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(3/7/09, by Dave Emerson)  Over the last few days a few anonymous posters here have been gloating about Ken Parker recently complying with a court order to reimburse Chuck Sylvia $4,500 for legal fees incurred by Sylvia last September in a lawsuit filed over Parker’s ballot candidate statement.

Since they brought it up, I’d like to go into that both Sylvia’s original lawsuit and subsequent request for Parker to reimburse him $25,000 in legal expenses.  You see, it was this sort of action by Mr. Sylvia and his CPLA that gradually changed me from wanting to see Ken Parker off the Council to someone fighting against Sylvia,  his Citizens for the Protection of Los Alamitos (CPLA) and it’s sister Los Alamitos Taxpayers’ Association (LATA), and their benefactor, George Briggeman Jr.

Along the way we’ll hear first hand from one of Sylvia’s attorneys,  look at the specifics of the suit, get a candidates perspective on the statement, find out why the judge cut the payment so dramatically, and further explore the negative side of the Sylvia/Briggeman/CPLA/LATA juggernaut that brought us Mayor Grose.

Read more

(3/5/09, by Dave Emerson)  The two most significant decisions facing Los Alamitos’ City Council right now are the selection of a permanent City Administrator and of  a Council Member to finish off Dean Grose’s term.

How the next Council Member will be selected is scheduled to be on the Council’s March 16th agenda.  This Saturday, however, the Council is scheduled to interview six applicants as their search for a City Administrator continues.

This promises to be a long and grueling meeting, beginning at 8 a.m. with time for public comments before moving into private session to interview each of the six applicants.  No wonder Dean chose to resign–I would have too if I knew such a lengthy meeting was going to eat up my weekend.  Smart man!

Whatever you think of our Council Members, you sure can’t deny that they’re putting in the hours!

Interestingly enough, near the end of Monday’s Council meeting in their Council Member remarks both Troy Edgar and Gerri Mejia seemed to Read more

As I spoke with hundreds of Los Al residents over the past two months, there was one comment that consistently received the most agreement and the greatest enthusiasm.

“I’m running to try to get our Council and our community to work together as a unified, effective team.”

I never got close to knocking every voter’s door, and I didn’t get close enough to win the election either, but I did receive the votes of over 1,000 of my fellow citizens.

Even more significant, with absolutely no campaigning, no signs, no mailers, no flyers, no door knocking, three flyers and an expensive website attacking her, and widespread publicity of her withdrawal from the race, Cat Driscoll still received over 700 votes!

And, despite poor ballot placement, a three-month mudslinging campaign, and tens of thousands of dollars spent on the most expensive negative campaign in the history of Los Alamitos, Ken Parker still received over 1300 votes.

The new Los Alamitos City Council majority now has a choice to make:  They can reach out to the thousands of  voters who did not vote for their candidates, or they can further alienate them.  They can attempt to tear down walls between citizens, or they can build them higher.  They can attempt to make peace, or continue a war that has divided our community for well over a decade.

Our town has a sad history of the Council majority ignoring and alienating their opponents.  I had hoped that would change with a new majority taking charge four years ago.  Sadly, it didn’t change as much as I had hoped.  Although a number of  positive changes passed with 5-0 votes from 2004 – 2006, the unified team effort I had hoped for never really came to fruition.

Hopefully this time it will be different.

Is it possible?

Over time, almost anything is possible if enough persistence, sincerity, and grace are involved.  It is certainly possible to make positive steps in the right direction.  It is also possible to drive people further apart.  That’s not only counterproductive, but just plain wrong!

One key is for both sides to attempt to put the past behind and move forward.    That will probably take some apologizing and distancing from some of the dirtier aspects of the past campaign.  Hopefully some reflection by the new majority will lead to an overdue but sincere condemnation of some of the extreme practices of the CPLA and LATA’s campaign advisers.  If not, those who have been wounded by those attacks need to find a constructive way to move forward.

Two more steps to building an effective team, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly,  are to begin with the goals everyone agrees on, and to make sure all sides feel like their views have been heard and understood.

I’ll be talking more about this over the next few weeks, but tomorrow I hope to get up the agenda for this coming Monday’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting, along with a few more thoughts of my own.  In the meantime, your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

Thanks for stopping by.

(by Dave Emerson)  I didn’t make it much past the “Oral Communications” part of Monday night’s City Council meeting, but that was enough for me.  Too much, actually.

The meeting began on what were probably the high notes of the evening, then went downhill from their.  A simply profound invocation from outgoing Council Member Cat Driscoll, the first victim of the CPLA/LATA/Silvia-led/Briggeman-funded smear campaign our small little town’s been subjected to for the past ten weeks.

Cat graciously prayed that the Council and the community could put that vicious campaign behind them and move forward.  She bemoaned the pitting of “neighbor against neighbor” and asked the Almighty for a return of grace, peace and sanity.  It was heartfelt and beautiful.  A prayer we would all do well to echo in our own way.

Awards

Then, after a brief report from the OC Human Relations people, Louis and Marie Kim were presented with their “Citizen of the Month” awards for the work done with our youth through their National Hapkido Center based in Los Alamitos.  I particularly liked the five points each young member is to affirm weekly:

1. I will obey my parents.
2. I will do my homework.
3. I will brush my teeth.
4. I will wear my seat belt.
5. I will be polite, sir.

I’m thinking maybe we could hire Mr. and Mrs. Kim to teach those rules to our Council and the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos.  Although on a bad day I might be tempted to skip the seat belt part for some of them.  (Humorous reference:  Not to be taken literally, my CPLA attorney, sir.  Now go brush your teeth.)

Then came the presentation of an award to the city’s Administrative Services Director, Nita McKay, for Outstanding Financial Reporting from California’s Society of Municipal Finance Officers.  That’s an impressive award for a city staff member.  Don’t think I’ve seen anything positive about Nita from the Sylvia’s and their gang (literally. . .  er, no, Mr. Attorney, just a pun, actually.  Another attempt at humor, nothing more.  No intent to impugn anyone.  After all, I will be polite, sir).   I do believe she was brought in by the current Council majority, possibly while they were taking a break from raising our taxes, raising their pay, “taking luxurious vacations,” and riding around in town cars at taxpayer expense.

Actually, I guess I’m foreshadowing the scaled-down but turned-up Sylvias and friends show that came during that public comments time.  That’s what got my blood boiling.

Oral Communications:  Cypress, Gemini, & Briggeman

First we heard from the former mayor of Cypress, who seemingly hasn’t stopped showing up to complain at city council meetings since she moved into Old Town.  Not exactly sure who rode her out of Cypress, but I’m thinking the CPLA must be grooming her for a run for Council.

Anyway, Ms. ex-Cypress Mayor decided to bash Gerri Mejia for “bashing” Gemini Forest Products at the last Council meeting.  Funny, my memory was that she made a passing reference to Gemini in relating the very unsettling meeting George Briggeman arranged about two years ago with two brand new Council Members (Mejia and Edgar) and Lucy Serlat, the City Manager at the time, who was fired by those two Council Members  plus Dean Grose shortly thereafter, allegedly for not cooperating sufficiently with Mr. Briggeman.

Now there are two accounts of that meeting that vary slightly in the details, but according to Gerri Mejia’s version, Briggeman suggested at that meeting, apparently in passing, that Gemini (his tenant) was underpaying their sales taxes, but that was to be kept confidential and not acted upon.  When our now-former city manager heard that, she requested a sales tax audit of Gemini, despite being asked not to act upon the information by Mr. Briggeman.  Soon thereafter Lucy Sertat was fired, over the objections of Ken Parker and Cat Driscoll.  Essentially for doing her job.

That’s the version of what happened Gerri presented at the prior Council meeting.  Troy Edgar saw things slightly differently, saying she should have talked with Gemini before doing the audit.  That sounded to me a little like the police having a sit down with crack dealers before raiding their crack house–nothing like a heads’ up to the possibly guilty party before beginning an audit.  Give ‘em a little time to get their books in order, show ‘em you care.

What I’d like to know is, what ever happened to that audit once Serlat was fired.

The interesting thing was that Gerri, anticipating that Troy would say she got it wrong, had already arranged two possible times that week for both of them to take a lie detector test.  Troy was silent about that offer.

Well, that’s a summary of the two versions, as best I remember them.  Please correct me, Gerri or Troy, if I got something wrong.  (I’ve been told you both frequent this blog.)

So I guess Ms Cypress ex-Mayor, who’s name I can’t spell, thought that was “beating up on” Gemini, and apparently on Mr. Briggeman as well, who had been so generous to the city as to lease his land to Gemini rather than develop it.  What’s interesting here is that the word on the street is that Briggeman wants to relocate Gemini to another one of his Los Alamitos properties so he can develop the current Gemini site into a trash processing/recycling center.  Gee, that wouldn’t add any traffic congestion to our city, while not generating a penny of new sales tax.  Wonder if that might have anything to do with Briggeman apparently throwing well over $100,000 into the current City Council race?

Actually, I think Ms. ex-Mayor may have further pried open a can of worms that needs some serious investigation.  But if you, like her, think our Council is being mean to Mr. Briggeman and his tenants, I guess you should be sure to vote for Ms Poe (who took a $1,000 donation from Gemini for her campaign, as well as her share of Briggeman’s support) and Mr. Stephens (who so far hasn’t taken anything from Gemini that I know of, but has Briggeman’s backing).

Good.  Let’s start off by bashing Gerri for not supporting Briggeman enough and for telling the truth.   I guess that was the kickoff of the CPLA/Briggeman smear campaign against Ms. Mejia’s 2010 reelection.  This time we get two years of mud instead of a little over two months?  Great!

Tag Team Sylvia

Well, not forgetting that this election’s not quite over, both Sylvias appeared with written campaign statements. . . er, “oral comments,” to double the five minute per person limit and further extend the meeting.

Mrs. Sylvia went first, and believe me, it was a campaign speech.  She extolled Poe and Stephens for earning the endorsement of the city employee’s union, apparently in a meeting I never got invited to.  She went on and on about how wonderful and unprecedented this was.   I spent eight years teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and I know a little about how a union can take over a school board, so I don’t share Carol’s enthusiasm for city employees pounding the streets in favor of Poe and Stephens.  But Mayor Parker and I are already up against Briggeman’s tens of thousands, so why not throw an army of campaign workers against us too.  Throw in two Council members for good measure.

Then, after some excellent remarks by J.M.Ivlar, it was Mr. Sylvia’s turn, who concocted a bizarre fantasy without a shred of evidence.  First, Syliva pointed out that Mayor Parker had taken a campaign contribution from Consolidated Disposal four years ago.  I’ve had no problem with that, because Parker obviously isn’t in the trash guys’ pocket, as he’s the one who consistently has wanted to put the trash contract out to bid.

