"Help me out here" and other sage but familiar words in Election 2008
"He really must be a wonderful Wizard to live in a city like that!"
----Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
"People moving faster than the speed of sound
Faster than the speeding bullet
People living like Superman.
All day and all night
And I won't say if it's wrong or if it's right."
Here we have another fan letter from that unidentified person who tried to agree in later postings here with early ones that were written by him and her? He or she appears miffed at being associated with people that he or she claims not to be but they all share one name, anonymous so if there is indeed confusion, it's hard to complain about it because you chose not to distinguish yourself from others. This commenter and I do know each other because there's about three or four references in the posting that this person uses quite often including in conversations with me as well as elsewhere. Never a dull moment in Riverside.
Actually, in your case toots, I don't need a crystal ball or runes or tea leaves for that matter to figure out who you are, especially after your third comment. And where did I say that you still liked Councilman Art Gage? You clearly don't at least not anymore, though the description of him being ectoplasm is a rather interesting descriptive term (if technically inaccurate) to use to define someone. I do apologize if I left you with the impression that you liked Gage or were a supporter of his, because I and I think most people know that you don't. I believe that you've made that quite clear, certainly to me and probably everyone else within range.
Here's the comment.
Mary needs to consult her crystal ball, her runes, her whatever. Because she missed the target on her post about posters. Yeah, I know it's difficult when some of us are annonymous - but that's the way it goes. It's nature of the beast called Craigslist.
You missed the mark about one pro-Schiavone post and others coming from the same person. I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments. I made the following two without knowing (but with admiration) who the first poster was. I'm in the darkjust like you. I just happen to like what they said. Go figure - NOT ONE PERSON!
Then there was the comment about Art Gage having some loyalty to/from the poster(s). Mary obviously has an "idea" who is posting. Perhaps the first poster is who she thinks it is, but my comments (2) nowhere mentioned or insinuated a connection to Gage - nor do I think he's worthy of mention. Mary, help me out here . . . . . how can I put it more clearly (I can't stand him ((Gage)) or anything to do with him?) He's as slimy as an ectoplasym. Who ya gonna call?
You missed the mark here. Some people read your blog. You should at least find the decency to point out when you state the facts and when you are pontificating.
**** readers beware **** Mary has an agenda - which may or may not be truthful and disregards facts often (or at the very least - slants the truth often).
Guess which part of this will appear on her blog tomorrow? LMFAO
The whole thing! How does that work for you?
I know it's funny, isn't it? But it kind of goes with the subject of this posting so the inclusion of your latest words fit. And do I have an agenda? Do you and if so, is it truthful and factual? I'm asking because of this statement:
"I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments."
And if you do have an agenda, is that a bad thing because if it were, then everyone elected into politics would be bad (which considering your use of *** to bring extra special attention to the fact that you consider it to be bad) enough to warrant a "beware" admonition because they all have agendas too but we both know how silly that is. What would a politician be for example unless he or she had an agenda, otherwise known as a political platform?
I do know I have a blog. Someone once said so. And yes, some people do read it.
Speaking of repeat performances, another day, another mailer to remind us all that Election 2008 still rules in Riverside County. This time, it's another brochure from the campaign of incumbent District One Supervisor Bob Buster handing a report card of sorts on challenger and Ward Four Riverside City Councilman Frank Schiavone. And it appears that the grade he's given Schiavone is a big red "F". A bit harsh, but it's after all an election year and it's been a very contentious if not fascinating back and forth including the unfortunate foray of both sides into the I.D. card issue that seemed borrowed as stated from one of last year's city council elections.
Now, the educational motif has traditionally adorned many a campaign flier, with the keystroke being the assignment of a letter grade or series of letter grades for the performance of an elected official, who after all is the student of his constituents who are the teachers who ultimately assign grades through their votes during an election. And so it returns to action in this latest chapter of the growing book of campaign critiques and other notices for Election 2008.
