Candidates
Archive for the ‘Right Vu’ Category
Russ Hall endorses Jill Galvez for CV City Council
This email was just forwarded to me by a colleague. Maybe Larry will have a response to the accusations that he has supported Democrats in the past (Pamela Bensoussan most recently if I remember correctly). Read on…
RUSS HALL ENDORSES JILL GALVEZ FOR CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL
Dear Fellow Chula Vistan,
Thompson is in BIG trouble
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/12/councilman-accused-in-conflict-of-interest-case/?success
Councilman accused in conflict-of-interest case
Interim official says any violations were inadvertent
By Tanya Sierra, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:05 a.m.
CHULA VISTA — An interim Chula Vista city councilman is being accused of violating state conflict-of-interest laws when he served on the planning commission.
Derrick Roach, a private investigator and 79th Assembly District candidate, says Councilman Mitch Thompson bought property in the city’s redevelopment area while he was on the Chula Vista Planning Commission last year and voted on issues that affected parcels he owns.
INTERIM CV COUNCILMAN MITCH THOMPSON IN HOT WATER
Well, Derrick Roach just pulled another one out of his hat. He was just at the Chula Vista City Council meeting where he skewered Mitch Thompson on a burning stick of proven corruption on Thompson’s part. Apparently Thompson purchased numerous properties while sitting on the CV Planning Commission – not illegal in a broad sense, however these properties were all within 500 feet of redevelopment zones in Chula Vista. Purchasing properties in these areas while serving on the Planning Commission is 1000% illegal. In addition, not only did he own these properties, but he voted on issues related to the very redevelopment zones where he owned property – making his pocket book a little fatter with the value of his property.
Cox Disappointment of the Decade
Any way you slice it Cheryl Cox’s mayorship has been a disaster. She lost the billion dollar Bayfront project by being a bystander when the unions tried to Greenmail Gaylord. She scared away the Chargers Stadium deal culminating with her very public war with Mark Fabiani that aired on TV for all of us to see (good for repeat viewing). She ran on being a fiscal conservative, then proposed and voted for every tax and fee increase, including taxing cell phone service and her failed 1% sales tax increase measure.
Castaneda Campaign “Mistakes”?
We will see where this goes. It seems that whatever train is trying to bulldoze Castaneda, they seem to keep doing it around election time – coincidence or political tactic by Cox? I wouldn’t doubt that she really is THAT afraid of Castaneda and of having to run a real campaign. Heck, she just might have to knock on a door or two (or probably more like 25,000 since most of Chula Vista dislikes her!) Remove Castaneda and who else is there? Rumor has it that McCann still hasn’t been counted out as a possible opponent but time for him to file is running out. That sure would be an exciting race wouldn’t it? Cox versus McCann, a guy who has a pretty good (and positive) name recognition and who happens to be serving our country in a war? And, in a city with a large veteran population. Now, that would be fun! I guess we will have to see whether or not Cox can get rid of Castaneda first. Maybe Cox should focus on winning re-election the old fashioned way – getting something… anything… done in Chula Vista!
http://www.signonsandiego.com/stories/2010/jan/09/castaneda-campaign-complaint-studied/
Send Padilla Packing … Again!
I find it interesting that Chula Vista’s former Port Commissioner, Mike Najera, was asked to resign due to his financial “instability”, only to replace him with Steve Padilla???? Is the Council crazy? Where were the questions to Padilla about his financial status and his recent foreclosure?
Padilla was the most controversial and wasteful Mayor Chula Vista has ever had. He spent $10,000 a month on a bodyguard (ironically, John McCann was the one who put a stop to that). He spent the citizens’ money on everything he could think of. Napolean complex for sure. He was in a mound of debt personally and he went and bought himself a BMW as a gift to himself – great money management skills. He recently lost his house because of those same lacking money management skills. Yet, the Council failed to act responsibly and ask Padilla the very same questions that ousted Najera! How can Chula Vista trust Ramirez, Bensoussan and now Thompson?
The Chula Vista Mayor and Council need to start acting on the side of the line where ethics and morals are found instead of crossing that line whenever it is beneficial to them. Chula Vista’s elected officials owe it to the citizens of Chula Vista to do what is right, not what is convenient.
No Surprises in Chula Vista
Well, there were no great surprises in Chula Vista Tuesday night as the most liberal members of the Council voted to place Mitch Thompson into John McCann’s seat during his longterm absence as he serves our country in Iraq. The vote was 3-1, with Cox as the only vote against filling the seat at all. My only curiosity is why Cox stated her reason for voting no was because there was no compelling reason to fill the seat at all, didn’t she vote to fill the seat a month ago? At least Thompson should be somewhat of an ally to Cox since he was Cox’s spokesman for her sales tax increase proposition a few months back.
I am most certain, however, that Cox is not at all happy with Padilla being appointed the new Port Commissioner, by a 3-2 vote (did we see that one coming?) This may be the end of the Cox era in Chula Vista (if there ever was a “Cox era”). Seriously, how can it bode well for Cox that the rest of the Council felt it necessary to bring back the only Mayor to lose as an incumbent in Chula Vista history just 3 short years after he was booted out? Will it be a signal to the voters that since Mayor Cox isn’t getting the job done they had to bring back the other guy? I can see the hit pieces now.
I wonder if Cox has started missing McCann yet. Maybe it is time for her to get her Admiral friends on the phone and see about getting McCann home early. For now though, Cox laid the foundation for the playground, I guess now she will have to play alone in her sandbox and deal with the consequences.
Chula Vista Stalls
So, it appears that the unmistakably flawed appointment process in Chula Vista has been temporarily halted. Sources say that an angry group of citizens have threatened to file a lawsuit to stop a temporary appointment to John McCann’s seat (while he serves active duty in Iraq for a year). Certainly the City should have seen this one coming – Bensoussan and Ramirez should know better than to try to push a big decision through the City without any public input, or at the very least without doing the public’s business in public! (Wasn’t that a main issue in both of their campaigns last time around?) After all, Rudy Ramirez actually has “open office” hours for citizens, apparently unless it’s an issue he doesn’t want to talk about (like his sister being on the City payroll for $100,000 as the vet for the animal shelter) – ahhhh, but that is for another post.
It’s like a little soap opera – Will Cox and Castaneda work together to stop the appointment so Padilla does not become the next Port Commissioner? Is Ramirez really so scared of a lawsuit during his re-election campaign? (he should be) Is Bensoussan really so politically naive that she thinks she can strong arm anyone??? We’ll see in the next episode of this riveting show!
Chula Vista’s Flawed Appointment Process, Different Politicians, Same back rooms deals
Just a few short years ago (4 to be exact) the City of Chula Vista went through an appointment process to fill a seat that was vacated by Patty Davis due to illness. The process was similar to other appointments prior for Port Commissioner, but was deemed flawed by many in Chula Vista, including liberal politicians Pamela Bensoussan and Rudy Ramirez. As a matter of fact, they were both very outspoken in their arguments against that process and against the appointee, Patty Chavez, who was described as “hand picked by Mayor Padilla”. Oddly enough, Bob Castaneda, brother of Chula Vista Councilman (Republican-turned-Democrat) was so enraged by the appointment process used to appoint Chavez as well as Chavez herself, he penned an op ed piece for La Prensa just following her appointment calling out the process as a backroom deal and closed to the public.
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