But in Mr. Sylvia’s strange world, the question is, why didn’t Parker bring up his law to mandate the bidding of the 2010 contract a year or two ago?  I was thinking maybe because it doesn’t go out for bidding until next year?  No, it was far more nefarious than that.  Turns out Parker was trying to extort tens of thousands from the trash guys, and when they didn’t pay up, Parker turned against them.  And the evidence?  Well. . . . gosh, I guess we never really got to that.  But Sylvia says it’s so, and he was a Council Member for two decades, and he certainly wouldn’t say anything that his attorneys hadn’t proven, so I guess that’s all the evidence we need.

Well, by that time my blood was boiling, & I offered a bit of a response to Team Sylvia, as well as my outrage over their approach to this campaign.  (See “Have you no decency?” and “Please be more forthright.”)

Last night’s Council Meeting shows the array of forces fighting to regain control of our City Council.  Big money Briggeman and his tenants.  Two current City Council Members.  The City Employees Union.  No wonder I sometimes feel like David fighting Goliath.  This isn’t exactly the campaign I thought I was getting into.

The only responses I know of are hard work, prayer, and “people power.”  Ken Parker and I need you to multiply our efforts.  It still isn’t too late.  Please call or e-mail voters with whom you might have influence.  And please be sure to vote yourself.  If you need info on your polling place and hours, or a quick summary of the candidates, check out my prior post, “How to Vote.’

Then check back here for additional election coverage later today and results hopefully Wednesday morning.  (I do intend to keep this blog up and running, win or lose.)

Thanks!

Interestingly enough, the meeting was not televised live, at least not on FIOS.  If somebody saw it live on Cable, please let us now with a comment below.  I suspect we could have been saved a lot of grief from CPLA fans if they knew nobody was tuning in.

Well, that’s my summary, up through oral communications.   I couldn’t watch the rest when I finally got home because it hadn’t been on FIOS, so feel free to tell me what I missed.  I had some flyers to pass out, because I can’t afford to bring in outside contractors to do that, like Mr. Stephens.

I look forward to your comments and thoughts.  Please try to be respectful and polite.  Even if sometimes I don’t quite live up to my own standards.  And remember to wear your seatbelt.  And vote today!

(by Dave Emerson) I certainly hope Mr. Sylvia, his benefactor, Mr. Briggeman, and their two Council candidates, Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens will have the human decency to denounce the outrageous 4 page hit piece Los Al voters received on Friday from the infamous “Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association.”

Their deception, distortion, dishonesty, and lavish expenditure have reached a new low.

Back to the darkest days of the 1950s?

I can only echo the famous rebuke with which attorney Joseph Welch silenced legendary demagogue Joseph McCarthy during the climactic moments of the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings.  Upon McCarthy’s violation of a pre-hearing agreement, Welch began the exchange:

Until this moment, Senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness….

[When McCarthy resumed his attack, Welch cut him short:]

Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator…. You’ve done enough.

Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?

Have you left no sense of decency?

Welch’s famous words pretty much sum up my thoughts after finally sitting down to read the deplorable piece of garbage I received in my mail from the LATA today.

I can only hope that it was prepared by a “professional” hit (piece) man and Briggeman and Sylvia had not thoroughly reviewed it.  According to the laws regulating organizations like LATA, Stephens and Poe should have been as unaware of this piece as I was until it arrived at their door.  The only thing that would incriminate them in this (character) assassination plot would be their continued failure to denounce it.

Infinitely worse than a pile of dog poop!

Yesterday, in “Just plain wrong,” I decried the delivery of a pile of dog feces to Chuck Sylvia’s lawn by some immature malcontent.  I said it was just plain wrong to treat a former Council Member and Mayor that way, no matter how strongly you disagreed with him.

Today, the LATA delivered verbal dog poop to every voter in Los Alamitos, then smeared it all over our current mayor, and the thousands of Los Al citizens who have elected him to two terms.

If all I cared about was winning an election, I’d keep my mouth shut, lie low, and quite possibly waltz into a City Council seat under the radar thanks to LATAs attacks on the Mayor.

But I just happen to care a whole lot more about fairness, decency, and integrity than about being sentenced to two years as one of two ignored members of a Council ruled by a threesome heavily influenced by our towns’ most politically involved businessman, Mr. Briggeman.

So I’m going to say what I believe to be right.  Then, unlike LATA, CPLA, or any other candidate’s website, I will give you, the reader and voter, the opportunity to comment freely on what I have said.

Not even close to the truth!

Let’s start with the back page of LATA’s flyer:

20 tax increases.  Just to pay for pay raises & vacations.

We’ll get to the tax increases later, but does anyone honestly believe the primary purpose of those alleged 20 “tax increases” were to pay for Mr. Parker’s vacations and pay raises?  If they were, how on earth did he get three other Council members to vote with him?

Remember, Mr. Parker was in the minority for the first 4 of those eight years, so at least one of the CPLA’s beloved threesome of Poe, Jempsa, and Bates would have had to vote with Parker for a “tax increase” just to pay for Parker’s vacations and pay raises.

If that’s not a lie, I don’t know what is.

The front page states that Parker

. . . has voted to raise your taxes more than 20 times in the past 8 years. . . .

but it only lists seven such instances.  I assume these  are the most coherent seven of the alleged 20 tax increases, but not one of them makes sense to me:

• I didn’t even know I paid  “Park and Recreation Taxes.”  I’m guessing some fees were raised over the past eight years for some programs, but the flyer sure doesn’t explain what this means.
• I wasn’t aware that the council had the power to raise my sales tax.  I’m guessing this must apply to an OCTD tax that was approved by the voters?
• Utility tax:  I believe Parker voted to cut that a bit, sure can’t remember him raising them.  Specifics would be helpful.  Same with that “trash tax.”
• “Raised your property tax bill”  I don’t even know what that means, but I guess it’s LATAs awkward reference to Parker’s vote as a member of the Sanitation District to raise sewer fees in order to pay to treat our sewage before it goes into the ocean (see my “Memo to the CPLA” for details).  As someone who goes to OC beaches with my kids & grandkids, I appreciate that vote.

I think you get the drift.  No way to really know what’s being discussed.  Somehow I get the feeling it’s not as bad as it’s made to appear. . . and those have to be the most impactful of the alleged 20 tax increase votes.

Now we’ll move on with a question raised at the bottom of page one and supposedly answered on pages 2 and 3:

And what has he used all of that extra money for? . . . To raise his own pay & take luxurious vacations at taxpayers’ expense

Again, does anyone believe that Parker used “all of that extra money” to raise his pay & take vacations?  LATA isn’t just smearing Parker, they’re insulting the intelligence of our city’s voters!

Page 2 discusses the pay increases, citing what I’m guessing is the 25% raise the OC Sanitation board approved and probably an increase on some other board.  I know the city council didn’t vote themselves a 50% pay raise this year, but that’s what the flyer wants you to think.

This just in (8:18 a.m. 11/1): P-dex points out in his excellent comment at the end of the post that “about three years ago, the Council increased their stipend by a 5-0 vote because it hadn’t been done in 20 or 30 years just like many service fees had not been taken care of by Chuck and the past councils. Mrs. Poe was also on the Council when they voted 5-0 for a Stipend increase of about 30% three years ago.  So, CPLA/LATA you should have put Poe’s face on that flyer too if you wanted the truth to be told.” Thanks, P-dex.  I just love interactive websites!

Page 3 talks about Parker’s 3 “luxurious vacations.”  Another rehash of an old CPLA flyer.  If these repeats are all they’ve got, they ain’t got much.  These were simply trips on city business.  Most of the specific charges have already been rebutted by Parker, but that doesn’t keep the CPLA from repeating them.

To call these vacations is just more character assassination and lies.  And to say all the money from all those “tax increases” were used exclusively for Parker vacations and pay raises is absolutely ridiculous.

This sort of excrement is ripping apart our quaint little town.  There’s no excuse for it.

And there’s no excuse for Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens not to come out publicly against it.  With only 3 days left until we vote, and many absentees voting this weekend, that public repudiation needs to come now.  You could call the Register’s Jaimee Lynn Fletcher, or simply repudiate this latest hit piece in a comment here.

The same goes for Chuck Sylvia, George Briggeman, and every other CPLA member who is appalled and disgusted and agrees that this smear campaign has gone too far.

It also applies to the Council Members Dean Grose and Troy Edgar, who have been walking the streets on behalf of the CPLA/LATA candidates.

I say to each of you, from Poe and Stephens to “regular” CPLA members to Grose and Edgar what I say to George Briggeman and Chuck Sylvia:

Until this moment, Mr. Briggeman, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness.

Let us not assassinate this lad further, Mr. Sylvia…. You’ve done enough.

Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?

Have you left no sense of decency?

March 2009 update for newcomers to this blog:

If you’re interested in learning more about the extent to which local trash hauler George Briggeman bought the current Council in last November’s election, you might want to check out “The 20,500 tip of the Briggeman/CPLA Iceberg,”  or “Gotcha!“

If you’d like more example of the unethical tactics of the CPLA, check out “Memo to the C.P.L.A.:  Could you please be more forthright?“or “A closer look at Chuck Sylvia’s pre-election lawsuit againts Ken Parker.”

(Of the four posts linked above, the first three were written before Los Alamitos’ November, 2008 City Council election, the last was written 3/7/2009.)

Saturday morning update:  The worst part about Briggeman’s estimated $100,000+ effort to defeat myself and Ken Parker is how he spent that money.

Yesterday we found the worst example yet in our mail.  I discuss that in more detail in my post, “Have you no decency, Mr. Briggeman. . . . “

(by Dave Emerson) By now it’s been made pretty clear that George Briggeman Jr. has used a sequence of 3 discreet transactions to channel money and support to the two candidates “recruited” by the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos, 3 term former Council Member Marilyn Poe and new resident Ken Stephens.

Background and links to the details on the $20,500.

We’ve laid out the background in my October 23rd post last Thursday, “Is George Briggeman funding the CPLA?“   Then, in my Saturday (10/25) post, “Gotcha!” we documented the money trail, capped with the “smoking gun” proving that Farquhar Partners LLC and George Briggeman were, indeed, “the same parties,” to quote the quit claim deed George signed in 2007.

The Orange County Register finally broke the news online on Tuesday, 10/28.   The article repeated the basic info you read here three days earlier, but also had some pretty intriguing quotes from Mr. Briggeman, Mrs. Poe, and Mr. Sylvia (see “OC Register finally reveals what we told you last Saturday“).  A revised version of the article finally made the print Register today (Local p. 4, Thursday, 10/30), but was posted online on Wednesday.

What was not disclosed:

The $20,500 was revealed in filings by the CPLA’s sponsored political organization, the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association (LATA) and the San Clemente based Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods (TSN), through which Briggeman apparently channeled his money. The filings, however were only for LATA and TSN, and were only for the 18 days from October 1 – 18, 2008.

What’s missing?

1. Additional donations in the hot run-up to the election and beyond.  Typically large donors will only give what is absolutely necessary through the end of that filing period, 10/18 this year, with the bulk of their donations coming after that.  Significantly, both Ken Stephens and Marilyn Poe have loaned themselves thousands of dollars.   Not a real great practice for someone running on a platform of bringing the city’s budget into balance, but a common practice when large donations are anticipated.
2. Donations to the CPLA. Since the CPLA is a “non-political, non-profit educational” organization, it is not required to reveal the source of it’s funds.  In the Register article Sylvia  indicated “at least six local businesses” had donated to the CPLA, but “Sylvia said he would not give the names of the businesses.”

