Category:

CYNICAL, SELF-SERVING ATTEMPT TO MISLEAD

6/1/2014

The headline here is a quote from US Representative Jared Huffman talking about ERIN CARLSTROM and NICK CASTON's mailer.

Erin Carlstrom, a new city councilperson in Santa Rosa, spent a couple of months trying to figure out how she could move up in politics--she toyed with the idea of State Senate, then County Supervisor, and then settled on State Assembly. She's working with her husband, Nick Caston, (see posts about Accountable Development Coalition and Michael Allen, his cohort, for info on him) to position herself to slurp from the crony trough. Caston is a new boy on the block, a political consultant who cut his fangs on a few projects (Keep Napa Napa) and showed that he could draw blood.

Now Caston and Carlstrom have cooked up a project to enrich themselves by stylin' as 'protectors of the coast' and putting out a political mailer 'Vote The Coast'. Caston solicits political candidates to pay him to put them on the mailer. Carlstrom is on the mailer, of course, and paid her husband to be on it. So did Gary Wysocky---another wannabe crony.

Here's what the Marin Independent Journal's Dick Spotswood had to say about this yesterday:

Marin IJ: EXCERPT
Spotswood: County campaigns obscure candidates' plans
By Dick Spotswood

Posted: 05/31/2014 07:39:24 PM

Erin Carlstrom, the Santa Rosa councilwoman running as a Democrat in the Marin-Southern Sonoma 10th Assembly District, was just "endorsed" by "Vote the Coast."
In a widely-distributed ad, "Vote The Coast" appears as a warm and fuzzy sounding environmental organization. That could be a big deal in the green-friendly 10th District.
In reality, the original Vote the Coast organization is long defunct. Carlstrom, acting as the attorney, formed a new corporation called Tidal Voice Inc. It then trademarked the abandoned "Vote the Coast" name. In short, Carlstrom endorsed herself.
The stunt didn't impress Rep. Jared Huffman, a long-time environmentalist and supporter of Assemblyman Marc Levine. The San Rafael Democrat described Carlstrom's "Vote the Coast" advertising as "one of the most cynical, self-serving and shallow attempts to mislead voters that I've ever seen."

This may be one “endorsement” that backfires on the recipient.

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_25868585/spotswood-county-campaigns-obscure-candidates-plans
__________________________________
ENDORSEMENT: MARC LEVINE

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ENDORSEMENT: CHURCHILL

5/29/2014

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KEN CHURCHILL IS RUNNING FOR SONOMA COUNTY SUPERVISOR
This is from his website and focuses on his opponent, James Gore. Below his info see more information on how James Gore was relieved of his duties at the Department of Agriculture (he officially resigned).

"Yesterday I received the latest James Gore mailer. It is a well produced piece that I am sure a lot of people will find impressive. That is if you don’t know the true story. In it James talks about his 5 Point Plan.

Number 1 of his Plan is titled Creating Jobs. It says “As Vice President of a successful company, he represented California agriculture on trade and affairs while gaining extensive experience managing staff and budgets.”

The company they are talking about is JBC International, a lobbying firm that represented the wine industry, a chemical company and association of collection attorneys. James never talks about his work as a registered Washington lobbyist, but that is what he was from 2006 to 2010 before he went to work for the government.

To find out more about JBC International I ran a Dun and Bradstreet report and low and behold it turns out that JBC is essentially out of business and has an unsatisfied court judgment against them in the amount of $645,000. One would think James is aware of that, but it does not keep him from touting his accomplishments with the firm which looks like it was run by a family and James was the low man on the totem pole. But if he wants to claim he managed their budgets, I am not going to argue with him.

Number 3 of his 5 Point Plan is titled Reforming Pensions and Fixing Roads. Sound familiar? Yes, one week before the election James has become a pension reformer and will use the savings to fix our roads.

But what he says about pensions shows he knows NOTHING about how they work. He said “The County has made great strides to reduce unfunded pension liabilities”.

