• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 25 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

Politics as Usual : 12/18/2009

'Nuff said

BeachGuy

groomed with $$$ : 12/18/2009

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ keep the planning commission free of independent thinkers and rubber stamp projects that are paid for.

p.a.u.

Careful what you pray for, lame duck council : 12/18/2009

how well do you really know Miss Schwartz? is she really the best you could do in king/queenmaking?
and Helene, well, the only reason she refused to back Thompson is that Schwartz had supported Helene's one-time-rival Falcone in the mayor's race. Helene is the purest of poitical animals-its not about the future council--its about her, her and her.

does not bode well

correction-"continued to back Thompson" : 12/18/2009

does not bode well

Purging the Dr. Dan Legacy : 12/18/2009

The tone of the quotes here is a drastic shift from the mood of the incumbent city council members in recent years, when they boasted that a Planning Commission appointment was based on an applicant needing to be more of a zoning and EIR wonk instead of being a community activist. Addison Thompson, like his pal current commissioner Bruce Bartlett, know such planning issues well, but they seldom ever saw a developer's proposal they did not like an always favored the builders instead of the neighbors of a project. As for the newbies Schwartz or Jordan being groomed for a city council run, that seems dubious as neither of them can be considered "left-leaning" and connected to community activities, although Jordan has showed up at various public meetings now and then. Schwartz has not been active in much of anything that does not cost a $100 or more admission price. While their grooming to run for council in 2014 may make sense with the planning commission as a stepping stone, either of them running in 2011 just would be cynical opportunism on their part, despite all the platitudes heaped on them by Grant House. The council election for 2011 really starts just a year from now.

screw something up, indeed

Grooming Schwartz? : 12/18/2009

Perhaps the Council has made the mistake of thinking that Deborah Schwartz even begins to resemble her mother Naomi in any way shape or form. On the County Historic commission she has proven to be a lone friend of the Botanic Gardens Management much to the dismay of the Mission Canyon neighbors. She likes to sidle [?] up to bigname/bigmoney owners under the guise of bringing people together.

Careful what you wish for

Reactionary Palace Revolution : 12/18/2009

Who reading this doesn't get it. The people of Santa Barbara are waking up to the ongoing failures of "Smart Growth" as has been published in the LA Times, Chicago, Oregon, and multiple other cities/states throughout the world. This was in part reaction to sand bagged committees / commissions as well as stubborn "Staff" making $90K or greater who are destroying street circulation with bulbouts and hazardarounds.
THIS IS NOTHING MORE THEN A PALACE REVOLUTION INTENDED TO THWART THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR CHANGE OF THE HIGH DENSITY - STREET DESTRUCTION MAKE-UP OF THE COUNCIL IN THE LAST ELECTION.
They gave out raises in the worst of the Recession. All the while other cities were cutting salaries. They refused to fire employees creating deficits on top of deficits after "bare bone budgets" were approved and then changed. Like addicted drug addicts they continue to spend money on "studies" and ignore that taking "grant money" from deficit ridden State and Federal Government bankrupts society.
This is an intentional attempt to continue programs regardless of the outcome of the election. It is intentional to make government direction so one sided that no changes wanted by the people will ever take place.
Remember it was Council-elect White, as Planning Commissioner before voting to create monster bulbouts at Milpas and De la Guerra, who stated the people really hate these things, and then approved them.
Now what was the board the council shook up? OH YES THE PLANNING COMMISSION.

Native Barbarian

Deborah is great : 12/18/2009

So glad Ms. Schwartz made the Planning Commission. Way to go! She's so nice and appraochable, I think she's great.

I like nice people.

Now everyone's crossing the cross dressing line : 12/18/2009

Liberal, left, conservative, right. We need a new label for delineation. An example; Francisco, Hotchkiss and Self, are in the crazy as Sarah Palin political category. Secord's commission and council record, approving just about every project that came before him and as I recall appealed approvals in his own nearly rural backyard. Not so bad. But Secord did ignore lesser and more dense neighborhood complaints as "objective" and with emotional detachment that did seem mean and autocratic. I think along with other Secord decisions I would put Secord in that crazy as Sara Palin category. Regardless Secord like most in the community are liberal with other people's neighborhoods while conservative with his own. That's the problem.

