Chula Vista budget is a team process
As a former Chula Vista City Council member with more than 12 years experience, I have problems with office holders and associated candidates. As a basic for the readers and voters I wish to advise you that no one council member adds personnel to the work force. In fact, it takes a minimum of three of the five members to enact any/all official city actions.
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All council authority comes via a scheduled council meeting and stated agenda (extremely few emergency meetings take place). Plus, all actions must have a motion, a second and an affirmative vote by three to five members. All council members have equal authority, though the mayor has more responsibility.
So, be skeptical when one promises something major or minor, i.e., street signs or pothole filling, new parks or bayfront development, traffic improvements and more. How can just a single council member do this within the law? The fact is, they cannot.
The saying is, “It's easy to take credit for your predecessor's successes in initiating great actions and blame them for the failures.”
The city budget involves many people with in-depth rationales. Any and all changes to the budget require a 4/5 vote. A major change in staffing up or down is a team effort. The council votes on the budget reserve. The growth management program includes action that may take place if/when the pace of residential growth is adverse to the level of traffic. This was to ensure no surprise to the developer and brought about the expediting of the Olympic Center Parkway before it was scheduled. There was no lawsuit, no surprise, just good planning and cooperation.
In summary, an agenda is promulgated, a council meeting is scheduled, a majority of members must be present, a majority of the members or more is required to approve/disapprove an agenda item once a motion is made and seconded. The council primarily makes city policy, the city manager brings the direction to fruition within the law.
It's a team. One or two members in isolation can do very little.
LEONARD M. MOORE
Chula Vista
I am disgusted by the tactic being used, by those who wish to unseat Mayor Steve Padilla, of slamming our city and sacrificing its reputation for the transparent purpose of getting one candidate elected over another (“Chula Vista council busted budget, report says,” Local, Oct. 28). If one really cares about Chula Vista and we are actually on the verge of economic disaster, making this a political issue marketed to the media has the potential to be somewhat self-fulfilling by scaring away would-be investors and developers.
Doomsday fear-mongering and reckless politicking actually push me in the other direction and cause me to question the candidate's judgment and sincerity. In my opinion, the use of these tactics is irresponsible and disingenuous and reflects poorly on the candidate who would benefit.
I would rather see energy put toward problem-solving and working together toward common goals. Our community has endured countless battling and finger-pointing. We are now poised to embark into important new chapters of our municipal history. Whoever is elected will have to work with all sides to move forward and find solutions. Now is the time to foster trust, not to inflict more wounds and cause an even greater divide.
PAMELA BENSOUSSAN
Chula Vista
In support of Padilla
There are a few important facts that the citizens of Chula Vista need to understand before they cast their vote for mayor of our city:
Candidate Cheryl Cox refuses to acknowledge the ties she has to David Malcolm, former Chula Vista council member and port commissioner who was jailed for corruption. Records show that she has taken tens of thousands of dollars from Malcolm.
Cox has been a paid lobbyist, not only for developers who have business with the city, but also casinos, trucking companies and liquor stores.
Cox likes high-rises. Her family had a deposit on a condominium in the now infamous Españada project.
For me, the choice is clear. Steve Padilla has a record that shows that he understands the fine balances between development, redevelopment, the environment and the will of the people.
SHARON M. FLOYD
Chula Vista
Candidate Quinones and her billboard
It is strange that Pearl Quinones, someone who wants so badly to be the mayor of National City, has such a blatant disregard for the laws and codes of National City.
Quinones' lawyers contend that her billboard doesn't violate city code. Perhaps not. However, the content of the billboard is clearly in violation of National City's municipal code. The code says campaign signs have a limit of 32 square feet. The “Vote for Quinones” campaign sign that is attached to the billboard measures 672 square feet. Am I missing something here?
Quinones' assertion that enforcing the code as it pertains to her illegal campaign sign is petty can be translated as “I only have to follow the rules I like, when I see fit to follow them.” Her response is a slap in the face to all citizens of National City.
The bottom line is that if Pearl Quinones is willing to play fast and loose with such a simple portion of the municipal code to serve her own interests in trying to get elected, can we really trust her to protect our interests if she is elected?
ETHAN CHARLES
National City
Allow public input on 'Chargers' project
I was surprised to read comments from City Councilman Ron Morrison favoring a proposed 8-acre development with 1,100 condos, parks and retail office space slated for National City's west side. This proposed redevelopment project is being built to finance a new Chargers Stadium in National City. This massive project will redevelop 4.5 blocks of our downtown with 8th Street on the north, Interstate 5 on the west, Roosevelt Avenue on the east and Plaza Boulevard on the south.
Morrison says that when he was first presented with this potential project he was skeptical, but due to the developer's tenacity he believes this massive development is “getting more credible all the time and can see the city signing an exclusive negotiating agreement with the developer early next year.”
I wonder if Ron Morrison, a candidate for mayor of National City, has taken the time to fill in the existing property owners currently at this designated site, or the rest of us for that matter who live in National City.
I would suggest that City Hall speed up the community input process before this deal is done and any input from the residents and property owners means little or nothing.
DEAN DELIBERTIS
National City
Spending and spending in Imperial Beach
What is it in Imperial Beach that makes it worth spending $230,000 to buy the mayor's seat? Have they discovered oil or gold under our city? I think not!
It seems as though Kourosh Hangafarin, the carpetbagger from the North County, has discovered something that would make him invest more money than has been spent by all the candidates in the last five or six elections for both mayor and City Council.
This man moved into our community, took out the papers and is running for mayor all within a month. He has no endorsements from our community, he has never been to a City Council meeting, and he says that he has the answers for all our ills.
At a candidate forum last week he spoke about his solutions for our northern boundary with San Diego Bay. I would opine that he has never seen or walked the path along the bay and has not the least idea of what is going on there.
What is he trying to buy in Imperial Beach for $230,000 and growing? My only question is “Why?” He has not been able to answer that!
JEANNE SORRELS
Imperial Beach
Recently, the Union-Tribune endorsed the candidacy of Councilwoman Patricia McCoy and her handpicked running mate Matt Stalheim. McCoy is a very decent woman. She has contributed in many ways to our city. But McCoy is lost in her narrow ideology and just can't see past it to allow for compromise. She's living in a parallel universe far away from the reality of our citizens.
Four years ago she along with Mayor Diane Rose spent $35,000 of taxpayer money to overturn a Coastal Commission decision on behalf of a small group of their friends on south Seacoast Drive that would have allowed for a legitimate income flow for our constantly cash-strapped city in the form of a hotel tax. They used taxpayer money to hire a lobbying firm to overturn the decision and secure special privileges for the owner of the Seacoast Inn, Pacifica Co. Pacifica Co.'s owner contributed to the campaigns of both Rose and McCoy.
During the last four years this council has spent thousands on ecotourism studies, La Jolla P.R. firms, TV commercials about I.B. that nobody watches, a half-million dollars on alley studies that the residents ultimately voted down, redevelopment consulting fees of over $100 an hour and other wasteful forms of political adventurism.
STEVE FUTTERMAN
Imperial Beach