The same photograph of Schiavone seems to be making an appearance everywhere including on campaign brochures. One of the shames about that is the guy knows how to pick out a great tie (and is second only to former Councilman Ed Adkison in this regard) and the red and white polka-dotted one just isn't the best one. Tie-picking is a lessor known but still important attribute of being an elected male politician, whereas for female politicians, it seems to be accessory jewelry and to a lessor extent, shoeware. One of the inequalities between the genders in politics that's often discussed is wardrobe. Whereas men can hide behind rather generic business suits, female politicians' outfits are often picked apart more and often it's their choice of outfit that is used as a good or bad example of their political acumen.
But that's not a concern in the supervisor's race because if there's to be an injection of estrogen in it or the board (which is comprised of White men) for that matter, it's not this year.
But besides that, the photographs show the second-term Schiavone when he almost seemed bored with his job as he tends to look these days especially sandwiched between two relatively new council members who still look very eager to be there like most new electeds are. What a difference a few years can make and how often that is with many elected officials who probably run for office believing one way and then realizing after being sworn in, that it's nothing what they expected. Many adapt accordingly, after what many political watchers call "the honeymoon period" which lasts in city elections for roughly 12 months. After that, often the eddies in the water start forming and the political official often has to work harder at navigating him or herself through the issues and how they formulate their positions on them. And then about halfway through or so, it's time to think about the next election so that you can do as Mayor Ron Loveridge has said each time, do the large amount of what I want to do that still remains to do. He'll probably say the same thing when he launches his recently announced campaign for yet another term at the dias' helm.
But often, the honeymoon can seem much shorter. And it gets trickier when it's a reelection bid when the no-longer novice politician is trying to maintain position or even in some recent cases, step up through the ranks of the political ladder. And what of a politician like Schiavone, who was one of the first to greet the political gambit of the 21st Century?
Not the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Schiavone who was not only Buster's political ally but a political candidate who excited many a voter on the campaign trail and the polls in 2001. Every politician starts out with some excitement at the unknown of the campaign and the challenge of both getting their messages out and also intaking feedback from those they hope will vote for them. A lot of footsteps, miles driven, even blocks on a Segway as happened with one candidate in Election 2007 and never knowing or getting a limited view through informal polls where you shape up in the game until the final count and the only one that matters is taken.
Even when the returns from the polls on the big night start trickling in, the final answer isn't known until later that evening or in the case of Election 2007, for weeks and weeks. Hopefully, the election results won't take that long to release in the upcoming elections but whether or not that indeed does happen, depends a lot on how close the candidates are in terms of attracting those votes. It's not clear how confident the Bob Buster camp is about his chances of winning the election but it's not difficult to figure out that there's not a whole lot of confidence coming from the Schiavone camp (and the commentary appearing on Craigslist is an expression of that). Why is that?
There are two candidates in Riverside's city council who fell out with some of their key supporters either later on in the first term or into the second term and they were Schiavone and former Councilman Dom Betro from the first ward. Schiavone's biggest allies included a man named Ray Higgens who is a great guy and very passionate about Riverside. But Higgens didn't like what Schiavone became later on and ended up regretting his support of him and other candidates in what became the GASS quartet that included Schiavone and the "slimy as an ecotplasym[sic]" councilman already mentioned. Discussing politics with Higgens even when we disagreed was a great pleasure and a learning experience and if Schiavone lost him as a supporter because he had changed himself, it was indeed Schiavone's loss. Greater if he doesn't realize it.
Betro suffered the same fate, losing key supporters some of whom campaigned against him during his reelection because he had lost his way from his grass-roots beginnings, in a sense the Democrat counterpart to Schiavone's Republican. The loyalists who stayed with Betro had for the most part changed with him. Some of them publicly said they had never heard of Betro's foot soldiers that had worked on the same campaign in 2003 that perhaps they were part of the inner circle and couldn't see outside of it. If Betro resurfaces as some expect he will during next year's greatly anticipated mayoral race, will this hard-won lesson be one he brings with him? That will be interesting to look for during that election cycle.
Then there's the already mentioned and referred to by one critic here as "slimy as a ectoplasym"[sic], Gage who lost many of his voters, coming within a political hair length of eliminating the need for a runoff election for his ward's seat. Not to mention Ward Seven's very own Steve Adams who was 15 votes or so shy of being sent packing by a candidate he outspent at least by 10 to 1. Whether last year's definite incumbent backlash continues next year, is one question that will be answered at that time.
