk questioning the status quo or the actions of local government should not be treated like enemies.  They are an essential part of the fabric and strength of our democracy. Their detractors should stop the vicious personal attacks before they turn to potential violence within our community.

Some of the most serious offenders seem to think they have won some sort of perverse victory by turning the Patch into a cesspool – a war zone of words – and chasing away those people who disagree with them and their political leanings. 

But in essence they have really just killed the goose that laid a golden egg in the guise of opportunity to reach out to the community with news and meaningful discussion.  The abuse of the system has stolen most of the relevance the Patch once had, and may have contributed to tolling the death of what was once a very good idea.

Is Wildomar Trapped

Citizens All Tied Up With Bad Decisions!

…in the bonds of Incorporation?

Must the people of Wildomar accept the ostensible “common wisdom” being spread around that we are irreversibly and permanently trapped by the decision to incorporate or that we must remain shackled with the injurious financial mess that city council members have dragged us into with their poorly informed decisions?

Does the community have to accept that these flawed decisions made during the last few years are really “done deals” which cannot be changed, modified, mitigated or even reversed?

Certainly most city officials and their supporters would like us to believe that we are stuck with these mistakes, but that just isn’t so!  It is obvious officials want to protect their positions, their incomes, benefits, costly perks and their perceived political powers, but we don’t have continue paying for these unjustifiable costs by perpetuating the ruinous decisions of the past.

Wildomar’s citizens and voters must stop being hamstrung or constrained by the city’s use of such psychological ploys and shoulder their responsibility to think for themselves.

There is really nothing this council has done which we cannot change or undo.  Certainly some of the changes would be difficult and time consuming but the possibilities are there, and we need to take them out and put them on the table for careful examination and consideration.  That is, after all, what business “best practices” demands?

What good has city-hood and the promise of local control actually done for you?  Be honest; are you and your neighbors better off than you were under the County’s governance?  Do you like the direction these people are leading us towards…a direction of look-alike, cookie cutter development and high density housing with its attached traffic, noise and pollution?  Or would you prefer to withdraw from these bad decisions – there are ways to do that!

These elected officials and their chosen staffers are, in fact, OUR employees, and we have every right to evaluate their performance and demand they reform their policies and procedures to achieve a better decision making process to safeguard our future.

Wildomar Suffers From Old Lies

…and other Falsehoods from the Council and Local Media

Many people in Wildomar are under the false impression that I am somehow behind ALL the lawsuits aimed at the City.  That fulfills the council’s desire to play the role of the abject victim and have someone besides themselves to blame.  Happily there are a number of advocates that have brought lawsuits.

The city is infamous for encouraged this falsehood by making disparaging public remarks aimed at someone while sitting at the dais in open public meetings and in their interviews with the press. They take great delight in making rash and blatantly false remarks to distract people from getting at the truth.

I had never been party to any lawsuit in my life until I agreed to help my neighbors fight the poor decisions by the city council in Robles vs. City of Wildomar in 2010.  That action ended in the city agreeing to formally and publicly rescind their approval of the project and the zoning changes which would have made it possible. 

The latest diatribe about some people “always suing the city” was unleashed by Marsha Swanson at her so-called business opportunities presentation held at city hall last week – a re-election kick off if ever there was one –  using our city hall at no cost to herself…all in the guise promoting new business.

As to my being behind the lawsuit that found the original parks parcel tax to be unconstitutional and therefore illegal, that is another favorite falsehood some council members love to toss about.

It was Steve Beutz who filed that lawsuit and pursued it through the legal system until the Court of Appeals struck the tax down and ordered the money be refunded to homeowners.  I did, however, follow the case closely and was in the courtroom to personally witness the final arguments.

As court records will reflect, that lawsuit named the County of Riverside not the new City of Wildomar, and the County had to pay the attorneys’ fees and court costs.  These lawsuits actually cost us plaintiffs money out of pocket so you can discount all the wailing and complaining about the cost to the city.  If they stopped doing illegal things, there would be nothing to sue over.

The decision was, in my opinion, a victory for the people of Wildomar and should have taught the newly elected initial council members to respect the law, but it obviously didn’t!   After all, they had been warned that the Parks initiative was questionable legal when they first tried to put it on the ballot.