There are several problems with this statement. First, the Supervisors have accomplished very little in terms of pension reform. In fact, they simply were forced to adopt the state pension reforms and they changed formulas for new hires.

Second, he obviously does not know what an unfunded liability is. Unfunded liabilities are the retirement benefits that are owed to retirees and employees for work already performed. There are 2 ways to reduce the unfunded liability. The first is to cut retiree pensions, which would be a horrible thing to do and is also illegal. The second and only other way to reduce the unfunded liabilities is for the pension funds investments to return greater than the 7.5% assumed rate of return over many years. That is something the Supervisors do not control.

The most common untruth James tells is that he was a “presidential appointee”. I am not sure how he landed the government job, but he was appointed to the NRCS by the Secretary of Agriculture, NOT President Obama.

I told the Press Democrat they should vet all the candidates when they released the report on Pete Foppiano’s tax problems. Unfortunately, they did not take my advice when it came to James and his false claims.

I have tried to run a positive campaign based upon the issues. But I thought you should all know more about James and how he is suffering from a serious case of resume inflation and in my opinion is not qualified for the job of Supervisor.

Sincerely,

Ken Churchill

www.votechurchill.com

Ken Churchill for Supervisor · United States
You can also keep up with Ken Churchill for Supervisor on Facebook.
_________________________________

Info on James Gore's abrupt resignation from his appointed position because millions of dollars in payments went to farmers who were long dead.

"A federal audit released last year showed $10.6 million in improper payments were made by NRCS from 2008 to April 2012 while James Gore was Assistant Chief. Both Gore and his Chief resigned."

Links:
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-503

http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/the-government-gave-dead-farmers-more
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/audit-usda-has-paid-millions-dead-farmers-f6C10791319
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/30/watchdog-report-finds-millions-in-govt-payments-to-dead-farmers/
http://votegore.com/about-james/

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Agency overview
Formed
April 20, 1932
Preceding Agency
Soil Conservation Service, Soil Erosion Service
Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
Employees
Approx 12,000
Agency executives
Jason Weller, Chief
James Gore, Assistant Chief
Parent agency
Department of Agriculture
Website
www.nrcs.usda.gov

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ENDORSEMENT: SUNDSTROM

5/6/2014

2 Comments

Anyone who is paying attention to local politics knows that Gary Wysocky is bad news. He's known as a bully, manipulative, and is unqualified for the Tax Collector/Treasurer/Controller position he is running for.

How did Wysocky get to be 'president of the Junior College Neighborhood Association'? He bullied the elected president, Kay Tokerud, and hounded her out by gathering a group of minions to take over the board. Then they appointed him to her position. Right after that he ran for Council as 'Your Neighborhood President.'

What does he say qualifies him to be Tax Collector/Treasurer/Controller for Sonoma County? He's a CPA, big deal. He's been 'running' for the Tax Collector position the entire time he's been on the Santa Rosa Council, beginning most of his comments with 'I'm a CPA'. He says the county needs a 'fresh pair of eyes'. Having two eyeballs doesn't qualify you to run the county.

He says he's a watchdog but he's more like a lapdog. He appointed Michael Allen to the Planning Commission---Allen went on to be fined for a serious conflict of interest violation and Wysocky continued to endorse him.

What else? The position was vacated by Rod Dole (who went to run the Ygrene private venture that he'd been pushing as an elected official---cozy) and the county took applications for an interim appointment. Wysocky applied but was rejected as being unqualified. He didn't even get an interview he was so unqualified.

Who was considered qualified out of a wide field of head-hunted financial officers, auditors, fund managers, CPAs, from all over the nation? David Sundstrom.