It's difficult to think of two other politicians in recent years than Betro and Schiavone who came to the city council with as much excitement and as much potential but power changes people and often, they don't realize that even when their allies do. That's one of the most challenging parts of being a politician without doubt but when it comes to analysis, almost one of the most interesting. The path well traveled, it's often called.
L. Frank Baum called it the Yellow Brick Road, the path through dangerously seductive poppy fields and scary and desolate forests, a road that one needed intelligence, a great heart and moral courage to navigate even if those who traveled it didn't know where to find them. Like Baum's characters, many politicians look outside for these things or rely on a great and grand figure (while ignoring the little guy pulling the strings) to tell them how to get what they need. Baum's exploration of 1890s populism is relevant in today's River City.
Politics is always fascinating in terms of the journeys taken and this is an election year in many more ways than one. In fact, the local elections might seem insignificant and paltry when it comes to picking a national leader, but they still matter, because whether you are on a school board, a student city council or a board of supervisors, the decisions that you make and the leadership that you show or do not show impacts many people's lives.
Often what is manifested for the voter is the war of words, the pencil whipping, the war of the pamphlets. With each pamphlet sent out by one camp in Election 2008, awaits a phone call from the auto dialer in Massachusetts which provides the obligatory rebuttal. This latest phone call hasn't come yet, but the week's still young.
At any rate, the latest brochure includes quotes taken from assorted news publications and city council minutes spanning from 2002 to 2007, addressing his votes to raise water rates twice, raise electricity rates and then in the face of a massive revolt, lower them and raise his own salary within weeks of being sworn into his first city council term. But the rate hikes were rescinded because several councilmen were up for election and during an election year, every day's Christmas day with presents under the tree for the city's residents whose voting power ensures that politicians will do these things to try to get the voting power to be exercised in their favor. A major reason why if you have a wish list, it's best to work on it during the off-election cycle in anticipation and in preparation for the next time elected officials have to win your approval at the polls.
Not to mention the political tangle involving the controversy surrounding comments made at a city council meeting by a member of one of the boards and commissions. Did he propose to ban citizen committee members from speaking if they had disagreed with a decision made by that board or commission they served on?
It might have been proposed but gotten lost in the shuffle of a summer when the city council (minus the "slimy as an ectoplasym"[sic] councilman) voted to bar people attending the meeting from pulling items for discussion off the consent calendar but there was a dust devil of the political kind aimed at one member of one of those "citizen committees" Dave McNiel who serves on the city's Cultural Heritage Board. At any rate, try speaking out during a meeting of your committee as former Community Police Review Commission member Steve Simpson did before he said he was told to tone it down by the "Seventh Floor" including at least one member of the city council and told to do some "counseling" meetings with commission chair, Brian Pearcy without an advocate in site. Not long after that, he resigned after only serving several months.
Maybe this was in accordance to any proposal that was made the summer of 2005 regarding comments made by "citizen committee" members. At any rate, are commissioners and board members allowed to speak freely or are they meant to serve merely as rubber stamps and puppets for the city government or any of its factions? Obviously it's important to ensure that they remain independent of city influence or restrictions on what they can say because they were appointed to the commission precisely for what they can bring to the table for that respective panel or at least that's what the city including the members of the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee are always telling city residents when they make their selections to fill the positions or be interviewed for positions on the city's boards and commissions.
The brochure states on its full-page inside spread, the following statement.
"Promotion is no way to reward a failing student, and the same goes for politicians."
In politics, the only grades that matter are those ultimately assigned at the polls by the voters and that's how it will be this time around with "promotions" if they can be called that given to those who get the votes. And that won't be known for sure until the votes are all counted.
Perris did two things. Its city government declared itself in solid financial shape amidst a budget crisis and then the city council members promptly gave themselves raises.
Temecula's budget picture is looking a tad bit better in terms of maintaining its basic services.
