This is the wording of the ballot measure for the Special Election to be held in conjunction with the General Election on November 2, 2010.
Here is part three of the measure repeated: "supersede inconsistent provisions of the Municipal Code and prior City land use decisions regarding the Campus?"
I hope all of you understand what that particular part of the measure so you can explain to others that adoption of the measure would mean that our residents' election of our City Council to represent us with most issues EXCEPT when it comes to The Marymount Plan and many aspects of the college's operation and future, will become moot and our residents' rights to have their representatives govern as they are elected to do will be taken away from them, unless the measure is defeated.
______________________________________
Written arguments for and against the measure, along with the rebuttals must be sent in by August 16, 2010 to be included.
City Staff is not allowed to work on the Resolution being created first by a sub-committee of the City Council, then next using inclusions or exclusions requested by each individual Council member.
It is not legal for Council members to discuss the Resolution or the arguments they may sign, outside of any legally held meeting. What must happen is that each individual Council member will receive the outcome from the sub-committee and then make their own comments to it before they meet during a regularly scheduled meeting to openly discuss the matter.
________________________________________
On July 4, 2010 EVERY member of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council was in the same place and at the same time.
There was at least one videotape camera capturing the scene and I don't know how many still images of the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and the other three City Council members are now stored on film or devices.
How long might it be before representatives of Marymount College again have a law firm draft a letter to the City Attorney and others regarding the potential that anyone talking to members of the Council, at that place, during times all the members were on the site, was demonstrating a conflict of interest or a violation of the Brown Act?
I did speak to Mayor Pro Tem Tom Long. What we talked about was none of anyone else's business except for Terri, who was standing by Tom and myself.
I also talked with other residents and visitors attending the city's 4Th of July Celebration at our City Hall area.
________________________________________
Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. is the law firm whose letterhead adorned the top of the recent letter to our City Manager and City Attorney regarding a possible violation of the Brown Act.
In a recent post I wondered whether Marymount's administration was trying to intimidate members of our City Council concerning a meeting in which three members of our City Council attended and one enjoyed a slice of cheesecake.
But I can't confirm or deny that Dr. Michael Brophy, the President of Marymount College knew or knows of other issues Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. have been involved with that cost our city and its taxpayers upwards of $100,000 or more.
Remember several years ago with an anonymous person hired a law firm to demand a great number of documents be produced under the Freedom of Information Act?
The law firm representing their client was Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. and our city's staff, another outside law firm, and others spent time and a considerable amount of our city's and your tax money accumulating those great number of documents. But do you know what happened?
Nothing. Well a bit less than nothing. According to a source, the documents searched for, collected, and copied all at Rancho Palos Verdes taxpayer expense were not collected by the law firm and nothing came of it except for the possible attempt to intimidate members of the City Council.
So Dr. Brophy used the same law firm that was used by at least one other individual to try to get to the City Council members.
Since I know the majority of voters in Rancho Palos Verdes are Republicans, it may come as a welcome bit of news that Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. has another client of note in our State: The California Republican Party.
Now along with what can be viewed by some as two possible attempts at intimidating City Council members for various reason is another matter Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. represented clients that found problems with a few members of our City Council, some time ago.
In 2007, a complaint was filed against Council members Tom Long and Douglas Stern dealing with a accusation that the two committed campaign violations with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
The individual who filed the complaint was filed by Eglantina Maron who was represented by Mr. Brian Hildreth. How many guesses do you need to know which law firm Mr. Hildreth worked for at that time.
Now it may be nothing, but Mr. Long and Mr. Stern, while not seeking party contested offices were and still may be members of the Democratic Party.
Anyway, after more than two years, the Fair Political Practices Commission found absolutely no violation of any practice or law and they were both completely exonerated.
So now it seems our city and/or some of its elected office holders have been targeted with at least the impression that wrongdoing may have been done by the same law firm.
Also, since the three current members of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council who were subjected to the most recent letter were Councilmen Campbell and Misetich, and Mayor Wolowicz AND the FPPC complaint was filed against Councilman Stern and now Mayor Pro Tem Long, might you be able to put the dots together and consider that, perhaps, persons hiring the law firm of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, L.L.P. may be doing so to try and influence City Council members or the outcome of the November 2, 2010 Special Election?