Sundstrom is highly qualified, is doing the job admirably well, is liked by staff, is fearless in looking into county issues, is not a crony---this is who we want in the Tax Collector/Treasurer/Controller position.
We endorse
DAVID SUNDSTROM for Auditor /Controller/ Treasurer/ Tax Collector

2 Comments

PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS IN SMALL TOWNS

1/27/2013

2 Comments

Looks like some kind of epidemic around here. A small one, but just big enough to remark on. A serious epidemic of pseudo-princes in this little Machiavellian wonderland we call home.

Three cities lying in a crooked row found themselves without the full contingent of council members just after election time. Rather than honor the citizens who voted and move the next competitor on the ballot into the seat, the cities have decided to take the low road.

Three cities in adjacent counties all SELECTING a council member. Yep, just after the election, too. Now, like it or not, it seems as if the next highest vote getter should drop into the slot left vacant a scant three weeks or so after seating the current councils. But the towns of Cotati, Calisotga, and Santa Rosa are all SELECTING a city council member. Selecting. As in the-council-on-the-dais sits in judgement and with a featherweight majority will pick a new council member off of a list...regardless of the fact that thousands of voters have chosen the next runner-up.

The unjustified and unjustifiable 'reasoning' by these nascent councils is that the runner up is a loser. Yes, that person lost, didn't they? And doesn't that mean that it's now completely irrelevant that this runner up campaigned, raised funds, spoke to groups, shook hands, kissed babies, debated, and--did I mention?-- garnered thousands (in some cases) of votes? Yes, that means absolutely nothing if the council doesn't like the idea of that next person dropping into the seat. Because that person doesn't fit in with the council's idea of consensus. Or maybe there are political shenanigans going on and someone wants to retain the majority or be the swing voter on the council. And of course the council wants to save the cost of holding another election--after all the voters would only vote the way they want to and that wouldn't be good.

In one case at least (Santa Rosa) everyone knew that a sitting council person was running for another office (Susan Gorin) and if she won she'd be vacating her seat. Well she did win. Here's the idiotic, insulting logic that this group of slimy rascals is shoving down the throats of citizens in this town: Because Susan Gorin sat in her seat for the first two or three meetings of the 'new' council instead of cleaning out her desk and getting out, her replacement has to be 'chosen' because it's MID SESSION. Oh for crying out loud. The cronies running this inwardly rotting Peyton Place wanted to select her successor and planned it in advance.

Tomorrow they'll be sitting in a special session where 17 hopefuls will parade themselves in front of the dais even though the successor has already been chosen. And that's how you pick winners and losers in a small American town.

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IT'S THE WATER

11/28/2012

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FLOOD OF WATER RESTRICTIONS

Buried deep in the bottom of an article about Water Agency funding in a small town newspaper in California we find the wave of the future---Do-It-Yourself Cap and Trade.

Really, you must brace yourself for the full implications of this program. First, allow yourself to contemplate a system in which a government agency, Sonoma County Water Agency, providing 352,000 people with water, will accept a grant from a non-profit organization. The California Water Foundation which 'supports investment in sustainable management of the state's water supply' is in the process of finalizing a $255,000 grant, some of which would go towards this:

Launching a pilot program that would allow the sale of efficiency credits between customers who come in below their normal water usage and those who exceed their threshold.

Should we say that again? Customers who come in below their normal water usage will sell their 'efficiency credits' to those who exceed their 'threshold.'

Did you get that? Those customers who exceed their allotment of water will have to buy credits from those who do not. Cap and trade for the average user of water. Will you buy water through an exchange. Will you bid on credits through a third party? Will you go to an auction where you struggle to acquire enough credits to water your garden, or take a shower every day? This is not an exaggeration. Just as Cap and Trade is being developed at the state-wide level in California to establish a market for carbon-based emissions, this program will establish a 'local cap and trade for water.' Penalties and credits for water usage. Yes, Sonoma County, known for 100% membership of cities and the county in ICLEI, known for having a County Supervisor (Valerie Brown) on the National Board of ICLEI, will now be known for creating a pilot program in individual cap and trade for a substance fundamental to sustaining life.