Greg Craft, a member of the Alvord Unified School District Board, held firmly to his comments criticizing those who supported the naming of a new school after former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Riverside Unified School District underwent its own baptism of fire for daring to support the naming of a high school in Orangecrest after Martin Luther King, jr. in 1998. A controversial episode of Riverside's history that put it on the map in not a flattering way from coast to coast. Does it really need a repeat performance?
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
When Kraft criticized Marshall supporters as "hypocrites" and "outsiders," he lumped in Lawrence Geraty, president emeritus of La Sierra University who also sits on the Alvord Educational Foundation's board. Geraty, through his foundation work, has helped raised thousands of dollars in college scholarships for Alvord graduates.
"I thought it was a very ungracious thing to say, especially to somebody who is not a carpetbagger," said Geraty, who has lived in the district for 14 years.
Geraty, who joined a line of speakers in favor of naming the campus after the late high court judge, earlier Thursday evening had presided over recognizing foundation donors at a district awards ceremony.
"I consider it my district, so to hear that I come from outside and don't belong was a shock to me," Geraty said Friday by phone.
It's called being an "outside agitator" and the term "outsiders" is oft-heard even in the 21st Century unfortunately. It was a tactic used in the Jim Crow South when people marched for the civil rights including the right to vote under the U.S. Constitution for the nation's African-Americans. Even though most of them were homegrown, they were derided as "outsiders". It's always interesting to see how the manual on how to address these issues gets handed around from one situation to the next. It's disappointing that such terminology is surfacing in Riverside yet again but not exactly shocking, considering the history of how African-Americans have been treated including employees who work for the city.
But now that the city officials received a reminder in the autumn of 2005 in terms of just how expensive racial discrimination and harassment can be from a Riverside County Superior Court jury, hopefully that will curtail any similar behavior that will also need to be paid for by the city's residents through any future settlements or verdicts.
Visitors to this site have included the following:
City of Riverside
California State Office of the Treasurer
University of California, Riverside
Belo Enterprises
Stock Technical Analysis
University of Toronto
University of California at Berkeley
Zephyr Real Estate
Ohio University
Senate of California
Segway
California State University, Long Beach
BCL West (Bombay, India)
Lockheed Martin Corporation
----Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
"People moving faster than the speed of sound
Faster than the speeding bullet
People living like Superman.
All day and all night
And I won't say if it's wrong or if it's right."
---B.B. King
Here we have another fan letter from that unidentified person who tried to agree in later postings here with early ones that were written by him and her? He or she appears miffed at being associated with people that he or she claims not to be but they all share one name, anonymous so if there is indeed confusion, it's hard to complain about it because you chose not to distinguish yourself from others. This commenter and I do know each other because there's about three or four references in the posting that this person uses quite often including in conversations with me as well as elsewhere. Never a dull moment in Riverside.
Actually, in your case toots, I don't need a crystal ball or runes or tea leaves for that matter to figure out who you are, especially after your third comment. And where did I say that you still liked Councilman Art Gage? You clearly don't at least not anymore, though the description of him being ectoplasm is a rather interesting descriptive term (if technically inaccurate) to use to define someone. I do apologize if I left you with the impression that you liked Gage or were a supporter of his, because I and I think most people know that you don't. I believe that you've made that quite clear, certainly to me and probably everyone else within range.
Here's the comment.
Mary needs to consult her crystal ball, her runes, her whatever. Because she missed the target on her post about posters. Yeah, I know it's difficult when some of us are annonymous - but that's the way it goes. It's nature of the beast called Craigslist.
You missed the mark about one pro-Schiavone post and others coming from the same person. I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments. I made the following two without knowing (but with admiration) who the first poster was. I'm in the darkjust like you. I just happen to like what they said. Go figure - NOT ONE PERSON!
Then there was the comment about Art Gage having some loyalty to/from the poster(s). Mary obviously has an "idea" who is posting. Perhaps the first poster is who she thinks it is, but my comments (2) nowhere mentioned or insinuated a connection to Gage - nor do I think he's worthy of mention. Mary, help me out here . . . . . how can I put it more clearly (I can't stand him ((Gage)) or anything to do with him?) He's as slimy as an ectoplasym. Who ya gonna call?
