So, I was accused of being mental because I reacted (OK overreacted) to the cutting down the trees around the fountain at Escondido City Hall. Now, I’ve attended most of the city council meetings during the last year, and I do not remember, ever, any discussion of removing those trees. And I do remember times when the cones of those Podocarpus were underfoot and making stains on the sidewalk. But a danger to the public? Couldn’t the sidewalks be swept daily during the month or so they drop their cones for less than the cost of removing the perfectly healthy, robust trees? Trees that shade the fountain and absorb carbon dioxide?
Now, according to John Masson, those trees were removed due to the request of the city staff for “maintenance and safety”. Somehow, this, to me, represented the general attitude of the current city council and their reaction to anything that would enhance the environment or art or culture. Cut them down. They’re making a mess! Close the library, it costs too much money, and it mainly only serves brown people. And our voters don’t like brown people—who speak Spanish. Outsource the library—the library staff cost too much money, and we can hire two people to help out our buddy the City Manager, ex-City Attorney Jeff Epp by hiring two more people in his department. Never mind that he is already highly paid. https://www.californiacitynews.org/2016/07/californias-top-paid-city-managers.html
The city has outsourced the maintenance of its parks, to its detriment. I remember when my son played soccer 30 year ago in Kit Carson Park. It was lovely. The city cared about its parks. Now they’re a mess. I remember when going to the library was a pleasure, where people could relax and study. The library has lost over 200 years of library experience. I mentioned that to Councilman John Masson, and he shrugged his shoulders. Had I told him the city had lost 200 years of police experience, he would have reacted with alarm. That’s the current city council’s blighted values. They seem to have forgotten the truth that was realized in the 19th Century, that schools are cheaper than jails. They are all for removing graffiti without addressing the underlying cause of graffiti. They are penny wise and pound foolish.
Mayor Sam Abed has a business called Pacific West Consulting that “specializes in how to describe a project to elected officials and the media.” http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sdut-escondido-mayor-launches-consulting-firm-2013mar02-story.html He see no conflict of interest. He finds no problem accepting contributions from developers and then voting for their projects. It is all perfectly legal, but moral?
Children love the fountain at the Escondido City Hall. The trees provided shade over that fountain. The majority of children playing there are brown. Masson said the decision to cut down the trees was driven by staff. Maybe, but a staff employed by a mayor and city council who have often voted to make life more difficult for brown people who also speak Spanish. Those who are anti-immigrant, who support the current council majority, don’t differentiate between immigrants with green cards and those undocumented. I have observed their behavior. They object to brown people speaking Spanish. Those are the people to whom Abed et al. want to appeal. That’s why they join with Trump’s suit against California’s SB 54—another boondoggle waste of city money. https://ablueviewescondido.com/2018/04/11/ego-hubris-and-the-curious-amicus-curiae/
That’s what is dividing Escondido, the good ole boy network that stirs up anti-immigrant passion to stay in office and continue their pay-to-play politics, and the rest of the city. Not to see this truth is what is “mental”.
A Blue View for Escondido 
I really think you are out of your mind, not to mention your weird obsession with race is truly bizarre. You really think that Escondido cut down trees because brown people enjoy the shade? I don’t really believe your Mia culpa, because your first reaction is usually your true belief. Prove me wrong by naming a couple of things that our current city Government has done right, in fact name something that Mayor Abed has stated correctly. I truly believe you will not be able to do that because you are absolutely blinded by your leftist views of reality, unable to clearly see the progress that Escondido has made. I will be clear that I think Escondido still has a ways to go to improve our city, in fact I think that our city still does not take seriously how important our schools, infrastructure and parks are to prospective city residents, in fact I have no idea why I can drive down the flower streets and see all kind of code violations but the city can’t. I have no idea why our schools can’t just copy the Preuss School and make them top notch, in fact I am shocked that we did not have a GATE program until this year, talk about lowing the bar. Escondido is improving, albeit slowly, I really hope you are honest enough to see that, or do you really want to go back to the Harmon days of no growth and dilapidation?
LikeLike
I’m far from alone in my thinking. The right has gone out of its mind supporting that ignorant, incompetent, buffoon, racist, misogynistic sexist, conman, narcissistic sociopath who is unable to differentiate the truth from what he want to believe to be true. Anyone who supports der pumpkinfuhrer is ignorant, stupid, insane or living in the FOX noise fact free bubble. Intelligent conservatives like George Will agree with about the AH in the White House. Sam Abed has many similarities to Trump. You ask me to name some things the current government is doing right–well getting homeless people in contact with their families is one thing. The project to recycle water for agricultural use is another. I do not have an obsession with race–if you do not see the racism that occurs daily in this city, then you must not be paying attention.
LikeLike
I really don’t see the racism that you see, our great Center for the Arts is putting on a Day of the Dead festival, which has no appeal to me since it’s a pagan event, but still it reflects the desire of the Latino culture. I am glade you finally realize that the Washington recycled water plant is a good thing since you railed against it. I think you see racism in places that don’t exist, in fact most people are too busy working and paying bills to worry if brown people are going to the library or enjoying the park. What I think is true, and most liberals refuse to acknowledge is that, most working class families could care less about the color of peoples skins, but they do care about groups making it harder to get by and for their kids to get a decent education. I really don’t care who is enjoying our parks, but I do expect those people to keep it clean, to work hard, and to care about education and the next generation.
LikeLike
I objected to the positioning of the water plant–not the plant itself. I disagree with your appraisal. It has been clear to me that much of the anti-Obama stuff was pure racism–like the birther nonsense. You may not be a racist if you support Abed, but you can be sure that all the racists in town support him. And Abed rouses that racist anti-immigrant feeling with his rants against the “sanctuary state”.
LikeLike