Don McDermott

New Planning Commission Members : 12/18/2009

It has never made sense to me that an outgoing City Council gets to appoint new or incumbent Commissioners to serve for the next 4 years under a newly elected Council. It is invevitable that at some point, some of the key commissions will have members who differ 100% from the Council they are supposed to advise, not just in ideology (which is not supposed to be a criteria) but in how they view the city and it's future. I praise Helene and Dale for sticking with an incumbent who has done a good job. In this case, it looks like three outgoing councilmembers ((includes Mayor Blum) and another member who wants to leave and is once again seeking higher office as he has done several times previously. Why not postpone these commission appointments two weeks next time and let the new council appoint the members? Or, even more radical, let each council member appoint one member to each of the commissions (but after the election.)

The Petard

New Planning Commission members (Corrected Version) : 12/18/2009

It has never made sense to me that an outgoing City Council gets to appoint new or incumbent Commissioners to serve for the next 4 years under a newly elected Council. It is invevitable that at some point, some of the key commissions will have members who differ 100% from the Council they are supposed to advise, not just in ideology (which is not supposed to be a criteria) but in how they view the city and it's future. I praise Helene and Dale for sticking with an incumbent who has done a good job. In this case, it looks like three outgoing councilmembers ((includes Mayor Blum) and another member who wants to leave and is once again seeking higher office as he has done several times previously, are indeed planting seeds for the next council election. Do they think they're fooling the electorate?? No way.
Why not postpone these commission appointments just two weeks next time and let the new council appoint the members? Or, even more radical, let each council member appoint one member to each of the commissions (but after the election.)
The Petard

The Petard

experience, knowledge and dedication count for nothing : 12/18/2009

Give Helene credit for supporting Thompson as the most experienced and best choice available. Except for that it was totally politics as more than usual! I have rarely agreed with Dan Secord, but I do on this one. It was shocking and insulting to not reappoint Thompson, if, that is, experience, knowledge and dedication count for anything. Schwartz ran for the harbor commission a couple of years ago and spoke of her love of the beaches. Despite Falcone's pushing (and Falcone had run her mother Naomi's campaigns) she didn't make it. Janet Wolf, Falcone loyalist, then appointed her to the County Historic Landmarks where she's been for a little more than a year. When she applied for the PC her speech was also nothing but platitudes --- and yet she got the majority of the council votes!!! Were her name Smith and her mother not a power-broker in Democrat politics, she'd not have been appointed; we all know that. House's comments are the most insulting of all. Noted especially was that of always-running-politician Williams. As for Williams, he's the best argument there could ever be for term limits and Schwartz walks right in his me-first alley....

sb city voter

Helene is all about payback : 12/18/2009

Simple equation: Schwartz did not support Helene vs. Iya.
Helene will not support Schwartz. Knowing of course that Schwartz has the votes to get in.
Yes Das's comment i.e. cause Thompson never called him he somehow couldn't reappoint him?! Guess what Das- some Commissioners, actually the best, are independent of and don't kiss the......feet of electeds eg you. of course, Miss Schwartz no doubt will call you all the time

ugly theater

All About Politics, Not Good Planning : 12/18/2009

Deborah Schwartz said: "She believes her qualifications, and not political agendas, are responsible for her appointment." If Schwartz really believes that, she is seriously delusional. She is totally unqualified by any standard---no related training or experience of any significance. City planning is highly technical and complex. Planning commissioners need broad knowledge, sound judgment and substantial related experience to be effective. Schwartz has none of these. It is glaringly obvious that she was appointed solely to advance her own political career so that she can run for elected office (City Council) in a couple of years. As daughter of the Queen Bee of Lefties, Naomi Schwartz, the Council majority paid off some old political debts---at the expense of good city planning.