You missed the mark here. Some people read your blog. You should at least find the decency to point out when you state the facts and when you are pontificating.
**** readers beware **** Mary has an agenda - which may or may not be truthful and disregards facts often (or at the very least - slants the truth often).
Guess which part of this will appear on her blog tomorrow? LMFAO
The whole thing! How does that work for you?
I know it's funny, isn't it? But it kind of goes with the subject of this posting so the inclusion of your latest words fit. And do I have an agenda? Do you and if so, is it truthful and factual? I'm asking because of this statement:
"I was honest in my admiration comment about a previous poster's comments."
And if you do have an agenda, is that a bad thing because if it were, then everyone elected into politics would be bad (which considering your use of *** to bring extra special attention to the fact that you consider it to be bad) enough to warrant a "beware" admonition because they all have agendas too but we both know how silly that is. What would a politician be for example unless he or she had an agenda, otherwise known as a political platform?
I do know I have a blog. Someone once said so. And yes, some people do read it.
Speaking of repeat performances, another day, another mailer to remind us all that Election 2008 still rules in Riverside County. This time, it's another brochure from the campaign of incumbent District One Supervisor Bob Buster handing a report card of sorts on challenger and Ward Four Riverside City Councilman Frank Schiavone. And it appears that the grade he's given Schiavone is a big red "F". A bit harsh, but it's after all an election year and it's been a very contentious if not fascinating back and forth including the unfortunate foray of both sides into the I.D. card issue that seemed borrowed as stated from one of last year's city council elections.
Now, the educational motif has traditionally adorned many a campaign flier, with the keystroke being the assignment of a letter grade or series of letter grades for the performance of an elected official, who after all is the student of his constituents who are the teachers who ultimately assign grades through their votes during an election. And so it returns to action in this latest chapter of the growing book of campaign critiques and other notices for Election 2008.
The same photograph of Schiavone seems to be making an appearance everywhere including on campaign brochures. One of the shames about that is the guy knows how to pick out a great tie (and is second only to former Councilman Ed Adkison in this regard) and the red and white polka-dotted one just isn't the best one. Tie-picking is a lessor known but still important attribute of being an elected male politician, whereas for female politicians, it seems to be accessory jewelry and to a lessor extent, shoeware. One of the inequalities between the genders in politics that's often discussed is wardrobe. Whereas men can hide behind rather generic business suits, female politicians' outfits are often picked apart more and often it's their choice of outfit that is used as a good or bad example of their political acumen.
But that's not a concern in the supervisor's race because if there's to be an injection of estrogen in it or the board (which is comprised of White men) for that matter, it's not this year.
But besides that, the photographs show the second-term Schiavone when he almost seemed bored with his job as he tends to look these days especially sandwiched between two relatively new council members who still look very eager to be there like most new electeds are. What a difference a few years can make and how often that is with many elected officials who probably run for office believing one way and then realizing after being sworn in, that it's nothing what they expected. Many adapt accordingly, after what many political watchers call "the honeymoon period" which lasts in city elections for roughly 12 months. After that, often the eddies in the water start forming and the political official often has to work harder at navigating him or herself through the issues and how they formulate their positions on them. And then about halfway through or so, it's time to think about the next election so that you can do as Mayor Ron Loveridge has said each time, do the large amount of what I want to do that still remains to do. He'll probably say the same thing when he launches his recently announced campaign for yet another term at the dias' helm.
But often, the honeymoon can seem much shorter. And it gets trickier when it's a reelection bid when the no-longer novice politician is trying to maintain position or even in some recent cases, step up through the ranks of the political ladder. And what of a politician like Schiavone, who was one of the first to greet the political gambit of the 21st Century?
Not the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Schiavone who was not only Buster's political ally but a political candidate who excited many a voter on the campaign trail and the polls in 2001. Every politician starts out with some excitement at the unknown of the campaign and the challenge of both getting their messages out and also intaking feedback from those they hope will vote for them. A lot of footsteps, miles driven, even blocks on a Segway as happened with one candidate in Election 2007 and never knowing or getting a limited view through informal polls where you shape up in the game until the final count and the only one that matters is taken.