While I have only been involved in a few lawsuits against the city, I have actively followed most of the others and encourage all interested citizens to do likewise.

The truth about these lawsuits is not to be found in the false and misleading pronouncements of the council members or our illustrious city attorneys, but is available in the court documents which are available to the public under the California Public Records Act.

 

THERE IS REALLY NO HOPE

…IN INFLUENCING CERTAIN PEOPLE IN WILDOMAR

There are those in Wildomar who steadfastly refuse to look at facts that make them uncomfortable, even though that is an essential attribute of making our democratic society work and thrive.

These people personify a certain type of city supporters that are diametrically opposed to hearing anything that could be construed as criticism of Wildomar or its officials.

This is especially true if the unwelcomed information comes from people who have been disparagingly labeled ACTIVISTS.  Certain people automatically perceive of anyone who disagrees with city officials as an enemy to be mocked and vilified…and sometimes even threatened with physical harm.

It is hard to comprehend that some of these people are otherwise intelligent and educated, which would lead us to believe they are capable of critical analysis, and the ability to question the drivel the city feeds to the press.  Alas, these people are so grounded in their desire to belong to the artificial concept of Wildomar “community” and blindly follow the city, that reason totally escapes them.

They forget that America’s history is full of people who saw wrong doing or injustice in our government and had the courage to speak out against it.  These people stood up for the rule of law and the Constitution.  In their lifetime, many of them were criticized, ostracized and even persecuted by the very society that they were trying to help and protect.

These illogical city supporters shy away from taking an honest look at Wildomar’s history or seeing the negative ramifications of the decisions which are being made by Wildomar’s officials.

As Winston Churchill so famously said – “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see”.

These same people will wake up one day, and wonder how things went so terribly wrong and how the irreparable damage was allowed to happen.

As we begin a new year, this is something for all Wildomarians to think about! 

Perhaps you should read John Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage.  It might just help enhance your understanding of how important it is to foster an environment where dissent is not only allowed, but welcomed and respected.  After all, dissention is the highest form of patriotism.

 

WILDOMAR’S BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

…A SHINING SUCCESS OR A SHAM?

OK, OK!  For maybe 250 to 300 of Wildomar’s population of nearly 33,000 residents the recent Breakfast with Santa was a “fun” event, but that hardly justifies the amount of hype being dished out by the press and on local blogs about this being a true “community” event.

For a very, very small percentage of Wildomar’s population who exist primarily within the city’s bubble of influence it may have been enjoyable, but the exuberance being attached to it is really a bit over-the-top.  An event attended by less than 1% of citizens hardly deserves a billing as a “community” event or the propaganda and hard sell it is getting.

Really!  City officials need to forego some of the hype around these minor events – even in the lead-up to an election year.  They need to get some much needed perspective on what’s truly important in Wildomar.

More notably, it leaves some people wondering if the flawed money handling and accounting associated with Breakfast with Santa that were uncovered last year have been corrected?  Diligent sleuthing after the 2012 event turned up the fact that money had actually gone missing!

Please click on the link to the following article on the subject in the now defunct Californian newspaper:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Mar/02/wildomar-cash-handling-policy-santa-breakfast/

In the aftermath of that discovery, city manager Gary Nordquist assured concerned citizens that corrective money handling protocols would be put in place.  Now new questions have surfaced – based on the rapidity with which such positive accounting numbers have been released by city officials.

Some of the more diehard city supporters may think this is a small and unimportant issue, however while the amount of money may seem insignificant, the principle of the matter looms large.  If the city can’t get the little stuff right, can we trust they are handling the larger city accounting correctly?

A formal Public Records Request for the accounting figures has been made – stay tuned to The WildomarWatcher for the results.

MUCH NEEDED NEW CALIFORNIA LAWS FOR 2014

              

…BECOME EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1^ST

 
Doubtless in response to the many California cities keeping inadequate and incomplete meeting records,  a new law has been past in an attempt to improve the content and informational value of city council and planning commission minutes.

