Why No Outrage by Carmelites about...
• The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea agreeing to pay 15% of the total cost for the fire consolidation services provided by Citygate Associates, approximately $9,500.00, and then withdrawing from the consolidation process with the Cities of Monterey and Pacific Grove in January 2008, despite the Citygate Associates Feasibility Analysis concluding that Carmel-by-the-Sea would benefit the most from fire departments consolidation.
• The McCloud Administration not seriously considering any other “use” for the Flanders Mansion property other than “selling” the National Register of Historic Places Resource. And in the City’s attempt to sell the Flanders Mansion, violating State and Municipal laws, expending approximately $400,000 of taxpayer dollars in Environmental Impact Reports, attorney fees, et cetera.
• The City’s closure of the Scout House, a community center; and the City’s failure to budget for ADA compliance measures and reopen the Scout House to all user groups.
• The City’s continuing failures regarding open government; for example, the City Administrator not regularly informing the public about the process of hiring a Director of the Community Planning and Building Department, a crucial department in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
• Only due to the unprecedented, emergency fire season crisis this year has the City performed maintenance in Mission Trail Nature Preserve that should be done each and every year as good management practice and adherence to the City’s Local Coastal Program.
• The City Administrator not including in the City’s Draft Triennial Budget for Fiscal Years 2008/09 through 2009/10 a full-time tree care employee, as recommended by the Forest and Beach Commission. And then only after several Carmelites voiced their support for a full-time tree care employee, the City Council adopting a Budget which included two part-time tree care workers, instead of the recommended and pleaded for one full-time tree care employee.
• The City accruing more and more taxpayer dollars into reserve funds instead of expending those taxpayer dollars as investments in essential infrastructure, such as street maintenance, treatment of discharge into Carmel Bay, an Area of Special Biological Significance, and reforestation.
• Unimplemented recommendations of Studies commissioned by the City Council, such as the City’s failure to fully implement the recommendations of the Forest Studies by arborist Barrie Coate and the City’s failure to budget the recommended $660,000 annually for street projects, as recommended by Nichols Consulting Engineers.
• The City’s disregard for the due process rights of a Carmelite with regard to not expeditiously scheduling Mayor Sue McCloud’s appeal of the April 3, 2008 unanimous decision of the Forest and Beach Commission approving the removal of a neighbor’s “unsafe” acacia tree on a City Council agenda.
• Over the last four years, the City’s policy preference of funding Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. (SCC) for the management of the Sunset Center over adequate funding for essential infrastructure maintenance and improvements.
• The local media acting as uncritical, biased propaganda purveyors of Mayor Sue McCloud and her administration, rather than watchdogs for the benefit of the public at large!
Where is the Public’s Wrath?
• A Theory: Too many Carmelites are apathetic and uninformed. Of the informed, too many who fail to stand on principle, fail to demand good governance. And too many of us who enable those who habitually fail to meet the standard of good governance. Simply put, only when we care more about future generations of Carmelites and the future of the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea and less about ourselves today and going along to get along will the legacy of preserving Carmel-by-the-Sea be honored. Otherwise, future generations of Carmelites will look back and conclude that we allowed the unique essence of Carmel-by-the-Sea to vanish forever.
3 comments:
Special interests suck up to Sue. They feel, rightly or wrongly, if they cross Sue, Sue will hurt them economically and socially. City employees fear her because they are dependent on her for their jobs. So the cycle of fear and intimidation continues around and around we go. It’s so much easier to rationalize than to confront and lose. Sorry, I do not see a happy ending here.
No doubt about it, Sue McCloud is a bad actor from neighbor to mayor. But if it were not for her supporters and carmel voters, she would not be on her fifth term. Let's not kid ourselves, we have let her intimidate and bad mouth people who disagree with her grand schemes and we have allowed her incompetence, unethical and illegal tactics. Shame on us!
Sue McCloud and her co-dependents, enablers, supporters, voters place pragmatism over principle, obfuscation over straight talk, rationalization over common sense, and narrow interests over the common good every day of the week. They are the most selfish among us, not the most selfless. They are where they are because somehow they have convinced a gullible public they care about them when they really only care about themselves and their own interests. After eight years you would think the majority of Carmelites would have caught on and had enough.
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