Even when the returns from the polls on the big night start trickling in, the final answer isn't known until later that evening or in the case of Election 2007, for weeks and weeks. Hopefully, the election results won't take that long to release in the upcoming elections but whether or not that indeed does happen, depends a lot on how close the candidates are in terms of attracting those votes. It's not clear how confident the Bob Buster camp is about his chances of winning the election but it's not difficult to figure out that there's not a whole lot of confidence coming from the Schiavone camp (and the commentary appearing on Craigslist is an expression of that). Why is that?
There are two candidates in Riverside's city council who fell out with some of their key supporters either later on in the first term or into the second term and they were Schiavone and former Councilman Dom Betro from the first ward. Schiavone's biggest allies included a man named Ray Higgens who is a great guy and very passionate about Riverside. But Higgens didn't like what Schiavone became later on and ended up regretting his support of him and other candidates in what became the GASS quartet that included Schiavone and the "slimy as an ecotplasym[sic]" councilman already mentioned. Discussing politics with Higgens even when we disagreed was a great pleasure and a learning experience and if Schiavone lost him as a supporter because he had changed himself, it was indeed Schiavone's loss. Greater if he doesn't realize it.
Betro suffered the same fate, losing key supporters some of whom campaigned against him during his reelection because he had lost his way from his grass-roots beginnings, in a sense the Democrat counterpart to Schiavone's Republican. The loyalists who stayed with Betro had for the most part changed with him. Some of them publicly said they had never heard of Betro's foot soldiers that had worked on the same campaign in 2003 that perhaps they were part of the inner circle and couldn't see outside of it. If Betro resurfaces as some expect he will during next year's greatly anticipated mayoral race, will this hard-won lesson be one he brings with him? That will be interesting to look for during that election cycle.
Then there's the already mentioned and referred to by one critic here as "slimy as a ectoplasym"[sic], Gage who lost many of his voters, coming within a political hair length of eliminating the need for a runoff election for his ward's seat. Not to mention Ward Seven's very own Steve Adams who was 15 votes or so shy of being sent packing by a candidate he outspent at least by 10 to 1. Whether last year's definite incumbent backlash continues next year, is one question that will be answered at that time.
It's difficult to think of two other politicians in recent years than Betro and Schiavone who came to the city council with as much excitement and as much potential but power changes people and often, they don't realize that even when their allies do. That's one of the most challenging parts of being a politician without doubt but when it comes to analysis, almost one of the most interesting. The path well traveled, it's often called.
L. Frank Baum called it the Yellow Brick Road, the path through dangerously seductive poppy fields and scary and desolate forests, a road that one needed intelligence, a great heart and moral courage to navigate even if those who traveled it didn't know where to find them. Like Baum's characters, many politicians look outside for these things or rely on a great and grand figure (while ignoring the little guy pulling the strings) to tell them how to get what they need. Baum's exploration of 1890s populism is relevant in today's River City.
Politics is always fascinating in terms of the journeys taken and this is an election year in many more ways than one. In fact, the local elections might seem insignificant and paltry when it comes to picking a national leader, but they still matter, because whether you are on a school board, a student city council or a board of supervisors, the decisions that you make and the leadership that you show or do not show impacts many people's lives.
Often what is manifested for the voter is the war of words, the pencil whipping, the war of the pamphlets. With each pamphlet sent out by one camp in Election 2008, awaits a phone call from the auto dialer in Massachusetts which provides the obligatory rebuttal. This latest phone call hasn't come yet, but the week's still young.
At any rate, the latest brochure includes quotes taken from assorted news publications and city council minutes spanning from 2002 to 2007, addressing his votes to raise water rates twice, raise electricity rates and then in the face of a massive revolt, lower them and raise his own salary within weeks of being sworn into his first city council term. But the rate hikes were rescinded because several councilmen were up for election and during an election year, every day's Christmas day with presents under the tree for the city's residents whose voting power ensures that politicians will do these things to try to get the voting power to be exercised in their favor. A major reason why if you have a wish list, it's best to work on it during the off-election cycle in anticipation and in preparation for the next time elected officials have to win your approval at the polls.
