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Dear RPV Residents, Subject: Trump Sues Rancho Palos Verdes for $100 million No doubt some of you will remember when Donald Trump first arrived in town and introduced himself by suing our school district. Now he (actually his shell company VH Properties) has sued our city claiming we are preventing him from developing his property as he sees fit with silly regulations regarding geology. (Recall this is the golf course where a hole fell into the ocean.) He apparently hopes to capitalize on the plaintiff's victory in the Monks lawsuit. There the plaintiffs will get permits to build on unstable land, although they are not likely to get a monetary award against the city. Neither is Trump. Moreover, the facts of the cases are very different. Trump's suit is not justified and represents a betrayal of agreements he previously made with the city. This is a sad day for the city but an even sadder one for Donald Trump who has sullied what good remains in his name (yes he has done a lot of good things) and endangered his legacy. As his dissolute life winds to an end (yes even he is not immortal and very shortly will be nothing but dust), he will leave behind a legacy of bullying and "trumped up" false allegations. One would think he would have the vision to be concerned about his legacy--but apparently not. I set forth below Councilman Stern's detailed description of the suit forwarded to me by a resident. You can expect your city to vigorously defend itself. In the end I believe we will prevail. Tom Long tomlong@palosverdes.com Donald Trump apparently filed a $100 million lawsuit against the City of Rancho Palos Verdes on December 18, 2008. The Complaint lists 13 legal claims, including "Inverse Condemnation" (taking property without paying compensation), "Due Process," "Equal Protection," "Fraud," "Breach of Contract," "Unjust Enrichment," "Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage," and "Unfair Business Practices." It appears that the general basis for the 104 paragraph suit is Trump's claim that he has been prevented from undertaking certain developments at the Trump National Golf Course which he desires. The lawsuit alleges:
Trump claims that he has sought permission to make these developments, but that permission has been denied, and those denials constitute violations of the Constitution. [These allegations are rather interesting, since RPV granted permission for him to place the terrace at the clubhouse years ago, but geological concerns have caused him to not pursue that project. Also, Trump chose to place a driving range in the area where he now claims he wants to place homes. The decision to change that area from residential use to a driving range was made by the Trump organization, not RPV.] Trump also is displeased that RPV has required further geological review of a known landslide area on portions of the property following the devastating Ocean Trails landslide. That landslide, in June 1999, ultimately resulted in the Ocean Trails bankruptcy that led to Trump's acquisition of the golf course from the Zuckerman family. He believes that he has been required to "spend millions of dollars on unnecessary, repetitive, unreasonable, and unlawful geologic and geotechnical studies and reviews,." so as to violate his corporation's Constitutional rights. His suit complains that he has height restrictions on homes he builds which are not imposed on others. All of this, the suit alleges, constitute inverse condemnation or regulatory taking under the United States and California Constitutions, as well as other legal wrongs. Merry Christmas, from Donald Trump to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes Thanks, |
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Dear RPV Residents, As the scope of our economy's troubles seem to worsen we need to consider the city's position as well. I have said that RPV is a tax poor city. It remains so today. Nonetheless, most of the city's sources of revenue have not yet been adversely affected by the downturn. For example, although property values have declined, assessed values continue to rise because the limit of Proposition 13 has kept assessed values so far below the market, particularly in cities like ours where the turnover is low. No doubt sales tax revenues will decline but the city has little commercial development. Building and permit fees will decline, but other sources of revenue such as the utility tax should remain stable. And Terranea is still on track to open next year and likely add significant revenues to the city's coffers. The city's reserves are often called a "rainy day" fund. Well--it is raining. Next year I will be exploring what steps the city may be able to take to accelerate important infrastructure projects even if doing so spends down the city's reserves some. It would be a small step we could take to help contribute to an economic turnaround. We can also all take personal steps to help our economy and the country as a whole. One is to pay the taxes we owe and to do so on time or even early. For those of us who are not serving in the military there is no better patriotic act than paying taxes. It's far more meaningful than flying a flag on a 35 foot pole built without permits or wearing a flag on our lapels. Another step we can take is to personally show our belief in America by investing in its future. If we can still afford to spend we should do so. For those old enough to remember, war bonds were essential to defending this nation during World War II. Buying government bonds is equally essential to our economic future today. Today brought news that the California Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal's decision in the Monks lawsuit. As long as we abide by the court's ruling the city should suffer no financial liability. Now, however, we must allow the development of homes on unstable land. Despite this I do not think much of the land will be developed in the current economy and that