Santa Barbaran for Good Planning

No fan of Thompson, but... : 12/18/2009

In the case of the dispensary at 2 W Mission, when it came before the Planning Commission for permit revocation, Thompson accused the county school (whose landlord neglected to notify them of a pending dispensary moving close by) of being 'stealth' and tried to give the dispensary permit-seekers at 2 W Mission extra privileges for not having managed to find a school within a block of their establishment, despite the dispensary's claims of 'significant' neighborhood outreach. That was a mistake. He further didn't want to find the school to be a school in this case, which is egregious. But I don't think Schwartz will be any better. Jordan's a political animal. Watch for him to swing whichever way the wind blows.

SB res

: 12/19/2009

Just more of the same ol same ol. I wonder if the voters of SB will ever wake up.
Well, I'd like to thank the outgoing mayor and council for driving what was once a beautiful and tranquil place into the ground in an effort to either further your political agendas, or appease Orange County developers... or both. You folks have completely disregarded the will and desires of the people of this city and you should be nothing less than completely ashamed of yourselves.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Just describe her experience to me : 12/19/2009

I'm open to Ms. Schwartz--anyone for that matter-bein appointed to the Planning Commission. I'm just curious after years of hearing first and secondhand stories of the reasons people were given for not being appointed to the PC--people with longtime roots and experience here----of the unique qualifications she brought to the table.
Is there a resume or application on line that we can view, of her or any other applicant?

just the facts please

Some Facts Here : 12/19/2009

Applications for all appointments are public records; just visit the City Clerks office to see them or request a copy. Appointments to all the boards are made twice per year, or four times each election cycle, so this is not necessarily a conspiracy to let lame duck council members make their departing appointments the way that Dan Secord did by being the one-vote margin for the initial appointment of Addison Thompson in December 2005. However, one of the two semi-annual appointment periods could be shifted from mid December to mid January annually. Planning Commissioners or any other of the seven-members boards could shift to a direct lineage style of government, like the County does, where each council member directly controls each Planning Commissioner or other board member. Do we really want that? Seems like we already have plenty of political nonsense when the whole council deals with an issue. Addison Thompson indeed may have been smart and dedicated as a commissioner, but he still voted regularly to appease the developers while damaging neighborhoods and environmental quality in Santa Barbara. Deborah Schwartz should make a fine Planning Commissioner in the usual tradition of detached elitism, which is most of the problem. The list of applicants really was not too deep this time, as the recent city council election distracted lot of political attention when applications were due last October. As for either Schwartz or Jordan having more political ambitions, just how would it look to the voters and the political cognoscenti if they are on the job as a Planning Commissioner for just a year? In December 2010 the leading candidates for city council already will have to announce their intentions to run for the election in November 2011.

Naturalized Barbarian

checkmate : 12/19/2009

Yes it was the move of a loser who thinks he's wiser than he really is. Did any of them bother to talk with
people who have served with schwartz on any of the boards or commissions she's been? That might have informed a different move. Oh well.