Let’s do our best to try to figure out what those two additional figures might be.  It’s not that hard to get a rough idea:

# 1:  What we can reasonably estimate: 10/18 through 11/1:  $50,000

The Register indicated LATA had received $21,000 through 10/18, and $20,000 of it came from TSN, to which George Briggeman had donated $20,500.  My assumption is that the additional $500 helped cover the operating and administrative expenses of TSN.

Interestingly, on 10/13 Briggeman donated $10,000 to TSN, and TSN donated $10,000 to LATA.   Of course, Briggeman’s donations were hidden because the donor was listed as “Farquhar Partners, LLC,” but we now have the grant deed indicating the two are apparently one and the same.

Given  the $20,000 donation in the first 18 days of the month, and the tendency for large donors to hold back until after the filing period, an additional donation of $20,000 to $60,000 would hardly be unreasonable.

Let’s pick a middle number:  $40,000, but please bear in mind that’s only an educated guess. It could be less, or a lot more, partly based on the polling LATA spend thousands of dollars on already.

Additional spending we know of: LATA’s expense records through 10/18 show no payment for their first anti-Parker hit piece, was the same size as the “oppose Driscoll” piece (that’s the label they used on their report, by the way), which they reported spending $4,987 on.  Stephens has already put out two full color card stock flyers the same size and style, and his campaign is deeply in debt to himself, possibly anticipating a large donation.  If those two flyers cost cost the same each as the anti-Driscoll one, that’s another $10,000.

Then there’s Stephens full page, full color News Enterprise ad, plus the 1/2 page “Los Al Employees support” ad that was actually paid for by Stephens and Poe’s campaign–maybe another $4,000 for the two ads.  Marilyn had already overspent on her campaign and loaned her campaign about $5,000 as of 10/18, so that’s probably going to get reimbursed as well.  Then I’d say we can expect at least one more big expensive “support”  flyer each for Stephens and for Poe, plus maybe one last minute “against” flyer for me and one for Parker.  (Be sure to check here when you get any last minute hit pieces in the remote case they may have misstated or overstated anything.)   Those 4 last minute flyers x $5000 = another $20,000.

Friday mail update:  Received a 4 page glossy 4 color mailer from the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Associaton, which would be one of the four flyers I projected above, but twice the pages and probably costing more like $8,000.  Even more deceptive than prior CPLA and LATA pieces, even repeating accusations publicly discredited at Council meetings and in the OC Register!

Also got two pro-Marilyn flyers.  Like Stephens, she keeps sending me the same flyer over and over again.  Either the two Briggeman candidates don’t think I have a very long memory, or they aren’t terribly creative.

Last, I received my own small post card mailer.  Yup, I finally decided early morning flyers and door knocking alone wasn’t going to compete with Briggeman’s bucks.  Dig through all those big political flyers and see if you can find it, then let me know what you think.  It’s short on vague generalities but long on specifics, and includes endorsements from some important local people but no Washington or Sacramento incumbant politicians.

In their 10/1 – 18 statement LATA reported spending $9,526 on polling.  I really don’t think they’d stop polling over two weeks before the election day, so let’s figure another $9500 for additional polling?

Add all our projected expenses up, and you get $53,500 miscellaneous, accounting, or operating expenses included! So maybe that original $40,000 “middle number” is low!  Let’s round it up to $50,000 to be more in line with our projected expenses.

Estimate for CPLA:  $53,000

Well, we know the CPLA paid for at least 3 hit piece mailers, plus a couple that were distributed by hand.  According to the Register, the hit piece mailer on Cat Driscoll  cost “nearly$5,000.”  So lets say $5,000 x 3  plus maybe an average of $2,000 for the two hand delivered CPLA flyers, assuming the members deliverd them and not a “walking man” type service.  I’m working a bit from memory here, so correct me if I’m wrong.  The first two mailers were actually 4 pages, the LATA one on Cat was just one page, so my numbers may be on the low side.  That would total $19,000 for mailers.

Then there was attorney’s fees and research.  According  to the Register, Mr. Briggeman’s former attorney was the one who requested and no doubt reviewed Parker and Driscoll’s expense records.  I can count three City Council meetings where the CPLA had an attorney present.  An attorney no doubt prepared their incorporation and other non-profit papers.  I’ve been told by membes that an attorney was also present for at least one of their meetings to caution them on what lines not to cross.  Orange County corporate attorneys fees range upwards from $300 an hour, but let’s be conservative and say $400 an hour x 40 hours for a total of $16,000 for attorneys’ fees.

Then there’s the CPLA website, which was professionally designed.  Not a simple blog like this, but lots of design, scanning documents, locating stock photos, multiple pages.  I’ll just guess $10,000 for now, but I’ve got a text in to someone who’s done website design who may have a better idea.  So about $10,000 for a website.

Now LATA spent a lot of money on polling, so it’s possible CPLA did as well.  There’s other research, possible travel, administrative expenses–and you may thnk of others.  For now, let’s just go with $8,000 miscellaneous. Again, could be high, could be low.

Add it up, & you’ve got $53,000 for the CPLA plus $50,000 for LATA after 10/18, and we’re at $93,000, not counting the original $20,000 revealed here and in the Register in TSN’s 10/1-18 report.

How much of that estimated additional $103,000 did George Briggeman pay?

Well, we know from the filings and the Register that he paid $20,000 out of the $21,000 the LATA received from 10/1 – 18, roughly 95%.  Apply that 95% to our $103,000 estimate and you’ve got just under $98,000, which would assume over $10,000 was raised from other sources, a pretty hefty sum!  Again, the number could be higher or it could be lower, but I say we stick with the 95% we got for LATA.

Add that $98,000 to the $20,000 “tip of the iceberg” and you’ve got an estimated $118,000 George Briggeman may well be putting into our local election! Assuming 2,500 votes to win, that’s over $50 per vote if just one of his candidates win, the most likely outcome given the high name recognition of both Marilyn Poe and Ken Parker.

Remember, Briggeman only needs to win one seat to gain a majority.  If either Poe or Stephens win, he’s got 3 votes locked in.  Edgar and Dean are both walking the streets for Briggeman’s two candidates.

In fact, with Cat Driscoll out of the race, the worst outcome possible for George, his CPLA, and his LATA is a 2-2-1 split, with myself as the swing vote.  About $118,000 says they wants more than that!

Please bear in mind that these numbers are rough guestimates.  The actual numbers could be less. . . or (gasp!) more.  I’m hoping it’s less. . . Sylvia or Briggeman could clear things up quite easily if they’d come clean with their books.  I’m pretty sure I can trust Sylvia, but I can’t say the same for Briggeman, and usually the person writing 95% of the checks is the one in charge.

Why spend $118,000 to win at least one Council Seat?

Well, Briggeman told the Register that “he holds about $20 million worth of property in Los Alamitos.” I’m thinking with the right zoning changes the value of that property could double. . . or more.  Let’s see, invest $118,000 to make $20,000,000?  That’s  a return of over 18,000%  on his $108,000 investment! That’s right:  Over eighteen thousand per cent!  By the way, did I mention that the Poe family owns an awful lot of property in town as well?

That ignores completely the trash contract, in which Briggeman says he has no interest, never mind that his name’s painted on the trucks.  If I was Republic, I’d have a local guy on some sort of a bonus or commission to make sure I continued to get the business.  The next contract will deal with the contract.  Ken Parker and myself are the only candidates committed to putting it out to bid to save our residents, our taxpayers, our businesses and our schools as much money as possible.

We only have 4 days left to stop the $120,000 Briggeman juggernaut.

When I got into the Los Alamitos City Council election, I was aware of the no-bid trash contract Marilyn Poe approved almost ten years ago, but I didn’t think it was that big an issue.  I was focused on traffic and teamwork:  Less gridlock on our streets and in our Council Chambers.

I’m still focused on those issues, but I now know keeping the Council independent is even more important.  If Ken Parker and I (Dave Emerson) are elected, that will result in a 2 – 2 -1 vote, with myself as the swing vote, focused on what’s best for the city alone, with no strings attached, other than the commitments that I’ve made to you here & elsewhere.  Bidding out the trash contract is one of those commitments, and on that I am definitely aligned with Ken Parker and Geri Mejia.  I look forward to working with them, as well as the other two Council Members on a number of issues.

Hopefully, a ringing defeat of Briggeman’s candidates should free Troy Edgar and Dean Grose of any undue influence.  Last election Briggeman poured thousands of dollars into Fred Freeman’s campaign but still lost.  But Fred didn’t really walk the neighborhoods.  This time Poe and Stephens are both spending a lot of time “walking, knocking, and talking.”  So are Grose and Edwards,as well as the city hall employees.

Time for action!

Briggeman has bragged that he can get a mailer produced and delivered to your door in 48 hours.  You may be inundated over the next four days.  This blog alone gives his advisors 44 different posts he can cull through to find quotes to take out of context.  We’ve already seen distortions and untruths about me (like that I want to close the base!).  Check back here for the truth–if nothing’s posted yet, post the key information, I may not have the hit piece yet).

The only way the people can win this one is to get the truth out there (and to pray!)  First and foremost, make sure every voter in your house understands the need to vote for Dave Emerson and Ken Parker this time around. If they don’t like one of us, then just vote for that one.  Make sure they know not to vote for Poe or Stephens, and that they know that Cat Driscoll has withdrawn on doctor’s orders.  She has endorsed me and Parker.

E-mail links or just the web address or excerpts from key posts to your friends in Los Al.  If you want to get a group of friends together over the weekend, let me know & I’ll try to stop by for a while, or send someone who understands the situation.

I’ve still got signs if you’ve got a good place to put them.  Corners and busy streets and entrance streets into tracts are especially helpful.  Ken and I still have a few banners if you’ve got a wall or business on a main street.  Donations are still needed as well.  And people to help get out some important flyers.  Hand made yard signs or banners are also highly effective.  Just keep it polite and positive.

A word about my opponents and their backer

Personally, I don’t think Marilyn Poe or Ken Stephens are bad people.  I just don’t think they’re what our Council needs at this time.  And I think they’ve made some very bad decisions on who they’re accepting support from.

For the record, I’m not saying that George Briggeman’s a bad person either, although after the latest smear flyer on Parker, I’m beginning to wonder.  I’ve only met him once, and I’d be happy to sit down with him again.  He’s an important local businessman, and has been generous in his support of local non-profits.  If he wants to renounce the dishonest approach taken by his campaign advisors and become a team player, I say let’s welcome him to the team!  I’d like to think there are ways we could work together to help the city and his business interests.  I’m big on finding “win-win” solutions–it’s what I’ve done for a living most of my life.

It’s now up to you.  Please help us get the truth out.

If you want, please feel free to post a comment.  Remember, try to be polite and respectful, with “family friendly ” language appropriate to our town.  Your e-mail remains private, and you can chose not to use your full name or even use a pen name.  If there’s no comment box below, scroll up to the headline & click it.