WATERSHED REGULATIONS

The Sonoma County Water Agency has put out a publication in which they say that every part of the county is in a watershed. This concept of expanding the idea of watersheds until it includes every property in the United States and beyond is catching hold.

Right now 40% of the United States is considered to be in a watershed, and that percentage is growing. Water run-off, drainage, in urban areas is being regulated and is giving Planning Departments the justification for denying building permits based on 'streamside thresholds.' The translation for this term encompasses any property, fully developed in an urban area or not, that stands in the way of rainwater moving toward some collector stream or body of water.

In Marin County, CA, any property owner who might wish to, for instance, build a garage on her suburban hillside property, will find that the local planning department will not allow that until it has mapped the direction of run-off on that hill. These maps are created when the property owner applies for a building permit and are paid for by the property owner at that time. In other words the property owner has no way of knowing whether she'll be able to build that garage until she pays for the study. The study establishes streams in fully developed urban areas where the 'stream' is the way that the rainwater finds its way through your property. Because these rules only affect one property owner at a time and only when he or she tries to get a development permit most people are unaware that the rules have changed.

Whether you're watering your yard, or taking a bath, or building a shed you will find UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development flooding into your life and drowning you in regulations, fees, and penalties. This is how you are driven out of rural and suburban areas. This is how you are priced out of your single family home. This is how you end up in Smart Growth. This is how you lose your business. This is Agenda 21.

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THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

11/28/2012

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It looks like Michael Allen has lost. While we can regret that he was ever elected to the State Assembly in the first place, we can rejoice that voters recognized his sleazy behavior and rewarded him by giving him the boot. Perhaps it took Marin County voters to recognize that a man who threatens his opponent and takes money to vote shouldn't be (re) elected.

That was the good.

The bad is that Erin Carlstrom and Julie Combs were elected to Santa Rosa City Council. Erin will undoubtedly show her self-serving dog-eat-dog ladder-climbing colors when tested. Julie, who has anger management issues teetering in balance with toadying supplication, will demonstrate her community skills early. And Gary Wysocky, who was the target of someone calling themselves the 'Anyone But Wysocky' PAC was barely re-elected.

Because Susan Gorin moved into a supervisory seat her position on the City Council is now open and it's unclear who will fill it. So it's 3 to 3 on the council now with the so-called Business Friendly faction pitted against the Progressives. The next closest vote-getter, Don Taylor, restauranteur, is not the shoo-in, though one would expect that the next highest vote-getter would be. Not in this town though. The progressives want the majority and they'll bloody faces to get it. They'll ride their bikes over anyone who gets in their way. Even if Erin, who pretended to be a cross-over candidate so that she could latch onto voters who wouldn't have chosen her, even if she swings with the Biz Friendly she'll be sharpening her teeth on someone. Did someone make a contribution to her war chest? Was it Herb Williams perhaps?

People who are just out for money and power are much easier to deal with than those with an ideology. They can be bought. Maybe that's what we'll see with this new council. As a friend's father said when he saw the writing on the wall "Enjoy the ride."

Oh, and the Ugly? Having to see Gary Wysocky as Mayor if the Progressives get the majority.

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Just in case you think it doesn't matter who you vote for...

9/22/2012

2 Comments

From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat Watch Sonoma webpage: Comments on this story: http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2012/09/cities/compromise-reached-on-coddingtown-zoning-plan/

Eric Newman
September 19, 2012 at 3:15 pm
The vote on the North Santa Rosa plan by the city council is good evidence of why we need a progressive majority on the council. The Chamber pawns on the council voted to throw the public good under the bus by catering to the demands of one large commercial property owner. The public be damned if even one demand be made on the sacred personhood of a national corporate operator.

This the root dysfunction in modern America: government does not operate in the interests of the entire community, but on behalf of an arrogant ownership class who think that they above the law and the social contract.

Through the sycophantic service of their political enablers, their word is the law!