much of the remaining open space in the city will be permanently preserved. We will continue to work toward this goal. The council last night upheld the planning commission's decision to allow the St. John Fischer parish to build a new church. Personally I think the design will be a wonderful addition to the community. Particualry at this time of year I was pleased to be able to support such a project. I am hopeful that the neighbors who appealed the decision will accept the decision and not, as so many others in the city have done, commence a lawsuit. I firmly believe that the city should act firmly to recover the expenses of unsuccessful lawsuits against it from those who commence such lawsuits. We have done so in the past with some success. Only by acting decisively can we discourage such behavior in the future. At upcoming meetings we will be addressing proposed developments at Marymount and again at the Valero station. We will also be addressing a new waste hauling contract to replace the current expiring contract which we can no longer extend. The council will seek your input on a number of features of waste pickup. As always I invite your comments and input on your city government. If you wish to be removed form this e-mail list please reply with "remove" in the subject line and please indicate your e-mail address in the body of your reply. My best wishes for a happy holiday season for you and your family! Tom Long tomlong@palosverdes.com |
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Dear RPV Residents, Staff has reported the following to the city council this morning: "The Trader Joe's project at the Golden Cove Center was approved last night by the Planning Commission (5-0 vote). According to the architect and property owner, they are eager to pull permits as soon as possible, but they are targeting construction to begin in summer 2009 so that there is minimal conflict between construction vehicles/activities and the existing Montessori school." This still does not guarantee that the project will be completed but it is am important step. Tom Long tomlong@palosverdes.com |
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Dear Rancho Palos Verdes Residents, The next several months will bring decisions on some important proposed projects in the community. On December 16th the council will address for a third hearing the appeal of the Saint John Fisher project. Tomorrow, Saturday, November 22nd at 1:30, we will have a site visit (my third visit to the site). Later we will be addressing the proposed Marymount College project. If you watch planning appeals at our meetings closely you will see that rather than focusing only on the findings required by our ordinances, we seem to be taking a very expansive role in evaluating projects appealed to us. (I call it "design by hearing.") I encourage you in particular to view our November 18th meeting agenda item on Saint John Fisher. It seems to me to be an excellent study in a very burdensome and unjustified approach toward a property owner's proposed project. An owner's property rights should include being allowed to develop property in accordance with our ordinances even if some councilmembers think the project would be better if done differently. Our actions border on abuse of power. Let the council know what you think by writing to cc@rpv.com Speaking of abuse of power, the City has appealed the strange Court of Appeal decision in Monks ordering the City to grant permits to people to build on land that is moving or unstable. There can be no guarantee that the appeal will be successful. If the appeal fails, new homes will be developed in the moratorium area and possibly even on actively moving land. Fortunately the damage claims against the city were earlier settled by a payment by the JPIA. Some are confused and think that because the settlement only covered damages for "temporary" taking of property that the City is still exposed to damage claims. But the City cannot be held liable for a "permanent" taking unless it loses the appeal and afterwards still refuses to grant building permits despite the ruling. Such an outcome is very unlikely. Despite the financial hardships facing other levels of government and the public generally, the City continues to be in good financial condition. However, the City's stable revenues do not prevent the emergence of significant problems. You will soon hear more about the Terrapaca landslide and San Ramon Canyon. The geological problems in this area threaten both Palos Verdes Drives South and East (the switchbacks) and may cost millions of dollars to solve. We do not have the funding to solve the problem at this time. But we cannot allow these important access roads to be lost. I have walked the canyon with our public works director. I am hoping the video of that walk will soon be available. I remain interested in hearing your concerns. I respond to most e-mails I receive except those mentioning the Trump flagpole and lately Saint John Fisher. Tom Long |
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Click HERE for Tom Long's Endorsements Dear RPV Residents, This year’s election will be historic no matter the outcome. I am setting forth below websites where you can find information on each of the matters the voters are being asked to decide. We are faced with the Presidential election and races for Congress, State Senate and State Assembly. There are also five judgeships, 1 water replenishment district trustee, 12 state propositions, and two county measures to be decided. If you are not registered to vote you can still register on Monday October 20th but that is the last day. I also have my own thoughts on each of the matters but I won’t share them with you here. You may visit my webpage at www.palosverdes.com/tomlong to see my endorsements and my explanation for them. Feel free to send me your thoughts. You may even persuade me to change my mind. I also encourage you to watch the speeches that both Senator McCain and Senator Obama gave at the Alfred E. Smith charity dinner last week. I recommend that you take them in order (McCain spoke first). In my opinion these speeches are the best of each candidate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j82lhqiAF-M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SWQJWm6Tg&feature=related The balance of this e-mail simply lists all of the official websites I have been able to identify for each of the items the voters must decide. You may also want to visit the League of Women Voters site at www.easyvoter.org for guidance. PRESIDENT