4 days and counting. . . .

I can be reached at 562.430.0262.

em>Saturday morning update: The worst part about Briggeman’s estimated $100,000+ effort to defeat myself and Ken Parker is how he spent that money.

Yesterday we found the worst example yet in our mail. I discuss that in more detail in my post, “Have you no decency, Mr. Briggeman. . . . “

Wednesday morning update:  Our “former” trash hauler is quite likely spending over $20 per vote to make sure Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens are elected to our City Council (details below).  Incumbents Troy Edgars and Dean Grose are working diligently in support of Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens.

This is probably the biggest story of our local election.  On Monday I gave News Enterprise editor Brian Smith a photocopy of the “smoking gun” deed showing that George Briggeman is the mysterious Farquhar Partners LLC.  In the first 18 days of October, Briggeman/Farquhar apparently funneled $20,000 through Taxpayers for Safer neighborhoods to the CPLA controlled Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, which spent it. according to the documents they filed with the state, for polling, to support Ken Stephens and Marilyn Poe and to oppose Cat Driscoll–after she had withdrawn!

Editor Smith had one word when he saw that deed:

“Wow!”

But he also had a record 32 page paper to get out, a wife battling pneumonia, and a Publisher who sometimes shys away from the political or controversial.

Will the News Enterprise cover this breaking story?   Will Marilyn Poe and/or Ken Stephens have large, expensive ads in today’s News Enterprise?  How can we get the word out to “absentee”  voters who are already voting?

Please check back this afternoon for more details.  In the meantime, check out what we have so far in the post and comments below and elsewhere on this website.

If you can help spread the word, please tell us so in a comment & we’ll e-mail you back, or leave your contact info at 562.430.0262.  Thanks.

(by Dave Emerson) In an article released online this afternoon, the Orange County Register’s Los Alamitos reporter, Jamie Lynn Fletcher, documents some of what we reported here last Saturday in “Gotcha!” and last Thursday in “Is George Briggeman funding the CPLA?”

Ms Fletcher summarizes her story in the first paragraph:

Questions are being raised about who is providing financial support for a self-proclaimed citizens group that has mounted a well-organized and relentless campaign to drive out the incumbents in the upcoming City Council election.

Then she goes into some of the details:

Campaign filings show the CPLA is a sponsor of the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, a political action committee that has brought in $21,000 as of Oct. 18. Contributions to the taxpayers group have all come from outside the city, records show.

“I am not saying it raises any questions of impropriety,” said Planning Commissioner Art DeBolt, a supporter of Parker and Driscoll. “But why would anybody spend this much money to support or oppose candidates in a small town like Los Alamitos?”

The taxpayers committee has spent nearly $5,000 on mailers opposing Driscoll, who withdrew her candidacy last month citing medical reasons. It also put up $3,200 for slate mailers supporting council challengers Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens.

“I know nothing about it,” Poe said. “But I am honored and thankful that they feel I am a candidate they can support.”

Hold on a minute, Marilyn.  The Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association paid $1670 to get your name “endorsed” on about a dozen different “slate mailers,” and you knew nothing about it?  They neglected to mention what they were doing on your behalf?

They spent another $1670 to do the same for your “running mate,” Ken Stephens.   Even if they didn’t tell you what they were doing, which  is pretty hard to believe, when the mailers stated arriving in your mailbox from the “Democratic Voters Choice” and  the “California Republican Voter Guide,” along with about ten additional “slates,” exactly how did you think your ad and Mr. Stephens’ ad got there?  It appears that either someone isn’t telling the truth, or someone may not be alert enough to represent us on the Council.

According to record on the Secretary of State’s website, the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association also spent $9,526.10 for “polling,” yet they never shared the polling results with you?

Back to the Register article:

As a sponsor for the taxpayers group, Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos is responsible for soliciting contributions for the political committee, said CPLA leader and former Councilman Chuck Sylvia. Because the CPLA has filed as a nonprofit with lobbying capabilities, state law prohibits the group from contributing to campaigns 45 days before an election.

At least six local businesses have donated directly to the CPLA but Sylvia said he would not give the names of the businesses. The CPLA does not have to disclose its contributors.

“We thought this year, if we’re going to have any impact at all, we would have to go out and get some funding so we could help candidates,” he said

OK, to have “any impact at all” I have to get a local businessman to give me $20,000?  Wow.  I wonder if I can even get my wife to vote for me.

More interesting, the group that’s been so big on transparency doesn’t want to tell us who’s giving them money.  Well, I’ve got an idea:

About a month ago I asked Carol Sylvia “Is George Briggeman funding the C.P.L.A.?”  “We have many supporters,” she replied.  “Is he giving money to the C.P.L.A.? I responded.  “We have a broad base of support,” came Carol’s reply.  “Is more than half of the C.P.L.A.’s money coming from George Briggeman?” I then asked.  “We have lots of people supporting us,” was again Carol’s reply.

Sounds to me like Briggeman’s behind more than half of the CPLA’s funding.  If we use the numbers from the Los Alamitos Taxpayer’s Association (LATA) as a guide, he’s apparently behind 95% of their funding.  Now, we can only guess what CPLA has spent, but I can think of five hit pieces, plus an expensive web site, plus an attorney doing a lot of research and showing up at City Council meetings, so I’ll guestimate $35,000 for now.  Hopefully Mr. Transparency will come forward with the books shortly so we’ll know.

Well, if Mr. Briggeman paid for 95% of the CPLA, like he has so far with the LATA, that would mean he’s spent about $50,000 to win an election with fewer than 7,000 registered voters according to the candidate handbook the city gave me.  Assuming a record 70% turnout, it would take 2,500 votes to win, so Mr. Briggeman is paying about $20 per vote.  And that doesn’t include the frantic last two weeks of the campaign!  That just doesn’t seem right in our small town!  The bigger question, however, is “Why?”

Some have contended that the CPLA has tried to hide their funding behind multiple political groups to cover the involvement of Los Alamitos business owner and former trash hauler George Briggeman Jr.

Briggeman said he openly supports the CPLA and has attended their meetings.

“The notion that this is some sort of secret society couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “I don’t know where these people got this from.”

Mr. Briggeman doesn’t know why people think the CPLA has tried to hide their funding, or why they think it’s secretive?  Let me help out:

1. Scroll up 4 short paragraphs in the Register article:  “At least six local businesses have donated directly to the CPLA but Sylvia said he would not give the names of the businesses. The CPLA does not have to disclose its contributors.”
2. The first hit piece I got from the CPLA had no names associated with it.  Neither did the website.  I’ve never seen a list of CPLA members or supporters.  In fact, when their members speak in mass at City Council sessions, disrupting city business for petty politics and character assassination, they seem to go out of their way to be appear independent.  I don’t recall anyone identifying themselves at a Council meeting as speaking on behalf of the CPLA.
3. A while back one CPLA supporter told me George Briggeman had attended at least two CPLA meetings early on.  After I posted that on October 23, she called me, quite upset.  She told me that Mr Sylvia had called her, very upset wanting to know why she said what she said.  She then told me that you, Mr. Briggeman, had NEVER been to a CPLA meeting, although you had been to some meeting, somewhere, maybe about St. Isadore’s, but she wasn’t sure.  Sounds to me like Chuck Sylvia was going out of his way to conceal your involvement until the “smoking gun” linking you to Farquhar Partners, LLC, appeared.

Briggeman contributed under his business name, Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC.

So that’s his primary business name.  Well, I just did a search, and the only property Farquhar Pavilion Partners LLC owns in all of Orange County is at 3747 Farquhar in Los Alamitos.  However, there are three additional properties in Los Alamitos alone in the name of George S. Briggeman, Jr.  And an additional 4 in the name of Briggeman Dr LLC.  Guess those aren’t his “business names,” even thought they all appear to be commercial property.  Wonder why he picked the one LLC that didn’t use his last name at all–one what was quit claimed into Farquhar Pavillion Partners just last year.

Jamie,  I know you’ve had a lot of stories to cover, but did you just accept what Mr. Briggeman told you without checking it out.  Farquhar Pavillion Partners LLC sure didn’t sound like Briggeman’s main “business name”  to me, and it didn’t take me that long to check it out.

He [Briggeman] said he opted to donate to Safer Neighborhoods because the group disperses their funding to other causes he believes in. This was the first time he has donated to the group since it formed in 2004, according to campaign filings.

Thanks, Jamie, for pointing out this month marks the fist time Mr. Briggeman donated to his new favorite political group.  Jamie, was Mr. Briggeman able to mention, off the top of his head, what those “other causes” were, by any chance?  Did you ask him?

Kind of interesting that on the same day that “Farquhar Partners, LLC” gave $10,000 to Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods (TSN), TSN just happened to give $10,000 to CPLA’s political arm, LATA.  Just a coincidence, I suppose.  Like the fact that Briggeman–make that “Farquhar”–gave $20,500 to TSN between October 1 and 18, and TSN gave $20,000 to LATA during the same period.  I’m thinking the $500 went to bank, accounting, and administrative expenses for TSN, but maybe that’s one of those “other causes” Mr. Briggeman was talking about.

Mr. Sylvia & Mr. Briggeman, please don’t insult our intelligence.  Why don’t you just come clean with exactly what’s going on.  Especially about why.

Mr. Briggeman, I know you’ve been generous in your support of non-profits in this town, especially non-profits like the pool at the base that have been favored by our “old school”  Council Members like our former Mayor Bates (with the water-polo playing daughter) and his colleagues Mr. Sylvia and Mrs. Poe.   I know your wife is doing a great job raising money for the kids of military families.  I appreciate your generosity, but what’s with the apparent “win at all costs” mentality that promotes personal attacks.  How much better to be a uniter, not a divider.  There is so much about our little town that should bring us all together.

The Briggeman/Sylvia/CPLA coalition has already eliminated Cat Driscoll from the next Council, and with her the Parker majority.  From day one I’ve been the truly independent candidate who’s trying to bring both sides of the Council together to work as an effective team.  All I want is what’s best for Los Alamitos.  Why can’t that be enough for you and your supporters?

But no, the fact that Ken Parker and Cat Driscoll prefer my independent candidacy over the twosome recruited by the CPLA means I’m no longer “independent” enough for you or for them.  I suspect “independent” isn’t what you or they wanted.   Especially when independent means occasionally siding with Ken or Gerri, when I think they’re looking out for Los Alamitos.  Like when I agree that the trash contract should be put out to bid this time around, something Poe and Stephens won’t commit to.

Why not go along with the team approach?  Why over $50,000 to make sure your hand-picked candidates control 4 of the 5 Council seats?  Apparently, even that isn’t enough–lately I’ve been hearing talk among the CPLA faction of recalling Gerri Mejia after this election’s over.

Sometimes I think I’m the one who really wants to Preserve the decent, civil, yet progressive Los Alamitos I thought I moved into 20 years ago.

Let’s use respect, civility, common interests, gracious forgiveness, and love to build a Los Alamitos we can all be proud of, even when we disagree on specifics.