Not so wise after all

A reasonable choice for a difficult job : 12/20/2009

I read the Molina column with interest when it came out. I was a little surprised he tried to put a political spin to the Planning Commission appointments, but felt that a journalist has to earn a living. Even though the political spin seemed unwarranted, I thought comments were unnecessary. Then I read the comments.
My first reaction was shock. I had no idea there were these kind of people in Santa Barbara—even the number of people who wrote belittling and twisted responses to the article How sad.. for Santa Barbara. Let us look at the facts:
If Ms. Schwartz was the “liberal” choice and the “liberal” flag-bearer, how could the mayor-elect failed to support her—in favor of a candidate who was appointed by a conservative (a lame duck one in case you name-callers have forgotten). So Ms. Schwartz is not a “liberal”.
Disheartened by Mr. Francisco’s move from a seeming well-prepared alternative reasoned voice in his first few years on the council to becoming another ranting neo-con, spinning and twisting the facts for pure political ends, I noted Mr. Francisco did not support Ms. Schwartz, either. So she is not a “conservative”.
Her pre-qualifying presentation to the Council was a general statement of her background and goals. The disrespect shown by one commenter who claimed all Ms. Schwartz did was spout platitudes at her qualification presentation shows the inadequate intelligence needed to understand the requirement for a quick summary to Council. Ms. Schwartz spoke to the subject, articulately and on point.
Surely anyone who knows the two appointed commissioners, knows that Jordan (who, may I remind the mindless, received 100% of the votes) is and always has been a liberal. Yet the article, for one, and the comments all spotlight Ms. Schwartz as the “result of” or “as being” a “liberal”. If there are any politics at play here, it is the politics of the people commenting. What a polemic of sour grapes dribble.
Any intelligent person would look at the facts and not join the (national) republican name-calling paradigm. An intelligent person would come to the conclusion that Ms. Schwartz is being appointed to a commission that is to reflect the lay-population (not the people who call themselves planners or architects); that is to be apolitical (not a person who is, as some have called the unsuccessful candidate, a person who never met a developer he did not like—very Secord-esque); and has and does show a strong interest in the community, architecture, and culture. Indeed, a person like Ms. Schwartz.
Ms. Schwartz has shown as a committee person on the Historical Landmark Advisory Committee that she can be thoughtful, well-studied, fair, impartial, and articulate. Yes, there are few rabid fools who feel the garden should not be for the people, by the people, and of the people and they are obviously some of the people commenting on Ms. Schwartz. Myopic and bad for Santa Barbara, ugly in personality. Ms. Schwartz has been a voice of reason and fairness on HLAC—something a true bigot would be unable to see.
It is true that Ms. Schwartz has not been on the planning commission before. Ironically, it also is true that Dale Francisco served in NO public capacity prior to his serving on City Council, yet for these obtuse and self-centered people commenting on the above article, Mr. Francisco seems to “have the right stuff”. Why would these people not give Ms. Schwartz at least the two years they appear to have given the unqualified and inexperienced Mr. Francisco?
The hostile and demeaning prior comments to the article reflect a sickness that is pervasive nationally and I, for one, had hoped it would not infect our wonderful Santa Barbara. I was wrong. The Council was right. Ms. Schwartz will show that she is both qualified and responsible in her tenure as Planning Commissioner.

a TRUE Santa Barbaran

the sickness affecting SB : 12/20/2009

This was a thoroughly political appointment. Anyone who thinks otherwise is foolish, if not a fool. As for Schneider being the liberal standard-bearer, that's also incorrect: she's more centrist, apparently recognizing that this is a city of all political persuasions, from left to right. That she didn't vote for Schwartz is to be respected; that she recognized the dedication of the one-term PC incumbent, 'though she probably did not agree with all of his votes, I, a Democrat, respect.
How will the City ever get people to serve on citizen commissions when it is so clear, as in this majority vote, that the choice is not experience, training, dedication and fairness, but who you know, whose political bed you share. THAT is the sickness affecting Santa Barbara --- and it is no wonder at all that so many of the citizen commissions lacked applicants this time.

SB city voter

planning commissioner appointment : 12/21/2009

Gee some of these biased comments about Ms. Schwartz sound like they are coming directly from Mr. Francisco's camp. What is going on here? And the lack of civility by some is really disheartening. Mr. Francisco was a manager at a hi-tech company with no public service background before running for elected office only two years ago. It looks like he and his followers could be gunning for Ms. Schwartz because of her Democratic Party affiliation and not on her ability to be an effective planning commissioner.

setting the record straight

Perverted Process : 12/21/2009

Reading comments, it would appear success in private industry is no longer considered a plus when running for office or sitting on a commission. That is the problem. This city moved 30 years ago to a political correctness appointment and election process. How sad for the town and residents. Bottom line management has been replaced at civil service management, and elected office for "PC." Now you know why Paseo Nuevo, and most of Old Town State St. limps along.

Sick and Tired

What's with the Francisco bashing? : 12/22/2009

He and Helene were in agreement on this one, yet you all jump on his back. What's up with that? He has been the voice of reason often on that council, but no one sees it. Why is that? Come on people. Republicans can be human, and smart, too!

downtown res

flakey debby : 12/23/2009

Debby is a flake - its that simple. She didn't run for council because nobody except Naomi's most extreme loyalists supported her. She has an unremarkable resume and a lackadaisical work ethic. Putting her on the planning commission is a desperate attempt to develop a track record that she can use to run in 2-4 years for council. Then she can run for Supervisor when that seat opens...

ugh