New Law Requires Public Report on Action and Vote of Each Member in Open Sessions

Changes to Brown Act Effective January 1, 2014

“California Senate Bill 751, recently signed into law, will require all legislative bodies to publicly report any action taken in any meeting, and the vote or abstention on that action of each member present…In order to comply with these requirements, legislative bodies must verify the vote or abstention of each member, and publicly announce the action taken and the vote or abstention of each member in attendance. *

This information should also be noted in the minutes. As a practical matter, votes may need to be taken by roll call or in another manner that allows verification of the vote of each member in order to comply with the requirements of SB 751.”

We should all be able to look forward to a substantial improvement in what the City of Wildomar produces in the line of meeting minutes, and hopefully it won’t be necessary for some concerned citizen to prod them into compliance with the new laws.

While cities are under no obligation to publish word-for-word minutes, it would sure be useful if we could at least understand what transpired at past meetings.  So here comes, SB751 to the rescue.

Now if we could only get Wildomar to follow the law which requires them to delineate the facts on which they predicate their votes the people might see just how little the city council considers in forming their opinions or voting on critical issues.  

*Best, Best and Krieger Alerts and Articles, November 27, 2013

TIME TO GET RID OF THE SPOILERS

Just What Wildomar Doesn’t NeeD

 
The Wildomar Planning Commission’s completely indefensible decision to send damaging General Plan Amendments (GPA) forward to the City Council for approval has met with widespread dismay among city watchers in the community.

My phone has been ringing off the hook and my e-mail box has been flooded with complaints.

Concerned citizens are up in arms and calling for legal action to prevent this travesty.   Comments strongly support taking corrective action before it is too late to save our city’s designated commercial and business properties from being gobbled up for more high and hyper-high density residential units.

A few individuals and groups are already in the process of suing developers and the city over projects which don’t follow California’s CEQA law, which would protect the environment from projects improperly approved on the face of false information or missing information.

Believe me; it isn’t hard to find rock-solid probable cause for these lawsuits.   Despite the city council wailing and carrying on in futile attempts to play the role of victims, they are just trying to convince residents that a few “naysayers” object to any development.  And that is far from the truth.

City planning director Matt Bassi’s actions are at the heart of these troubling decisions.  He and a few of the planning commission members seem to have forgotten that they were hired or appointed to serve and protect the citizens – not the developers and the land speculators.

There is general agreement that we need to start targeting the people at the city who are responsible for recommending or supporting poorly planned development.  Thankfully 2014 is an election year for Wildomar.  We will have the opportunity to rid ourselves of three underperforming council members, and three of these seemingly spineless planning commissioners.

So this is an opportunity for voters to take hold of Wildomar’s future, and find new council candidates who will support the Visioning Statement and actively protect those unique values that attracted us to living here.

Of course, the real culprits or perpetrators are the city council and city manager.  They continue to ignore the concerns of the public, and are complicit in encouraging this shameful behavior.  It is high time for the people of Wildomar to speak up and start thinking about getting rid of the spoilers at city hall.

LIVING IN A POLLYANNA WORLD

There is a seeming abundance of people in our fair city who just can’t face conflicting points of view, let alone harsh realities!

These people live in an artificial realm of persistent but often unjustified optimism.  They are downright fearful of confronting anything that would intrude on their overtly blissful outlook.   Much like the Three Blind Mice, they want to hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.

They are the same people who heap excessive and often disproportional praise on themselves, their friends and neighbors, and our elected and appointed city officials for doing ordinary and generally expected things.  Commonplace actions are labeled as awesome, wonderful, amazing, splendid, awe-inspiring, tremendous, and astounding.  

If you attend Wildomar’s council meetings regularly, I am sure you have seen and heard this drivel from the dais. So often allotted agenda time is given over to “feel good” ceremonies rather than city business. Hearing from residents about problems or concerns is given short shift.

Things can’t just be good, they must be great!  In short, these overly positive people believe that perfectly ordinary events are somehow remarkable.  And woe unto anyone who dares to point out that something could be flawed, unsound, faulty or imperfect.

In the eyes of this optimistic crowd of city boosters it is an unpardonable offense to point out that something is amiss and might need corrective action.  Heaven forbid mentioning that our elected or appointed officials are headed in the wrong direction, taking unlawful actions or that their performance could stand improvement.

And therein lays the rub. For our democracy to work, ordinary citizens have to look below the surface at things and issues which might make them uncomfortable.  They have to get involved, demand better information, and yes, even question authority and the status quo.