Why can’t we all just get along?  Why can’t we all win?

George’s $20,000 to LATA is just the tip of the iceberg.  For a glimpse of what may be lurking beneath the surface, be sure to check out “The $20,500 tip of the Briggeman/Poe/Stephens iceberg.”

Warning:  It’s Sunday, & this post’ includes religious content, although I don’t think you have to be religious to appreciate it’s wisdom.  Actually, Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, shows that religiosity can get in the way of truth.

(by Dave Emerson)  Last night, in response to a troublingly candid comment from Cat Driscoll’s husband, I wrote:

I need more time to process what you have shared . . . . Perhaps after a good night’s sleep and some time in church & in prayer tomorrow I’ll have a better handle on it. You’ve shared some heavy thoughts, and I need time & guidance to process them.

Interestingly enough,  I ended up at a different church than I’d planned on this morning, where some of the words from the pulpit seemd to apply pretty directly to the challenge of how we respond to evil.  I don’t think that was a coincidence.

I occasionally help cook for a “Homeless church” that meets in Bellflower.  Today, despite my dubious skills as a chef, I was needed to help at the breakfast omlet bar longer than I had expected.  As a result, once my culinary skils were no longer needed, I ended up going to my son’s church, Parkcrest Christian Church, on Woodruff just south of Carson.

Pastor Dru Boles’ sermon, “God Doesn’t Give up on You,” was part of a series on Jonah, the ancient Hebrew prophet with the best “big fish story” on record.  Pastor Dru discussed God’s faithfulness to both Jonah and to the people of Ninevah, despite their disobedience.

“The Ninevites were self-serving, evil, dark vile people,” Pastor Dru told us.  “They were known for extremely cruel torture of their enemies.  [Sound like anyone you know?]  Yet God still desired a relationship with the Ninevites,” and sent Jonah to reach out to them on His behalf.

The good Pastor’s point was twofold:

1. God cares about every one of us, and none is beyond His love and grace.
2. God expects us to follow His example of extending forgiveness, grace, and mercy to those who have offended us.

As the Hebrew profit Micah wrote,

He has showed you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you:

To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8)

That got me thinking about some of Jesus’ teaching about loving our enemie, such as Luke 6:27-36, possibly some of the most radical teaching of Jesus.  Below are some excerpts from the free-flowing The Message paraphrase by Presbyterian pastor Eugene Peterson  (bracket italics are my remarks, bold added for emphasis):

There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them.  [Sounds a little like election politics to me!] Popularity contests are not truth contests. . . . Your task is to be true, not popular.

To you who area ready for the truth, I say this:  Love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person.  If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it.  If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it.  If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.  No more tit-for-tat stuff.  Live generously.

Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior:  Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!  If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. . .

I tell you, love your enemies.  Help and give without expecting a return.  You’ll never–I promise–regret it.  Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults–unless, of course, you want the same treatment.  Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang.  Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.  Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back–given back with bonus and blessing.  Giving, not getting, is the way.  Generosity begets generosity.

Like I said, possibly some of the most radical teaching you’ll find.  A standard so high none of can live up to it, and we often don’t want to, either.   But it enables us to build bridges instead of walls, to put the past behind us so we can move forward, and to avoid the cancer of bitterness.

Saint Paul encouraged young Timothy to “Speak the truth in love.” That’s the delicate balance:  Truth motivated by love.  May God help us all to achieve it more consistantly.

(by Dave Emerson)  Two days ago, I asked “Is George Briggeman funding the CPLA?”

At the end of the post, I personally appealed to Chuck or Carol Sylvia to answer that question. In an update Thursday night, I again appealed to them personally and to George Briggeman himself to come forward with the truth.

Their silence was deafening, although Mr. Sylvia did call a supporter I quoted in my “connecting the dots” section to ask that person to correct what I distinctly remember being told. (I respectfully modified that part of the post at her request. “Do unto others. . . .” No sense getting people angrier than they already are.)

Well, the Sylvias, their candidates, and Mr. Briggeman wouldn’t answer my question, but now someone else has.

Sadly, the answer is a resounding “YES!”

Turns out, our local trash hauler and developer has apparently funded the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos, their sister political organization, Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, and their two council candidates, Ken Stephens and Marilyn Poe, to the tune of AT LEAST $20,000.00!  And that’s just in the first eighteeen days of October!

The Smoking Gun

Someone went to great lengths to hide the source of funds, but someone else went to even greater lengths to get to the truth, and now we have it.  At least part of it.

The smoking gun was buried in a secretive exchange of money between Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods, the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, and a corporation known only as “Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC.”  It came out on the California Secretary of State’s website when financial filings for October 1 – 18 were posted.

Here’s the short version:  Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC gave $20,500 to the Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods, who gave $20,000 to the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Assocation (LATA),  a political sister organization to the non-profit, “non political” Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos (CPLA).  LATA, in turn, has assisted both the Poe and Stephens candidacies, and has also funded two political mailers so far, one a repeat of the CPLA’s hit piece on Parker raising our property tax 61.5%.

Who is “Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC?”

Well, it turns out this seemingly anonymous organization owns a piece of property in Los Alamitos, consisting of four parcels.  According to public records, they acquired that property by means of a Quit Claim Deed that was filed with the Orange County Recorder at 12:47 p.m. on February 27, 2007.  That deed was signed by George S. Briggeman, Jr., as the trustee of the George S. Briggeman Separate Property Trust, which Quit Claimed the property to Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC.

Now you know that when a property changes hands in California, it gets reassessed for property taxes.  Under Prop 13, that can be a huge hit.  However, if the property is being transferred between organizations with the exact same owners, Prop 13 allows the owners to avoid that reassessment, as long as they check a box near the top of the deed.  For example, when Barb and I quit claimed our home into our living trust, we checked that box and the home didn’t get reassessed.  That’s because the Emerson Family Trust has the exact same owners as our house did.

Here’s exactly what that box says:  “The Grantors [the people or organization quit claiming off the property] and Grantees [the people or organization taking title to the property] in this conveyance are comprised of the same parties who continue to hold the same proportionate interest in the property.”

So George Briggeman apparently is Farquhar Pavilion Partners, LLC. It was Mr. Briggeman who gave $20,500 to “Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods,” who gave $20,000 to “Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association,” who’s spending it to defeat Ken Parker and  Cat Driscoll (even though she’s withdrawn from the race!) and to elect Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens!

What’s interesting now is that, with Cat Driscoll withdrawing her candidacy, it’s already guaranteed that the current majority block will change.  But Briggeman keeps pouring money in, adding another $10,000 to Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods (which was immediately transferred to Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association) on October 13.  That was a week after Cat had withdrawn.  Apparently he wants a 4-1 majority, or at least 3 – 1 – 1 control.  2 – 2 – 1 with me, the independent candidate from day one looking out for the city as a whole,  apparently just isn’t good enough for him.

The sad thing is, I’m afraid this may just be the tip of the iceberg.  Most big donors hold off until after the October 18th end of the second reporting period to put in the big bucks.  Some of that is often covered by candidates loaning money to themselves in the interim.  On their 10/1-18 filings, Marilyn Poe had a $5,025 loan to herself outstanding which was included in the $9,853 she’s received so far, and Ken Stephens had loaned himself $2,500.  (Stephens listed total money and loans received at $4,786 and total spent at $6,003.63.  And he’s running on a platform of balancing the city budget!)  (BTW, through the 10/18 reporting period, I’ve received $2,000, all from Barb & myself, and spent $1,234.)

That doesn’t mean the all CPLA’s supporters are evil, although some of them have done some things that are evil and extremely hurtful.  (If you want to get an idea of some of the harm they’ve done, read the thoughtful comment from Cat Driscoll’s husband, Loren, in the comments at the end of this post.)  Many of them have a number of concerns, and some of them are legitimate.  The ones I’ve met all seem to care deeply about our community.  The goal is to put aside our differences and learn to work together as a team for the common good.  Unfortunately, secrecy and massive donations from someone with a vested interest tend to make that more dificult.

There’s more to this story, and hopefully I’ll get it up later today or this evening.  In the meantime, please feel free to post your thoughts and comments in the Comment box below (No box?  Then scroll to the top, click the headline, & scroll back down.) Please try to be relatively polite and respectful, even when disagreeing.  We need to look forward to a future where we can all put aside our differences and work together for the good of Los Alamitos.  Thanks.

You might also want to check out my post on improving service at City Hall, “Nordstrom Service, Costco Value,” or “Moving Forward, Together.”  Or you may just want to get the details & scheduled highlights for tomorrow’s free Wings, Wheels and Rotors Expo at the Joint Forces Training Base, or learn a little more about how to use this website.

11:30 p.m. update:  Let me strongly urge you to check out the comments below, especially the second comment, where Cat Driscoll’s huband Loren pulls back the curtains enough to give us an inside look at the harm caused to one young Los Alamitos family by the tactics of George Briggeman and his CPLA.  Loren’s words have caused me to modify one portion of this post, but I need time to more fully process their impact.  Loren’s comments may well be the most important thing ever posted on this blog, or any other Los Al related website.  Read them and weep.

Late 10/30 update: George Briggeman’s $20,000 to LATA is just the tip of the iceberg. For a glimpse of what may be lurking beneath the surface, be sure to check out “The $20,500 tip of the Briggeman/Poe/Stephens iceberg.”

Late update:  For the latest on this story, read “Gotcha!,” and “The $20,500 tip of the Briggeman/Poe/Stephens iceberg.” Sadly, we now know the answer to the above question.

10:30 p.m. update (Thursday night, 10/23): It’s been a bit over 14 hours since I posed the question in the headline above, then repeated it in more detail specifically to the Sylvias at the end of the post.  In those 14 hours over 100 people have read this post, including the Sylvias, but no one has answered the question.

So I’ll pose it again:

Mr. & Mrs. Sylvia, we should have nothing to hide.  So far I’ve received $2,000 in my campaign, all my own money, although I hope that changes soon!  I meet with all kinds of people to try to gain an understanding of their position, but that makes me more independent, not less.  I had coffee with Ken Parker this morning, where I also briefly saw Troy Edgar.  We might have sat down to talk together, but none of us wanted to violate that Brown Act.  I also saw Gerri Mejia today, as well as Dean Grose.  I spoke with Art DeBolt, and also Pat Blancher.  We have different opinions, but we all care deeply about Los Alamitos.  I believe we can all learn to work together, part of that involves being open.

Mr. & Mrs. Sylvia, I know you follow this blog, and I’m glad you do.  I think it’s a good thing, and I thank you.  So, please, no need for secrets here.  Please answer my question.  Exactly how much support is George Briggeman giving to the C.P.L.A., to the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, and to Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens’ campaigns? Not just directly, but indirectly, through other groups as well.  I know you have an idea.  I do too.  We all know how to do research.

I’m not here to judge Mr. Briggeman, nor to say he can’t support causes and candidates in our town.  He and his father have done a lot of good here over the years. I would hate to think he’s trying to buy influence, but I’m beginning to wonder, as I indicate below.  What troubles me most is the secrecy.