Makes me wonder. I hope it makes you wonder, too.
________________________________________
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, the subject of whether Rancho Palos Verdes becomes a Charter City is on the agenda.
I have spoken to several people to try and get their opinion on the matters involving being a Charter City and I still would contribute to a fund to educate all of us on the matter and to pay for the election. I do however, feel that no tax money should be expended on this matter without some kind of signal from our residents that it is something important to them and should be done using taxpayer funds.
I also am leery that having the vote on the measure next March 11 would prove to be the best date of have the vote.
Things can still move slowly in our city. I don't know whether in electorate could be educated sufficiently enough to be able to make a reasonable decision outside what special interest groups might try to do to sway opinions.
We have had ten years to consider whether Marymount should have dorms and look at the number of residents who still don't know or are not willing to learn all the facts.
While I understand exempting our city from the requirements of prevailing wage laws could help residents and groups within our city, it is going to take some more convincing of me to not feel hesitant about supporting the potential elimination of prevailing wage guidelines, not that the elimination would ever be required or accomplished.
I do appreciate the possibility to be something of a reaction against future measures like the Initiative for The Marymount Plan. I hope it is not over reaction, especially when the measure fails to pass in November.
_________________________________________
Did you read my use of the word, "when" in that last bit about the measure?
Since Dr. Brophy, the President of Marymount College seems to darn sure the measure will pass he sometimes uses words like, "will pass", or "when it passes" as opposed to "if it passes" or "may pass".
I won't be caught up in that game other than my use of the word "when" within this post. I am not sure the measure will fail, but I and many, many others have begun working harder to get the vast majority of voters who vote in the Special Election to vote ,"No" on November 2.
__________________________________________
Much appreciation needs to go out to our city and the road repair crews who are continuing to resurface the .8 mile portion of Palos Verdes Drive East, in the slide area.
What I would like all of us to do is watch to see how long it will take for new cracks to appear in the new asphalt. My guess is that within about three weeks I will see a few new cracks, small as they probably will be, damaging that pristine new black surface and newly painted yellow line.
_________________________________________
Amalfitano Bakery is coming along towards its opening on Western Avenue at Trudie Drive.
_________________________________________
It seems like months have passed since I visited our city hall and attempted to lodge another complaint against the owner of the 'semi-nude' house on the corner of Trudie Drive at Highmore Avenue.
While at the counter, I was handed a business card of a person and a handwritten name and Email address for another individual to Email my complaint to and I expected to hear something back from someone.
Dead silence about this matter has visited me, without even a single acknowledgement that my complaint was received.
For those of you who don't know about what I call the 'semi-nude' house, it is a 60-year old tract home that had been undergoing renovation before the owner seemingly ran out of money and abandoned the project.
The house now stands within a chain-link fence with all of its stucco gone and its frame, windows, exterior doors, and wall boards exposed.
What may be interesting for you to view is the 'button board' used as interior wall surfaces of the 215 homes built in 1950 in the Western View Homes development.
Button board was a sheet covering that had holes through it where plaster placed on the surface was held in place by drying through the holes.
This covering came along to replace lathe and plaster because it was less expensive to use and that made the cost of the houses less, for buyers.
Also, the use of steel cabinets in the kitchen, steel drawers in the Kitchen, steel window frames, and other cost-saving building items, kept the prices of the houses somewhere between $6,950-$8,500 depending on the size of the house, lot, or whether it was one of 200-two bedroom houses or 15-three bedroom houses.
I am still waiting for something to come back from Code Enforcement notifying me about my complaint. Mine was about the fifth one still on the books for that address.
_________________________________________
There will be another information meeting about the San Ramon Canyon/Tarapaca Canyon landslide and the potential risks to Palos Verdes Drive East, on July 21, 2010 at Miraleste Intermediate School.
Lots of questions were asked at the first meeting and there were some folks who attended that didn't seem to want to listen to facts presented to them by our city's geologist.
Folks, this is a real problem facing our city. I think that folks who spout their opinions and wishes without a willingness to accept facts presented to them by more than one informed individual, will not get the problem solved as quickly as it should be.
I do understand many homeowners' anxiety and distrust, however. I hope more attendees will be willing to work with the groups that are trying to solve the problems quickly and in positive ways.
__________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment