Volume 44 - No. 42
Commentary
Politics, it seems, brings out the best of us . . . And the worst of us.
And election season just brings it all to a boil. Good and bad. I lived in Chicago for five years and the politics there were brutal.
North San Diego County and Escondido, in particular, apparently studied under the political bosses of Chicago. This election season I’ve seen more and more “Chicago style” election shenanigans, not so much from the candidates, but their supporters.
There’s been a lot of mudslinging going on . . . distorted facts and figures . . . stealing of signs and, in at least one case I’m aware of, physical threats and harrassment. You see a lot of that on the Social Media . . . Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Early on, we were offended by some of the tactics of Michael Schlesinger and his Stuck in the Rough, LLC tactics. We said so in a Commentary headline which read “We Don’t Like Bullies,” and we came out against Propostion H, in large part because of his spreading of pungent chicken manure on the golf course, adjacent to the lawns of homeowners who opposed his development plans, and for his series of “encroachment” lawsuits which we felt were intentional legal harrassment. Mr. Schlesinger, to his credit, has repeatedly owned up to his bone-headed errors, acknowledged they were dumb and should not have been done. But since that inauspicious debut, he has argued his case with logic, facts, calm, and a whole lot of patience. He has put himself out there and made himself available for questions.
Meanwhile, Mr. Schlesinger is not the only party that has shown less than brilliant battle plans. ECCHO
(The
Escondido
The Paper - 760.747.7119
website:www.thecommunitypaper.com
email: thepaper@cox.net
Country Club Homeowners Organization) came together to oppose Mr. Schlesinger’s development plans. All well and good. They were impacted by his plans and wanted to oppose him at every turn and, overall, they’ve been effective with their grass roots campaign.
We opposed Mr. Schlesinger and his bully tactics and strongly supported the ECCHO No on H program. We supported ECCHO heavily in The Paper. Then, several unfortunate series of events occurred that changed my mindset on the whole question of Proposition H, and the proponents and opponents of the measure. It had to do with social media. Specifically, Facebook.
Several weeks ago I learned that a 3-hour conversation between Michael Schlesinger, the developer who champions the Lakes at Escondido, LLC (the old Escondido Country Club property), generically known as the Yes on H Proposition, and Kris Murphy (former Escondido council member, now living in Alabama) on the ECCHO Facebook page was deleted. The conversation had been civil, no profanity, simply a discussion of the pros and cons on Proposition H. When I learned of it I said I'd look into it and I did. As most of you are aware, censorship brings the blood of journalists and editors to the boiling point. There are seldom any good reasons for it. Some material may, and perhaps should, be censored/edited out . . .but those examples are few and far between. Foul language, personal attacks, threats of violence, potentially libelous and slanderous statements or comments - all may justify editing and/or deleting. But civil discussions about the pros and cons of a sensitive political issue? Absolutely not. More, not less discussion, is needed. ECCHO had, to my mind, crossed over the line and censored a perfectly reasonable con-
‘Commentary’ Cont. on Page 8
It’s Time For a Change
October 30, 2014
patient with a council that will not allow her to place an item on the agenda for discussion; she has been civil and courteous but firm in standing her ground for what she believes in.
by lyle e davis
At one time I was a major critic of Olga Diaz. Then I got to know her.
Strange, what happens when you sit down and talk to someone. You find out what they really think. What they really believe. Often, you find out most of what you first thought of them was inaccurate and your perception and the perception of the public in general . . . was mostly wrong.
We still have our differences. I'm dead set against illegal immigrants. She's not. I love legal immigrants; was married to one for 40 years. That's about the only issue on which we seriously disagree.
I've followed Olga over the years and noticed that she is an articulate individual; she does her homework; she stays in touch with her constituents, who are, incidentally, not all Latino. She votes her conscience and, when necessary and compelled to reverse her position when she feels the facts justify it, she'll reverse her vote. That sometimes takes political courage. Many people have given Olga a bad rap. They say she’s against police enforcing traffic laws and sobriety check points.
After meeting Olga I found out, that she is not against ensuring that drivers of vehicles have license, are insured, and are sober. She simply felt that saturation patrols were a far simpler and less expensive means of attaining that goal. Having the checkpoints requires four times the numbers of officers to set up and maintain at about four times the cost. She
has
been
extremely
In the latest controversy, the publication of a letter the city manager claimed didn't exist and which the city attorney's office would neither confirm or deny, she was as upset as many of us at the inaccurate information given by Escondido's City Manager, Clay Phillips.
She has taken steps to get to the bottom of it, calling for an independent auditor or investigator to come in from outside the city and get to the bottom of it. If, in fact, Clay Phillips did mislead the Mayor and/or the rest of the City Council, she will call for his dismissal as well as that of City Attorney Jeff Epp. Our Mayor and our Council have a right to expect honest answers and actions from our top administrators and counsel. If they are dismissed, for cause, their handsome contracts would become null and void and the city would not be on the hook for about $300,000 each, per year, on the remaining three years of their contract. If they agreed to resign then perhaps they would accept a severance agreement in lieu of the remaining compensation called for in their contract. It is clear they have experience in severance contracts.
Asked if she were to be elected Mayor if she would seek the dismissal of Phillips and/or Epp, she said, “I’ve tried on two other occasions, unsuccessfully. I didn’t have the votes at the council level. As Mayor, I’m not sure I would have the votes to remove them unless the composition of the council changes. I would, however, demand clos-
Time for a Change Continued on Page 2