Mr Briggeman, maybe you’re the one who should answer my question.   You’re free to post here, you know, as are my fellow candidates, and every concerned citizen.

Hopefully, Chuch, Carol, or George will step forward.  Please be honest with the people of Los Alamitos.  Just how much money is Mr. Briggeman pouring into the CPLA, the LATA, and  Poe and Stephens candidacies, both directly and indirectly?  Hopefully candor in this area can lead to greater candor and respect throughout our city. We really can all learn to work together, in a spirit of teamwork and mutual respect, putting the community’s interests ahead of our own.  The best way to lead is by example.

Be the leader you’ve both in the past.  Do the right thing.

The truth will set us free.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(by Dave Emerson) I like Chuck and Carol Sylvia.  They’ve always been helpful and cordial when we’ve spoken.  Chuck’s even come by to drop off interesting documentation on some items.  He served on our City Council for 20 years, 5 times as Mayor, I believe, and he tells me that during his 5 terms there was never a 3-2 vote on the Council. I applaud him for his years of service.

The CPLA and LATA

The Sylvias aren’t perfect, but neither am I.  Or you, for that matter. As I keep saying, we need to be gracious with one another or we’ll spend our lives in a downward spiral of retribution.  That’s a cycle I’d like to put an end to here in Los Alamitos.  Anyway,  I have no doubt that the Sylvias care deeply about Los Alamitos, as does almost everyone who visits this web site.  In fact, it’s my understanding that their group, the CPLA, decided not to use some negative material because they felt it might create problems for some kids.  I applaud their restraint in that case, but wish they had exercised more restraint in other cases.

I have been troubled by the tactics of their organizations, the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos and now the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association.   Unnecessary, sometimes demeaning personal attacks.  Expensive, deceptive hit pieces in the mail.  Costly telephone “polling” campaigns. Distortions.  A Dana Point attorney showing up repeatedly to speak at our City Council meetings.  Taking time away from big issues like traffic, city services, and overbuilding to focus on toothbrushes and Ken Parker’s landlord’s sign.

Where’s the money coming from?

Another big question is, where’s the money coming from to pay for all this.  So far, Barb and I have paid for every aspect of my campaign out of my pocket to avoid outside influence.  I just turned in my reporting form, and so far I’ve spent $1,234 and taken in $2,000, every penny from my own pocket, although I’d appreciate it if you’d help me change that (more about that in my comment in the comment section of this post).

The last thing our city needs is businesses dumping huge amounts of money into city elections–especially businesses that contract with the city, or businesspeople who have huge property interests in our town.  The one individual that most fits that description would have to be the former owner of our trash company, George Briggeman.  Based on the sign on the trash truck in my neighborhood a week ago, it appears he still has some sort of interest in it.

People keep telling me that Mr. Briggeman no longer has any connection with the trash company. I know he sold it to Consolidated, who sold it to Republic, but I’m thinking he must at a minimum have received stock in the new company, and possibly a consulting contract with a bonus for extending the contract. If I get a chance I’ll try calling him to find out. In any case, he owns a lot of property in our town, so perhaps he’s spending this money to protect his development issues.

Now, please don’t get me wrong here.  George Briggeman and his father have been very generous in their giving to community causes, from the Pool at the Base to veterans and school causes throughout our town.  I wish every business person in this town were half as generous as Mr. Briggeman.  But he has also made an awful lot of money from our town.  Businesspeople are welcomed to get involved with local elections, but I draw the line if they’re funding a ruthless smear campaign to attempt to gain total control of our City Council.  The luster comes off all his good deeds if that’s the case.

Not only does George appear to have a financial interest in the no-bid trash contract he negotiated with Marilyn Poe and her colleagues back in 2000, he also has vast property holdings in our town.  They’re pretty easy to identify right now, as they’re brightly adorned with “Poe” and “Stephens” signs.  He’s also got lots of land to develop here in town, and big plans on how to do it.  He’d sure like to have a  City Council majority.  All it would take is either Poe or Stephens wining a Council seat, & George would have three votes.

That’s why it would be a travesty if it turned out that George Briggeman was the major funding source for the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos or the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association.  We don’t want any business person, local or out of state, trying to buy our city Council, let alone dragging us all into this mud bath just for his own financial gain.

“Connecting the dots”

When I first got involved in this race and started asking questions about the smear campaign, the firing of Lucy Serlet, and alliances at city hall, I was repeatedly told to “connect the dots” and to “follow the money.”  Well, after two months of this, the dots are getting bigger and things are starting to line up, and I really don’t like what I think I’m starting to see.

About a week ago I had a conversation with a CPLA member about who’s been involved with CPLA.  Like other CPLA supporters, I appreciate the efforts this person makes for our town even when I don’t agree.

We have slightly different memories of what was said about George Briggeman’s involvement in the early days of the C.P.L.A.  I thought I was told that George was present for at least two of the early C.P.L.A. meetings, so that’s what I posted here earlier.   The CPLA supporter then called me today to correct that impression, indicating that George might have been present at some of early meetings that led to the CPLA’s formation, but not once the CPLA had formally organized.

I was told that once the CPLA was formed, only a couple businessmen remained active, and they actually lived in Los Alamitos.  When I pointed out that George Briggeman is registered to vote in Los Alamitos, my contact seemed as surprised and somewhat befuddled.  It’s my understanding that we’re supposed to register to vote at our “primary residence,” so now I’m confused too.

I have no problem with Mr. Briggeman being involved with the CPLA, I just don’t like that involvement being hidden.  I don’t object to him supporting the CPLA, but if he’s giving thousands of dollars to them or their candidates or their sister Los Alamitos Taxpayer Association, I think that information should be public knowledge, not concealed.

Back to connecting the dots.  A Dana Point attorney known for representing trash haulers keeps showing up at Council meetings on behalf of the C.P.L.A.

At the last Council meeting Gerri Mejia charged and Troy Edgar confirmed that Briggeman arranged a lunch meeting a couple years back between himself, Gerri, Troy, and City Manager Lucy Serlet.  Shortly thereafter, Gerri, Troy, and Dean Grose united to fire Lucy.

About a month ago I asked Carol Sylvia “Is George Briggeman funding the C.P.L.A.?”  “We have many supporters,” she replied.  “Is he giving money to the C.P.L.A.? I responded.  “We have a broad base of support,” came Carol’s reply.  “Is more than half of the C.P.L.A.’s money coming from George Briggeman?” I then asked.  “We have lots of people supporting us,” was again Carol’s reply.

I think I’m starting to connect the dots, but I really hope the picture that seems to be emerging is not true.   Now we have a new organization, the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, with a treasurer in San Clemente.  Seems more like the San Clemente Taxpayers Association to me.

Please tell us the truth

Chuck or Carol, please answer the question.  To what extent George Briggeman funding the C.P.L.A., or the new “Los Alamitos Taxpayers’ Association, or Marilyn Poe or Ken Stephens either directly or indirectly?   Is he channelling tens of thousands of dollars to your candidates or your groups?  Please say it ain’t so!  But please tell us the truth.

(by Dave Emerson) The good news is, the public portion of  last night’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting was over by about 10 p.m., when Council went into private session for a performance evaluation of the interim city manager.  What’s more, nobody had to be threatened with removal, and the rules of decorum didn’t even have to be read.

The bad news is, there was still plenty of time for enough craziness to last a year in most cities.  The C.P.L.A.’s lawyer (who also represents George Briggeman, I’m told) ordered our city attorney to file a “cease and desist” order against Ken Parker because he didn’t like the “faux city seal” on one of Ken’s flyers.  Said it would lead to our seniors being taken advantage of.   I’m guessing this is the same guy that didn’t like Ken referring to himself as “Mayor” on the ballot, and that also filed a complaint that”businessowner” was not a compound word.  I’m so glad the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos is focused like a lasar on the issues that really matter!

Then we had Gerri Mejia challenging Troy Edgar to a lie detector test after he called her a liar.  In fact, anticipating the charge, Gerri had already lined up a couple dates when the machine and operator were available.  Troy didn’t accept Gerri’s invitation, at least not during the meeting.  I was thinking maybe they could sell tickets to the event–just not sure if it could be held in Council Chambers.

Then I was accused during the public comments of (gasp!) passing out flyers in a “gated community” on Chestnut.  Now I did pass out some flyers on Chestnut about a week ago, but I sure don’t remember going through any gates, although I did slip a flyer or two under some gates.  Apparently someone passed out Ken Parker’s flyers the same day, proving once and for all that I’m no longer an independent candidate.

An alert reader called me today to say she was sure no Ken Parker flyers have yet been passed out on Chestnut, and she suspected a setup.  She also noted that there was a second speaker from Chestnut, a former Cypress Councilwoman, who cited Art DeBolt’s flyer about Marilyn Poe, although that flyer also was never passed out on Chestnut.  Apparently someone from another part of the city is feeding people things to say?  That would explain how one of my Old Dutch Haven flyers ended up on Chestnut.

I guess I should take it as a compliment that I’m on their radar screen.  Maybe it’s time for an expensive hit piece on me to be coming to your mailbox or porch. When it arrives, please let me know about it by posting here, then check here so I can correct any distortions that somehow might have slipped through (See “Memo to the CPLA:  Could you please be more forthright?“)

Now, I’ll admit, once Cat Driscol had to withdraw from the race Ken Parker & many of Cat’s supporters decided they much prefer my truly independent candidacy to the CPLA slate.   (Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens, who held a joint fund raiser, attend CPLA meetings, and have been jointly endorsed in the News Enterprise by at least three different Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos members.)  I certainly welcome the votes and support of Cat’s supporters, but I haven’t taken a penny of their money, & I’m just as independent as I was before Cat dropped out.

My goal is to try to bring everybody together for the common good.  I think I actually have a better chance if Ken Parker is reelected so that the Council has a 2-2-1 split, with me as the independent swing vote trying to get everyone on the same page more often.  Once the dust settles, I don’t think that’s really impossible, if everyone can just move forward and focus on the good of the community.

If you’re wondering what all of this has to do with moving our city forward, so am I.  In one positive sign, however, the council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring competitive bidding when the trash contract comes up for renewal.

However, that just appeared to be a case of the minority going along for the sake of political expediency.  If either Marilyn Poe or Ken Stephens get elected, George Briggeman will again have a majority that can overturn that law in a heartbeat.  Maybe that’s why Mr. Briggeman has so many Poe and Stephens signs on his various properties throughout the city.

It seems to me that our trash hauler’s gain would be our loss, in terms of higher trash fees.  What’s worse, those higher fees are also charged to our businesses and our schools.  You get especially hard when you are forced to hire a dumpster from the Briggeman Division of Consolidated Disposal.  So I think open bidding on the trash contract is a no-brainer.  So does Ken Parker.  But Marilyn Poe voted against it about 9 years ago when she was serving her first twelve years on the council.  So, yes, this is one area where I agree with the Mayor.

Actually, the meeting kicked off with a dirty debate about treating sewage before it gets dumped into the Pacific Ocean.  Apparently the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos and their supporters aren’t terribly interested in preserving the Pacific Ocean.  Maybe they just want to preserve it in it’s present polluted state.