Few Wildomarians are willing to take the time or run the risk of coming across things that would intrude on their comfort level or the blind trust they have in government. The problem is that at some point they will pay a high price for their misplaced trust and unwillingness to deal with reality.

CAL FIRE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS…UNDER FIRE

There is a storm brewing over the recent Canyon Lake voters’ decision to reject a special tax to maintain and staff their local fire station.  This storm has the potential of spreading like a wildfire and threatens to engulf our surrounding cities.

For additional details on the Canyon Lake issues please see:

http://lakeelsinore-wildomar.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/canyon-lakes-fire-woes-impacting-lake-elsinore

Here is the key that should convince people that these concerns are NOT limited to just Lake Elsinore and Canyon Lake.  “Under a current cooperative service area agreement with Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, Lake Elsinore does provide some fire protection service to Canyon Lake and that city is supposed to reciprocate.”

Other cities like Wildomar are also operating under a Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department cooperative agreement too, and no pun intended, they are all playing with fire.  The assumption that there will be cooperation and reciprocation is a mighty risky one.  Sure it works some of the time and hopefully most of the time, but to assume it will work ALL of the time is a big gamble.  One really serious fire or a wildfire that spreads swiftly could prove to be a full blown disaster.

Many surrounding cities are coming out of a decade or more of paring down on public safety personnel and emergency facilities and equipment – while at the same time they are experiencing tremendous growth.  They have cast aside their primary duties to plan for citizens’ safety and the protection of our properties.  They have entered into these cooperative agreements to save money.  The result of dependency on this stratagem is fewer police, fire fighters, paramedics and the resources they need to perform effectively.

There are other considerations we should be factoring into our emergency planning which are pretty much being ignored.  In general our cities’ populations are increasing rapidly, and more and older residents will likely place greater demand on emergency paramedic services which represent the largest portion of calls.

There will come a day when this scheme collapses like a house of cards.  Safety personal and equipment can only be stretched so far.  What happens when more calls for the same kind of assistance come in simultaneously?

You can only send local equipment and personnel in one direction at any given time, and who wants to be the one who has to wait for the reciprocal agreement to kick in and endure the delayed response time for help to arrive?

WILDOMAR’S DEVELOPER FEES…SELL ITS CITIZENS SHORT

UPDATE: The Wildomar planning department had scheduled yet one more “special” meeting on the new DIF fee schedule for Wednesday, November 20th. However, the discussion and decision on DIF fees has been pushed out once again – maybe January?

It now appears the council intends to push through an inadequate DIF proposal, favorable to both developers and the building industry in time for the city council to approve it in the year-end rush, when critics of the proposal are distracted by holiday season activities.

Will they continue to give citizens short shift on these crucial fees just to attract more questionably beneficial development which doesn’t pay its own way? That’s what it looks like.

Both the County and the City have done a great disservice to the community in the past, and appear set to repeat the same mistake. A mistake which will have long term, negative ramifications for our community.

Adequate DIF fees pay for necessary infrastructure construction like fire stations, road improvements, and new or enlarged water and sewer capacity. Because of the council’s foolish decision to lower DIF fees rather than make them competitive with neighboring cities, Wildomar has fallen way behind in building or improving all sorts of infrastructure.

A short drive through the city should confirm the poor infrastructure conditions we are living with – for anyone willing to take a look.

One such example is that we have deferred building and equipping a long-needed second fire station on the East side – trading that much needed facility in for dependency on complex cooperative or reciprocal agreements with the Riverside County Police Department, Cal Fire and surrounding cities which support our fire and police protection.

These public safety services are essential, and they should be given greater priority. That does not mean we should have to pay more or special taxes for them. It means DIF fees should be raised to a competitive rate and more of the resulting city budget should be allocated to these very fundamental services.

City councils know most of their constituents feel fire and police protections are among the most important services, and our local city government often thinks these services make for easy targets to pry additional taxes out of voters.

However, voters want better solutions than adding a whopping new tax to their bills. Now is the time for the Wildomar city council to recognize that their citizens want developers to pay enough DIF fees to pay for the infrastructure that is required to support any expansion of our housing and population. New projects should not get away with just being revenue neutral.

More new taxes are not an acceptable answer! Development must be made to pay for these requirements!