Not to mention the political tangle involving the controversy surrounding comments made at a city council meeting by a member of one of the boards and commissions. Did he propose to ban citizen committee members from speaking if they had disagreed with a decision made by that board or commission they served on?
It might have been proposed but gotten lost in the shuffle of a summer when the city council (minus the "slimy as an ectoplasym"[sic] councilman) voted to bar people attending the meeting from pulling items for discussion off the consent calendar but there was a dust devil of the political kind aimed at one member of one of those "citizen committees" Dave McNiel who serves on the city's Cultural Heritage Board. At any rate, try speaking out during a meeting of your committee as former Community Police Review Commission member Steve Simpson did before he said he was told to tone it down by the "Seventh Floor" including at least one member of the city council and told to do some "counseling" meetings with commission chair, Brian Pearcy without an advocate in site. Not long after that, he resigned after only serving several months.
Maybe this was in accordance to any proposal that was made the summer of 2005 regarding comments made by "citizen committee" members. At any rate, are commissioners and board members allowed to speak freely or are they meant to serve merely as rubber stamps and puppets for the city government or any of its factions? Obviously it's important to ensure that they remain independent of city influence or restrictions on what they can say because they were appointed to the commission precisely for what they can bring to the table for that respective panel or at least that's what the city including the members of the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee are always telling city residents when they make their selections to fill the positions or be interviewed for positions on the city's boards and commissions.
The brochure states on its full-page inside spread, the following statement.
"Promotion is no way to reward a failing student, and the same goes for politicians."
In politics, the only grades that matter are those ultimately assigned at the polls by the voters and that's how it will be this time around with "promotions" if they can be called that given to those who get the votes. And that won't be known for sure until the votes are all counted.
Perris did two things. Its city government declared itself in solid financial shape amidst a budget crisis and then the city council members promptly gave themselves raises.
Temecula's budget picture is looking a tad bit better in terms of maintaining its basic services.
Greg Craft, a member of the Alvord Unified School District Board, held firmly to his comments criticizing those who supported the naming of a new school after former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Riverside Unified School District underwent its own baptism of fire for daring to support the naming of a high school in Orangecrest after Martin Luther King, jr. in 1998. A controversial episode of Riverside's history that put it on the map in not a flattering way from coast to coast. Does it really need a repeat performance?
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
When Kraft criticized Marshall supporters as "hypocrites" and "outsiders," he lumped in Lawrence Geraty, president emeritus of La Sierra University who also sits on the Alvord Educational Foundation's board. Geraty, through his foundation work, has helped raised thousands of dollars in college scholarships for Alvord graduates.
"I thought it was a very ungracious thing to say, especially to somebody who is not a carpetbagger," said Geraty, who has lived in the district for 14 years.
Geraty, who joined a line of speakers in favor of naming the campus after the late high court judge, earlier Thursday evening had presided over recognizing foundation donors at a district awards ceremony.
"I consider it my district, so to hear that I come from outside and don't belong was a shock to me," Geraty said Friday by phone.
It's called being an "outside agitator" and the term "outsiders" is oft-heard even in the 21st Century unfortunately. It was a tactic used in the Jim Crow South when people marched for the civil rights including the right to vote under the U.S. Constitution for the nation's African-Americans. Even though most of them were homegrown, they were derided as "outsiders". It's always interesting to see how the manual on how to address these issues gets handed around from one situation to the next. It's disappointing that such terminology is surfacing in Riverside yet again but not exactly shocking, considering the history of how African-Americans have been treated including employees who work for the city.
But now that the city officials received a reminder in the autumn of 2005 in terms of just how expensive racial discrimination and harassment can be from a Riverside County Superior Court jury, hopefully that will curtail any similar behavior that will also need to be paid for by the city's residents through any future settlements or verdicts.
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Labels: Budget 2008 Watch, Election 2009, Making the grade
posted by Five Before Midnight | 3:15 PM
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