Apparently Council Member Edgar is OK with the CPLA putting out deceptive flyers about Ken Parker “voting for a MASSIVE 61.5% increase to your property tax bill,” or orchestratomg a parade of irate citizens repeating the allegation and demanding an explanation.  But when Mayor Parker responds to the citizens’ requests and asks the financial officer of the OC Sanitation District to take ten minutes to explain the facts of the increase, well that’s inappropriate, and Mr. Edgar seemed intent on taking more time demagoguing the issue than it took for the OCSD official to actually give his report.

Please don’t get me wrong.  There are plenty of areas where I disagree with the current majority, as in the issue of the candidate forum.   I can understand Troy and Dean’s frustration in feeling marginalized all too often, just as I understand Parker & DeBolt’s frustraton when they were in the minority and Marilyn Poe was in the majority.

I believe in working together in a spirit of mutual respect, looking for common ground and building an effective team for Los Alamitos.  Ultimately, we need a lot more respect and grace flowing from both sides of the current divide. It’s in everyone’s best interest.

Speaking of that candidate forum, I spent a fair amount of time over the last four days trying to arrange for the League of Women voters to conduct a forum for Los Alamitos.  I sent an e-mail to Ken Stephens about it last Friday, but never heard back.  When I caught him at the meeting last night, I asked him about it, & he said he was just too busy.  So I asked him about having John Underwood do an interview program with myself and Ken Stephens, the two new faces, an option I thought we’d agreed on last week when we were both disappointed (I thought) in the original forum’s cancellation.  Again, just too busy.  So I moved on to a virtual forum online where all candidates and the public could discuss key issues.  But Mr. Stephens was just too busy for that either.

The funny thing is, last week Mr. Stephens was complaining pretty loudly about the original forum’s cancellation.  Then when I finally give up some of my door-knocking time to try to pull it together myself, Stephens wants nothing to do with it, even though his supporters turned out in force to complain about the cancellation tonight.  Right now, I’m planning to move ahead with both next Tuesday’s forum and the virtual one.  Ironically, this time Ken Parker was the first to confirm.   I’m still waiting to hear back from Marilyn Poe, who’s traveling right now.

Well that’s some of my impressions.  If you were there, or happened to tune in, I’d appreciate hearing yours.  Just complete the comment box below, using “family friendly,” relatively respectful language.  If there’s no comment box, scroll up to the headline of this post, click it or the blue “Comments” below it, & the box will appear at the end of the post.

There are some very interesting comments that have been added to this post.  If you are just scrolling through this blog, you’ll have to scroll back up to the top & click the blue “Comments” under the headline to see them.

This week’s gotten off to a rather crazy start.

First was the roughly 3 1/2 hour special City Council meeting Monday night.  At least the Council voted to retain Interim City Manager Dave Rudat, a decision that reportedly was never in serious doubt, despite a lengthy closed session that must have been discussing something.  It was interesting to see the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos turn out in force to support continuing a course of action that had been set by the current majority when they voted to hire Rudat.  Guess it proves there actually are things we can all agree on!  Unfortunately, his time is limited, although options are still being explored.

Things got even more interesting during the second half of that same meeting.  After a lengthy discussion (no surprise there), the Council voted not to allow the use of the Council Chambers for the Candidate Forum, a move I opposed for several reasons, including the fact that many absentee voters are already voting.

For many, this was a raw abuse of power by the Council majority, for others it was an honest effort to avoid a moderator they perceived to be biased, for others just politics as usual.  For me, it was a major disappointment.

There’s an interesting discussion about this beginning with the 4th comment on my “Memo to the C.P.L.A.” post.   “Sharon”  wrote:  “the sitting council does not care what the people want, only their own agenda; to fire all who disagree with them and to keep their activities and finances as hidden as possible.”  “P-dex” responded that he was”tired of your antics, lies and hate.”  Not quite the civil discussion we strive for, but at least a candid exchange of views without profanity.  I also went into greater detail on my perspective there.

Well, after the Council meeting was over, John Underwood, the reporter and LosAlTV producer who had worked so hard to pull the Forum together, was befuddled about what to do with the reporters, crew and candidates he had all lined up to go the next night.  Based in part on the City attorney’s position that any authorized producer could produce a forum that LosAlTV would air, and at the apparent urging of at least one reporter, it was decided to continue with the scheduled forum but in a new venue, since the Council had denied the use of the Council chambers for the forum on the 14th.

Marilyn Poe thought the St. Isadore Parish Hall would be available, so that became “Plan A,”  so I awoke yesterday morning expecting to participate in a forum that night, and posted that info on this blog.  As the day went on, the location was switched to Rossmoor Park but things seemed to be a go.  Then I got a call late in the afternoon that Underwood was “pulling the plug” due to “pressure on some of the media and crew.”  Possibly more hardball, maybe just politics.

I went down to City Hall at 7 to see if anyone would show up, and found a small group of citizens.  Several had shown up thinking the forum was still on, others were already aware.  CPLA leader Chuck Sylvia was there.  Interestingly enough, although I disagree with the CPLA’s approach, both Chuck and his wife Carol are on what I consider good speaking terms, at least so far.  “Do you see now that it’s impossible to work with these people?” Chuck asked me.  I certainly disagreed with the cancellation of the Forum, but I had to wonder how much of it was in response to some CPLA tactics.

A little earlier in the day, I received an e-mail from a Parker supporter bemoaning the destruction of a large Parker banner that had just been put up.   “These people are from the devil,” she wrote.  “Are you sure you want to be in politics?  It’s a thankless job run by crooks. . . . yes, EVEN in the 2nd smallest city in OC.”

Well, I really don’t particularly want to be in politics, just want to try to do my part to get our Council members and citizens to work together more often and have civil discussions rather than civil wars when we do disagree.

Perceived mistreatment tends to breed payback, which can lead to the same downward spiral that’s seen in ongoing conflicts everywhere from our homes and courtrooms to the nations of the Middle East to the gang violence of L.A.

I try to start each day with some inspiration from the 2,000 year old wisdom of the Jewish and Christian writers of the Bible.  Back when I was a teacher at Bell High I enjoyed teaching an English class on “The Bible as Literature,” and I find it amazing how little things have changed over the last two millenia.  Lately I’ve been reading from St. Paul’s second letter to his young understudy Timothy, who was the pastor of a group of Christians in Ephesus around 66 A.D.

Apparently there were some trouble-makers in Timothy’s church, and I’ve found Paul’s advice to the young pastor amazingly relevant to my situation as a newbie “politician” in a somewhat divided community:

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know they breed quarrels.  And [you] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patient when wronged, correcting [your] opponents with gentleness.” (II Timothy 2:23-25a)

Easier said than done, but good advice I’m trying to follow.  As any married person knows, offenses are bound to come in any relationship, but the rewards of overlooking them far outweigh the temporary ego boost of retribution.  It takes grace and forgiveness to make any relationship work, but it’s worth it.  That’s the ideal, & I’m trying, by God’s grace, to live up to it a little bit more every day.

Sorry if I turned a little “religious” on you in this post, but sometimes it helps people understand where I’m trying to go if they understand where I’m coming from.  Among the greatest lessons I’ve learned is how much better it is to be gracious and forgiving and to move forward than to be angry and bitter and to keep looking back.

5:42 p.m. Tuesday, 10/14 update:  TONIGHT’S FORUM CANCELED.  I just got a call from John Underwood, who’s been working hard all day to pull together tonight’s candidate forum.  He advised me that he’s decided to “pull the plug” on tonight’s Candidate Forum.  Feel free to add any info under the comments section below.  Eventually I hope to have a new post on this topic.

10:30 p.m. Monday, 10/13 update:

1.  Mgr. Dave Rudat retained into December: After a lengthy closed session Interim City Administrator Dave Rudat’s contract was extended, but due to limits imposed by CalPERS he’s probably only got 170 -200 hours left he can work this fiscal year (through June, 2009), which would result in his term most likely ending late this year, depending on how many hours a week he works.

2.  Tuesday night Candidate Forum postponed, or is it? There was another lengthy (but open) discussion about the candidate forum that was scheduled without Council approval for Tuesday, 10/14 at 7 in the Council Chambers.  Unfortunately, that night the Mayor has a longstanding prior commitment, but candidate Marilyn Poe will not be available after then.  Other points of discussion included the possible bias of moderator John Underwood, the suitability of the Council Chambers as a venue, and the suitability of the Council getting involved and potential liability.

The Council finally voted to move the candidate forum back a week preferably in a different location and preferably moderated by the League of Women Voters.

Tues. 3:18 p.m. breaking news: The forum is now on for tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center at Rossmoor Park , 3200 Hedwig Road where Hedwig turns into Foster.  Members of the community are welcome, but at this time the building capacity and seating arrangements are unknown–you may have to stand.  Late arrivals will not be allowed as they disrupt the taping.  The forum will run on LosAlTV, but will not be aired live.

Now to the original report:

(by Dave Emerson)  Tonight (Monday, October 13)  the Los Alamitos City Council has a special meeting scheduled to take up one new item and one item left over from last Monday’s marathon 7 hour session.

The new item is the proposed candidate forum scheduled for taping & live viewing in the Council Chambers tomorrow evening, Tuesday, 10/14, at 7:00 p.m.  Mayor Parker agendized this item to review this decision made by the City Manager, since the Chamber was not able to coordinate the event as they have in the past, due to their involvement with the coming Wings, Wheels, and Rotors event at the Base.

The left over item involves changes required by CalPERS to extend Interim City Manager’s contract beyond one year.

For the complete agenda, click here.  Links there will take you to a more detailed discussion of each item. The session will be carried live on LosAlTv, channel 3 on cable & FIOS, although you may get a blank screen during items 4 A – C when the Council will go into closed session for the personnel issues.  This should come up fairly early in the meeting, depending on how long item 3 (oral communications from the public) takes.

Feel free to post your thoughts before or after the meeting in the comments box below.  (If you don’t see a box, click on the headline above, then scroll back down.)  Remember to keep your comments respectful and the language polite.  It posts instantly, so it’s always a good idea to reread it one time before posting.  (That’s the old English teacher in me speaking!)

You’d think I should be thrilled with the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos, especially former Mayor and Council Member Charles Sylvia and his wife Carol.  After all, they’re spending a lot of time reporting on their “research” on the two incumbent Council Members who are up for reelection, and I’m running for one of their seats.

I think they raise a number of valid issues, including the current majority’s ongoing spending down of our reserves, the dramatic turnover of staff,  excessive travel spending, and Ken’s votes to increase both OC Sanitation Department fees & his pay as a Sanitation Board Member.

However, apart from traffic issues, the main motivation for my campaign is to get our Council to work together as a unified team, with mutual respect, even when they disagree.  Too often, it seems to me like the C.P.L.A. is just pouring fuel on a fire that’s already raging out of control.

