I must get independent information from multiple sources before I publish much of what I write on this blog, except for my personal comments, that is.
It appears that representatives of Marymount College recently conducted a survey or poll regarding members of our City Council, Planning Commission, and Marymount Plan matters.
My sources are not members of either the Council or the Planning Commission and includes someone with more personal knowledge about what was included in the survey/poll.
It is to the best of my understanding that respondents were asked to make comments on individual members of our City Council and Planning Commission.
Respondents were also asked about their opinions on aspects of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and/or The Marymount Plan.
I don't know if the public will get any view of any results of the survey/poll and it may have been conducted as a gauge mechanism regarding possible candidates for City Council seats and future attempts to have on-campus housing approved at Marymount College.
It is quite reasonable for supporters of plans to have dorms approved at Marymount College support surveys, polls, and other methods to gauge what new steps might be undertaken to secure approval of dorms under The Marymount Plan.
It is probably a fairly good time to have surveys and/or polls conducted because we still have plenty of time for candidates to come forward for possible seats on the Council.
With the latest survey/poll conducted, it is also responsible for me to remind readers of several facts Marymount supporters may or may not want you to know.
I supported adoption and continue to support the going forward of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project. This is the Project moved forward by our Planning Commission and unanimously made into law by our current City Council members.
I think the facts that nothing has been done on forward movement under the Project's entitlements speaks volumes about Marymount's unwillingness to move forward under the Project's allowances and entitlements.
It's dorms or nothing for Marymount, which has now been demonstrated for almost one year!
When enough signatures were gathered to have The Marymount Plan mandated for action by our City Council, only two options were legally allowed:
Approve the complete language of "The Marymount Plan" including on-campus housing for 250 students and five advisers, or have Measure P placed on the ballot for voters to decide whether residents of R.P.V. approved construction of on-campus housing at Marymount.
The election was held. Unlike yesterday's 23.5 turnout of registered voters, the vote regarding Measure P, The Marymount Plan saw just over 68% of the registered voters of our city establish an answer to the question.
By little over a ten-point margin, the majority of the 68% or registered voters in R.P.V. voted down Marymount's wishes to have on-campus student housing in the vicinity of Palos Verdes Drive East.
In 2010, voters said "NO" to having dorms approved at Marymount while it appears quite certainly that the majority of residents of our city approve and support our Council's approval of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.
Dr. Michael Brophy is still the President of Marymount College. The College is legally NOT associated or legally affiliated with any religion or religious organization and remains a private, non-denominational four-year College.
Steps taken during the last several years of consideration of both The Project and The Plan include Marymount's acquisition of four-year college status and entrance into at least one large sports association.
There has been no indication that any representative of Marymount College has stated that Marymount representatives, supporters, financial backers, or others are abandoning attempts to secure approval for on-campus student housing the majority of voters voted down, in 2010.
Again, it's dorms or nothing at Marymount and nobody representing Marymount has challenged that statement.
It ONLY take "Yea" votes by three representative residents of Rancho Palos Verdes to approve the construction of on-campus housing at Marymount College.
When The Marymount Plan issues was sent to the voters, the only other legal option allowed was that, by a majority vote of members of the City Council, the exact content of The Marymount Plan's language would have been used in part to create ordinances allowing for construction of dorms at Marymount.
Three Council members, at anytime, could approve municipal ordinances approving something the majority of voters stated they did not want. Please remember this well, now and into the future.
We saw just yesterday that the majority of voters told all of us they didn't want our city becoming a charter city, with this charter.
We saw last November that the majority of voters told all of us they didn't want our city to have a second college with on-campus student housing in our city.
I think we will soon see that there will be a group of folks did not like what the majority of voters stated back in November are the same folks who think yesterdays vote by the majority of folks was a good thing.
What the recent survey/poll indicates to me is that Marymount is looking for new campaign tactics to use on voters, by helping candidates supporting on-campus student housing getting elected in November.
Of course I need to remind everyone that I am very biased with regard to on-campus student housing at Marymount and I do accept that I have a 'litmus test' regarding any and all candidates for City Council, regarding their support or opposition to having student dorms at Marymount. I have these First Amendment rights that you also have, and thankfully we will all protect them.
Will Ms. Sharon Yarber and/or Ms Erin LaMont run for seats on our City Council.
Who will join Mr. Ken Dyda as far as candidates go for City Council, opposing student housing at Marymount College?
I must state that I have been approached and had discussions with several residents about their thoughts on running for Council seats. I think we may soon know the names of more candidates willing to run.
What I am sure we are going to see is a nasty campaign, sadly. I am also quite sure that the candidates supportive of having dorms approved at Marymount will receive tremendous funding compared to candidates opposed to dorms at Marymount.
I have also heard the word "intimidation" used heard too many times recently. I don't think we are going to find relief from hearing that word during the upcoming campaign.
We must not fear that word and we must not be afraid to speak out, write about, and make other types of comments on candidates and issues we support or are opposed to.
So what if so-and-so is a lawyer or an accountant, or a builder, or anything else. If you like what someone supports or opposes you have every right to be heard and read. If you feel intimidated or fearful then you should probably sit back and let others fight your battles for you.
Whether you get burned or revel in victory means you take a stand and that is something we all should do to support our city, our community, our freedoms.
Politics is a dirty business and this campaign season will be one for the history books, I think.
We have three seats up for grabs and we are going to see candidates cloaking themselves in one issue while secretly working to get elected so they can deal with a completely different issue.
Again, I will continue to seek the truth, whether it swings my way or in opposition to my wishes. I think I still can claim honesty as central on this blog and that folks who try to consider me to be hypocritical on issues are those you must not trust, listen to, or support.
I don't fear being 'out there' and I hope you don't, either. If our city is to prosper we must have a divergent set of groups and individuals working apart and together towards the best future possible. We must have all sides reviewed by the most number of people.
Maybe, just maybe, if we can start from just about scratch, with real comments, meetings, and hard work by lots of folks, we MIGHT have a charter we could live under, coming for a vote, as early as March, 2013. I doubt it will happen that quickly, but it is something we can strive for.
Strap on your writing skills, listening skills, creative remarks notes, speaking talents, and strong opinions because our city and our residents need them all so we can have the best City Council makeup possible on the first Tuesday this December.
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