We can turn back this tide of the corporate overlords, starting right here with our city council. Vote for Julie Combs, Caroline Banuelos, and Erin Carlstrom if you want a city government that is responsive to real people, not the bogus and inflated corporate “persons” who have bent us to their will.

4 thumbs up 23 thumbs down

Kay Tokerud

September 20, 2012 at 8:42 am
“Arrogant ownership class”? Wow, Eric, your class warfare attitude is showing. According to you, people shouldn’t be allowed to own property at all but rather the government should feed, clothe, and house everyone. I think that has been tried before and it didn’t work out too well.

They re-zoned 1,390 properties that are all non-conforming now. I wonder how many property owners really understand what has happened to them. As bad as the plan is, it would have been a lot worse had the progressives been in the majority on the City Council. The progressives don’t care one wit about the property rights of the people although property owners pay the majority of taxes which go to support all the public welfare programs. Without private property ownership there would be little money for schools,infrastructure, etc.

The re-zonings have crippled development rights for the current property owners but once these properties are sold to big developers they will make out because there will be huge subsidies for smart growth style development coming from federal transportation funds, via One Bay Area. Other subsidies include low income housing tax credits, HUD grants, infrastructure financing district subsidies, and New Development subsides through the IRS.

I hope the current property owners hold out for a big price for their land because the new zoning allows for a large number of housing units to be built. The unsavvy owners may sell for bargain basement prices because they don’t know about their new zoning. The upzoning has actually increased property values. However, the current use of the properties may be disallowed resulting in losses for current owners and businesses.

The big problem is that we are in a major recession that could become far worse soon. We certainly don’t need more housing to exacerbate the oversupply we have now. All of the Specific Plans being developed will have the effect of crowding out any free market development which could have occurred and instead we will only have subsidized government controlled development. This plan paves the way for One Bay Area which seeks to cram all new housing development into these small transit villages for years to come.

The private property rights of Americans are being systematically eliminated through these Specific area plans which of course is by design. I’m afraid some of our elected officials don’t even know exactly what they are doing but rather are being pressured by Planning Departments that tell them that they must make these plans. Where are these plans really coming from? From the highest levels of the Federal Government and from International policies from the United Nations, World Bank and the IMF among others.

The Deciders, the Controllers, whatever you want to call them have decided that Americans have too much space, use up too many resources, have too much money, etc. and it’s time to shrink us down to a level more consistent with the rest of the world. Sounds good to them, how about you?

11 thumbs up 1 thumb down

DID YOU GET THAT EXCHANGE? JUST IN CASE YOU THINK IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO GETS ON CITY COUNCIL THIS TIME...THINK ABOUT IT.
We do NOT support Combs, Banuelos, Wysocky, or Carlstrom.

2 Comments

CRYSTAL BALL: The dangers of 'progressives' on Council

9/15/2012

4 Comments

Thank God we’ve had a two year reprieve from the extremist progressives on Santa Rosa’s City Council. The oppressive, anti-property rights former majority put in place our current land- use regulations which now must be undone. Wysocky and Gorin have completely sold out to the regional smartgrowth ideology that seeks to mandate that only taxpayer subsidized high-density development will take place, aka One Bay Area. By this time next year City Councils all over the Bay Area will have signed onto what our unelected MTC and ABAG boards have cooked up in consultation with ICLEI. If the progressives get the council majority back Santa Rosa will sign onto One Bay Area rescinding the development rights of most property owners in Santa Rosa.

How does it work? ABAG sets the housing numbers and the One Bay Area twenty-five year Plan requires 80% of all new housing to be built in PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT AREAS, which are pre-designated small land areas next to trains or buses, only about 4% of all land in the Bay Area is identified for this. The other 96% of land will only be allowed to accomodate the other 20% of housing over the 25 year period. If you are holding undeveloped or partially developed land in the 9 county bay area, get out now unless your land is in a PDA. Otherwise you could end up with a worthless property yet still be paying property taxes and other expenses. On top of the housing mandates, One Bay Area calls for 70% of new employment to be located within the small PDAs.