Take Mrs. Sylvia’s letter to the editor in last week’s News Enterprise about Mayor Ken Parker’s new sign for his recently relocated tax and accounting business.  When I first scanned the letter, it impressed me as taking a step towards a more reasonable, fact based approach, and I actually called Carol to commend her for her new, less abrasive approach, as well as to thank her for an earlier suggestion that proved helpful.

Then, late Thursday, I picked up my candidate’s packet for tonight’s City Council meeting, where agenda item 9A is a public hearing on that sign, and I got a clearer picture of what’s going on.  I was appalled.

Turns out there are several significant inaccuracies in Mrs. Sylvia’s letter.  Now, to be fair, I don’t think that was entirely her fault.  She didn’t have all the info in that Council Packet in front of her about a week earlier when she wrote the letter (that’s one reason I prefer electronic media like this blog over print media, with last week’s news).   Still,  we all tend to believe what we want to believe, and this may be another example of a divisive feud perpetuating itself.  It also turns out that it was actually Council Member Troy Edgar who appealed the Planning Commission approval of the sign.

I think  Mrs. Sylvia’s letter, Council Member Edgar’s appeal, and even the sign itself are three more examples of the “Hatfields vs. McCoys” feud that’s been dividing our Council for the past ten years.

I’ll print most of Mrs. Sylvia’s letter below, in a quote box, with excerpts from the staff report relative to this item on Monday’s Council agenda interspersed in bold italics, and my comments in [brackets in  bold regular type].  [A link to the full staff report appears near the end of this post] :

[News-Enterprise headline for letter:] How did Parker get sign privilege?

Editor:

Anyone interested in witnessing Mayor Parker’s latest display of POWER and his disregard for our laws should take a drive down to the building at 5122 Katella (across from the racetrack).  There you will see his Parker & Associates sign on the west side of the building. [see photo above] How do you know his sign is non-conforming?  Because it’s the only one ON the building.  Everyone else had to put theirs on the monument sign in front.

[from staff report, page 3:]  All proposed signs [in the application for Parker's sign] comply with the size criteria specified in the Zoning Code.  Pursuant to Section 17.28.090(3B) of the Zoning Code, the applicant is permitted to have a maximum of 24 square feet of wall signage per tenant (up to a maximum total aggregate of 50 square feet) for each building frontage.  The applicant proposses 19.,13 square feet per frontage.

[Back to Carol  Sylvia's letter:] How did he get that special privilege?  By stacking the Planning Commission with his friends, especially Art DeBold, the chairman.  Remember Art DeBolt–he’s the one-term councilman the electorate bounced in 2002.  Mayor Parker must have heard the sign was being appealed, because he had it installed right away without getting the proper permit or paying the fees like everyone else.

[Staff report, p. 2:]  The applicant approached the City with a request to install several wall mounted tenant identification signs on the subject property. . . . [staff research revealed factors that] require that the applicant receive approval of a Planned Sign Program by the Planning Commission in order to install the proposed signs. . . . [p. 3] An application for building permits for the two wall signs was submitted prior to the matter being considered by the Planning Commission.  Processing of the building permit request was delayed pending consideration by the Planning Commission.  In addition, when the Plannng Commission action was appealed to the City Council [on the last day of the 20 day appeal period by Council Member Edgar], that action further stayed the processing of the building permit application. . . . On September 8, 2008, one of the proposed wall signs was installed despite the fact that building permits had not been issued.  Staff contacted the property owner [Abdul Mozayeni, not Ken Parker, who is a new tenant who requested the sign] who conveyed that the installation was done in error by the sign contractor.

[Again, back to Carol  Sylvia's letter:] The City issued a “Stop Work” order to no avail since the sign is still there.  [Carol, it was a "Stop Work" order, and the work stopped, pending the hearing of the appeal, which is scheduled for tonight's Council meeting.] If the sign stays, we can expect more and more signs to go up on office buildings and why should anyone bother with getting permission, getting permits, or paying fees?  For that matter, why bother with the Planning Commission on anything?  [The building owner, Mr. Mozayeni, did apply for permits and apparently paid the fees.  The Planning Commission did approve the application.  The building owner was not aware that the decision had been appealed, and stopped work as soon as he was aware of the problem.  If the Council reverses the Planning Commission tonight and refuses to allow the sign, which the City Interim Planning Director states is in full compliance with all applicable codes, there is no doubt that the sign will be removed.]

[Again, back to Carol  Sylvia's letter:] This is Mayor Parker’s second display of his POWER and lack of respect for the law. . . . [Actually, it would be Abdul Mozayeni's first display of his POWER and lack of respect for the law. . . . except that he's abiding by the city's request to stop work pending the Council's decision on Troy Edgar's appeal tonight.]

[Again, back to Carol  Sylvia's letter:] . . . . When did telling the truth get to be dismissed as slimy politics?  [When the C.P.L.A., Ken Parker, Carol Sylvia, Art DeBolt, on anyone else starts telling half truths and exaggerations instead of sticking to the issues that really matter to Los Alamitos' future.]

Well, that’s what I think.  I’m passionate about avoiding a poisonous electoral environment in Los Alamitos, but I’m not intending to disparage anyone’s motives here.

The Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos are also passionate about their beliefs, both as an organization and individually, and I respect them for that.  What troubles me, as I’ve indicated before (see “Memo to the CPLA:  Could you please be more forthright?“) is the lack of respect for our elected officials, which is also disrespectful of the many citizens who voted for them and still support them.  We all need to work harder at disagreeing more agreeably, because civil discussion is essential to the preservation of Los Alamitos!

I’m also distressed by Council Member Edgar’s appealing the Planning Commission’s decision, for reasons that appear to be more related to the upcoming election than anything else.  I believe Troy Edgar and Dean Grose have been treated badly by the current majority, just as Council Member Parker was treated badly by the previous majority during his first term.  But that’s no reason for either of them to abandon reconciliation and respect for retaliation.

Frankly, we all should expect better from all parties involved.

As promised, here is the link to the full staff report on tonight’s public hearing on Council Member Edgar’s appeal of  Ken Parker’s landlord’s sign application.

Please feel free to add your comments in the comment box below.  No box?  Scroll up & click the headline.  Please keep your tone polite & respectful and your language “family friendly.”  Everyone’s view is welcome here!  Let’s see if we can start finding common ground and building briges, or at least set some positive examples. Thanks.

(by Dave Emerson)  Yesterday I received an oversized, 4-color, professionally prepared “Update for the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos” attacking Los Al Mayor and Council Member Ken Parker.

When I opened it up, a 3/4 inch, all caps headline screamed “HIGHER TAXES FOR YOU.  PAY RAISE FOR HIM.”

According to the mailer, Parker voted “for a MASSIVE 61.5% increase to your property tax bill. (Source:OCSD Meeting Minutes 2/27/08)”

“Even worse,” the C.P.L.A. Update continued, “he used that money to pay for a 25% PAY INCREASE FOR HIMSELF! (Source:  OCSD Meeting Minutes 11/28/07)”

Well, I sure am against most tax increases, and I don’t sure object to our elected officials themselves pay raises during difficult times like these.  I don’t know about you, but my pay went down, not up, last year.

But I sure don’t remember my property tax going up anything like 61.5% last year. So  I asked myself, “What’s wrong with this flyer?”

The source cited by the CPLA for both claims is “OCSD Meeting Minutes.”  I’m guessing the OCSD isn’t the Occidental College Surfer Dudes or the Old Codgers of San Dimas, but the Orange County Sanitation District.

Last time I checked, they couldn’t raise my property taxes or set the salary for Los Alamitos Council Members.  So I’m pretty sure the CPLA Update is talking about Ken Parker, as Los Alamitos Representaive to the Orange County Sanitation District, voted for a 61.5% increase in their fees, which are collected by the county treasure via property tax bills.  That also would mean that 25% pay increase wasn’t an increase in Parker’s pay as Mayor or as City Council person, but as a member of the Sanitation District’s governing board.

Now a 60% increase in our Sanitation District fees and a 25% increase in their board members’ pay are both legitimate issues.  Probably not the biggest issues facing Los Alamitos, but certainly legitimate.

If the CPLA wants to initiate a discussion of  OCSD fees and board salaries, they should go for it.  But I would hope Mr. Silvia and his colleagues would be forthright about exactly what taxes and pay Ken Parker was voting to increase.

It may be technically true, but I’d hardly call this “Update” forthright.  Actually, I’m thinking it’s not even accurate technically:  Parker voted to raise a “fee,” not a “tax.”  Which also makes the claim that Parker broke a promise not to raise taxes also inaccurate.

I know a number of people associated with the C.P.L.A.  I know they care deeply about Los Alamitos.  Chuck and Carol, Pat, & others, isn’t this sort of thing beneath you?  I know you can be more constructive than this.  To me, this sort of distortion is beneath you.  How much better to simply be accurate, not misleading.

• Instead of saying “City Councilman Kenneth C Parker Raised Your Property Tax Bill This Year?” why not say he “Raised Your Sanitation District Fees This Year?”
• Instead of  “HIGHER TAXES FOR YOU”  why not “HIGHER SANITATION FEES FOR YOU?”
• How can you say Parker and friends raised our taxes “only to turn around and give themselves a pay raise” when the pay raise was voted on three months before the the fee increase, by your own flyer’s dates!  Maybe instead of “turn around” you should have said “only to travel back in time and give” himself a pay raise?

You may have a legitimate issue here, but trying to sell it in this manner reduces it’s ligitimacy and almost seems to insult our citizens intelligence.  Or at least my sense of decency.

This misleading approach to Los Alamitos election issues does more harm than good.  If this campaign is run cleanly, we have a much better chance of having a healthy discussion of important issues, instead of a food fight.  We’ve also got a better chance of both sides working together after it’s over.  Because mutual respect and teamwork is what we need to get the best results from our the city council, regardless of who “wins” this election.

Please understand, I’m not attacking the CPLA or supporting Ken Parker’s votes to increase sanitation fees, although I do believe there may have been some justification for those fee increases.  (The pay increases are another item but I haven’t yet found access online to those 11/28/07 OCSD Minutes.)

I’m just saying issues need to be discussed forthrightly and language should communicate clearly with no intent to deceive or mislead.

I also think it would be appropriate for the CPLA to reveal the major sources of their funding, because so far, from what I’ve seen, the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos have spent far more on issues related to this election than any of the candidates, who do have to disclose their funding sources.

I’d hope to see all four of my fellow candidates join me in both these requests, and in condemning the duplicitous nature of yesterday’s CPLA mailer.  Because two of the five of us are going to be serving on the Council, and it’ll be a lot easier to work together in the future if we work together now to move this election to a cleaner, more respectufl, more issues-oriented level.

That’s what I think.  You can let us all know what you think in the Comment box below.  Comments on this blog are open to all, including CPLA members and my fellow Council candidates.  All I ask is you try keep a respectful tone and “family friendly” language.  In other words, let’s be diplomatic.  It’s one more small step towards building a winning team here in Los Alamitos that includes all the members of our community.

(If that comment box isn’t at the bottom of this post & any comments, just click on the blue “Comment” or  below the headline at the top of this post.)

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