Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council should allow vote
THE HERALD’S VIEW
Now that supporters of retaining Flanders Mansion in the public domain have been vindicated with the recent court decision by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Robert A. O’Farrell to force the issue to a public vote and require the city to maintain the National Register of Historic Places resource per the city’s municipal code, expect the City Council and The Carmel Pine Cone editor to push the argument that the pro-city owned Flanders Mansion folks are being undemocratic, that they’re not playing fair, not honoring the tenets of representative government, that they’re a tyranny of a few.
Don’t buy it.
The pro-city owned Flanders Mansion movement may never have enough support to win at the ballot box--Mayor Sue McCloud and The Carmel Pine Cone Editor Paul Miller have colluded to perpetrate the myth that a majority of Carmelites favor selling Flanders Mansion--but the undemocratic, unfair, dishonorable and illegal actions occurred in 2005 when the City Council maneuvered to prevent a public vote. That was the result of overriding the decision of the Planning Commission which declared the Flanders Mansion 1.25 acre parcel “parkland.” That City Council decision, not so incidentally, was a direct response to Mayor Sue McCloud’s promotion of the fallacious notions that it was always the intention of Carmelites that the Flanders Mansion be sold and the city doesn’t have the money to rehabilitate it and determine an appropriate public use.
Flanders Foundation supporters then filed a Writ of Mandamus with Monterey County Superior Court to compel the City Council to follow the law and spent months completing the administrative record for the hearing before Judge Robert A. O’Farrell because democracy by Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council failed them. Appropriately, they went to court as a last resort.
Those who want the issue of retaining the National Register of Historic Places Flanders Mansion in the public domain versus selling the Flanders Mansion into private ownership settled should press the City Council to reverse itself and allow a public vote now that Judge Robert A. O’Farrell has issued his Intended Decision; after, of course, the City Council proves to the court at a future date that the environmentally superior alternative, leasing the Flanders Mansion, is economically infeasible. The Flanders Mansion issue would be resolved through a fair process, a vote of the affected people, Carmelites. What could be fairer?
Note: Click on the title post above for LAFCO should allow vote
THE HERALD'S VIEW
5 comments:
The mayor and city council have shown again and again thatif something doesn't fit into their preconcieved ideology it will be ignored. It doesn't matter what the citizens and business people of Carmel want or don't want. The mayor and city counselors are sure they know what is best for the city, the residents and the businesses of Carmel. Only the wishes of known supporters seem even to be considered. While contacting politicians is normally the best kind of democracy in action, in Carmel it has been an exercise in futility over the last six or so years.
There are a number of very troubling things about Carmel. One, as articulated in this parody, is the woefully unsatisfactory news and editorial coverage these past years from The Herald. And now we know a reason why Publisher Jayne Speizer hid under her desk all those times she was contacted with cogent, obvious clarifications and corrections; a former secretary who never graduated from college and never learned the skill sets on the job to be a competent publisher. She, and the person she hired in 2003, Carolina Garcia, herself a former grant writer for Latino causes, not a journalist, were, in retrospect, over their proverbial heads. Moreover, the lack of broad journalistic experience of these 2 women explains why it has been so easy for them to use The Herald to promote their own personal agendas and personal friends. It explains why the numerous corrections never found their way into the newspaper. And why eventually, they both hid under their desks, refusing to defend their unscrupulous conduct. Sadly, they still think journalism is about getting to know the movers and shakers and cozying up to them, promoting their propaganda, instead of earning the trust of all readers everyday by striving to do the craft of journalism.
Paul Miller, of the Carmel Pine Cone, is another sad excuse for a journalist. It should be stated at the outset that he touts his journalism awards-it was covering an Olympic Games, a sporting event, as a freelancer-not for hard news reporting. As the recent editorial shows, he is no more than a shill for McCloud and her cronies, misleading readers intentionally or unintentionally.
So with The Herald and Carmel Pine Cone acting as propagandists for the mayor and city, it is not surprising that too many Carmelites are MIA.
Troubling to witness such apathy and troubling to witness those who should know offer such equivocating excuses and BS. Where is the citizen outrage that such a financially well off city cannot budget the necessary funds to have as sparkling a Forest Theatre, Scout House, Flanders Mansion, as the Sunset Center. It really is an awful indictment of city leadership that the city has allowed $10 million to accumulate in reserves and yet the Forest Theatre, as one historical/cultural city asset example, requires $3 million in renovations.
In no other city I have lived, or any of my colleagues, friends or acquaintances have lived, can I say that the residents wouldn't have risen up by now in disgust and demanded competent government looking out for the interests of its residents. What has this mayor and city council done lately for the residents of Carmel? Nothing! They prostitute themselves and the city for the almighty tourist dollar...and when they get it, they don't spend it on the residents or the city assets that the residents are entitled to enjoy.
It's good to see more comments posted on this blog, the lone voice in the forest for the views of many in the community. Pass the word for more locals and visitors to log on to read these no-pin details of the politics in Carmel.
Besides politics this blog contains newsworthy items such as cultural events in the village and local area.
Lest Carmelites need to be reminded of the last 6 years of city hall/mayor machinations and the continuing observable machinations, including; demands automatic and complete compliance with her expectations for favorable treatment (The Herald); charming, but superficial charm actually a polished artificial veneer, lacking any depth (ancedotal); no empathy, unable/unwilling to acknowledge or accept feelings, thoughts, etc. of others (public speakers at council meetings); lacks a sense of duty (The Flag); failure to accept responsibility for own actions (covert, secretive); does not hesitate to talk about any subject in public or private. Is unembarrassable, has "a lot of verve and a lot of nerve." (council meetings); behaves arrograntly and haughtily, especially if challanged. Feels superior, omnipotent, invincible, and immune, above the law and engages in magical thinking. Vindictive, vicious rage when frustrated, contradicted or confronted by other individuals/organizations. (reported by ex-employees, reported post Flanders Mansion judge's decision); seeks to hurt or destroy the objects of her frustration; suffers from persecutory delusions (reported by ex-city employees); is interpersonally exploitative, uses others to achieve own ends (reported by city employees); grandiosity and self-importance to the point of exaggerating accomplishments, lying, demanding to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievement(The Herald and the public). Traits for the Narcissistic Personality Disorder; the prognosis for an adult suffering from the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is poor.
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