I support the loosening of regulations that continue to block the efforts of entrepreneurs who could be having a positive effect on our stuggling economy. If you stifle private development and instead impose government controlled development the economy will fail. ICLEI is promoting an international agenda which is not in the best interests of Americans. In fact, having America fail is necessary before an international government can take hold. Once you realize what the true problem is, then everything will begin to make sense. We need people in elected positions who are not afraid to look at the true picture and use whatever power they might have to preserve and protect our nation from the influence of outside forces. Vote wisely. WE DO NOT SUPPORT WYSOCKY, CARLSTROM, COMBS, OR BANUELOS.

Kay Tokerud
Steering Committee

4 Comments

Stranger than fiction: Socially correct mental illness diagnosis

9/15/2012

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If you read that headline and guessed that you knew what this post was going to be about---you're wrong. In the 'Stranger Than Fiction' category of UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development manipulation, the Santa Rosa, California City Schools are getting a look behind the mask. Here's the beginning of the article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

'Santa Rosa City Schools has run afoul of California Department of Education regulations because of an imbalance in the racial and ethnic makeup of the students in a particular special education category.

Of the 5,244 white students in the district's general education middle and high school enrollment in 2010-11, 1.4 percent were classified as emotionally disturbed. In the same year, just .4 percent of Latino students — 16 out of 4,418 — were in the same category.'

Yes, you read that right. Not enough students of color have been identified as emotionally disturbed, so the Santa Rosa School District has to pay out of general funds to 'remedy the problem.'

Social equity. Gotta love it.
Read the rest of the article here.

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PROPAGANDA WHILE YOU EAT: DINE

8/21/2012

2 Comments

There's a new game in town--indoctrination while you eat. It's called the 'Community Engagement Program,' and is an operation from the Neighborhood Summit/LIEE/Jim Diers people here in Santa Rosa. You get invited by your city to have a little community dinner and you enter the Twilight Zone. They call it 'DINE.' Eleven 'volunteer' hosts, 14 'volunteer' facilitators, and 82 'volunteer' participants. That's 1 facilitator for every 6 people. The purpose of these dinners was to have the 'same conversations happening at the same time on the same night all over the city.' These were Delphi meetings.

The main coordinator, Georgia Pedgrift, is a city employee--her title is Community Engagement Coordinator. She makes $67,000 a year. Here's an article about her position. She was formerly with the Police Department Graffiti unit but now is 'fostering new neighborhood relationships, and generating ideas for increased involvement.' These quotes are from a power point put out by Ms. Pedgrift. The logo for this program is a huge peacock feather--an EYE.

The real purpose of these meetings is to find people who are willing to start and manage neighborhood associations and be conduits for city propaganda. Another element is to find out who is in the neighborhood and sound them out for social viewpoints and attitudes: Know Your Neighbor.

These meetings have a warm and fuzzy face but the questions asked of participants and their answers are not published on the city's website. Keeping residents docile and willing to go along to get along is a fundamental part of this plan. Volunteerism for the 'community good' is the goal. Who gets your labor and time for free? The Agenda 21/Sustainable Development non-governmental organizations--the non-profits marching in lock-step, right here in Santa Rosa. Like the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy? Like Sonoma County Conservation Action? Just wondering...

2 Comments

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CYNICAL, SELF-SERVING ATTEMPT TO MISLEAD

ENDORSEMENT: CHURCHILL

ENDORSEMENT: SUNDSTROM

PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS IN SMALL TOWNS

IT'S THE WATER

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Just in case you think it doesn't matter who you vote for...

CRYSTAL BALL: The dangers of 'progressives' on Council

Stranger than fiction: Socially correct mental illness diagnosis

PROPAGANDA WHILE YOU EAT: DINE

Eyes on Santa Rosa

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