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE
STATE SENATE
STATE ASSEMBLY
STATE PROPOSITIONS
COUNTY MEASURES
WATER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT
JUDGESHIPS
Tom Long Tom Long’s Endorsements Election 2008 President – Senator Barack Obama. I won’t try to persuade those of you who favor Senator McCain by going through all of the issues that led me to this conclusion. But I would ask you to consider two issues: health care and government spending. McCain’s health insurance plan will provide each of us $5,000 as a tax credit to go out and buy health insurance on our own anywhere we choose including in other states. McCain also proposes that we be taxed on the value of health insurance benefits we get from employers. The Chamber Of Commerce warns that McCain’s plan may destroy employer-based healthcare. Employer provided health insurance has been the basis of healthcare in this country for years. McCain’s plan will encourage young and healthy employees to seek coverage elsewhere burdening employers and those less healthy employees who are left behind with much higher costs—likely much more than the tax credit he offers. McCain’s plan will also encourage insurers to locate in the states with the least regulation—in essence deregulating health insurance. This is consistent with McCain’s long support of deregulation, but it is especially dangerous for health insurance. The idea that we are better off left alone to deal with insurers is risky and exposes all of us to losing our access to good healthcare and to financial ruin if we do suffer health problems. McCain’s plan to freeze all spending except defense and to work for smaller government will simply encourage a further economic downward spiral. Reduced government spending coupled with already declining private spending will reduce business revenues and eliminate jobs. This in turn will reduce consumer spending (which is the majority of our economy) even more than it has already declined. McCain’s political dogma is a recipe for recession. Obama is right that we need to spend more on infrastructure projects that will both create jobs and leave us better positioned to compete efficiently as the economy recovers. Those with incomes of more than $250,000 will need to pay more taxes to make this work. It is a price worth paying for long term economic recovery. Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell (ret.)
stated many of the reasons I endorse Obama. Here is a link to his recent
interview: Congress – Mayor Debbie Cook. Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook is the first viable candidate to challenge Congressman Rohrabacher since B-1 Bob Dornan challenged Rohrabacher in a primary some years ago. Cook is a PTA mother and grandmother, a small business owner, and a community activist who led successful efforts to protect coastal resources in her city and throughout California. While on the Huntington Beach City Council she led the charge to stop the Orange County Sanitation District from dumping partially treated sewage into the ocean. As an expert on energy issues, Mayor Cook has traveled across the country and internationally speaking out about the energy constraints felt by cities and local government. I have had the opportunity to hear Mayor Cook speak and she is a stark contrast to our current congressman. A few words about Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. I encourage you to “Google’ him. It yields some interesting information. He often defends the indefensible. He has spoken up in favor of Jack Ambramoff and Muslim terrorists operating in Western China. He also spoke in favor of Russia in its recent invasion of Georgia. The motto on his campaign signs is “Liberty, Security, Prosperity.” Where does he stand on these issues? On Liberty: He supported the Bush administration’s efforts to erode civil liberties and expand America’s use of torture. On Security: He previously supported the Taliban when it was battling the Soviets. On Prosperity: He voted against the current rescue plan. He has also been a reluctant supporter of open space preservation in Palos Verdes commenting that he doesn’t see why government should be involved (never mind that voter approved bond issues funded over 90% of the open space land acquisition costs). 20 years of Rohrabacher is plenty. State – Senate Rod Wright. Wright is a former assemblyman who beat a very elderly Mervyn Dymally (a former Lt. Governor) in a hotly contested primary. During the primary campaign Wright took the time to visit all of the cities in the Senate district, something our current state senator never did. Wright is open-minded and his experience will serve us well. His opponent, Lydia Gutierrez is a teacher who serves as a member of a San Pedro neighborhood council. . State – Assembly Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal. Like Wright, Lowenthal has worked hard to learn about Palos Verdes. Her years of experience on the city council and as Vice Mayor of Long Beach will also serve us well. She come from a long tradition of moderation in her well-known political family. Lowenthal’s opponent is our own city’s Gabriella Holt, a former nurse and former school board member and a regular volunteer for RPV for years. Holt is also experienced but would have great difficulty working in the legislature. Of the five members of the current PVPUSD school board, all of whom know her well and four of who are registered Republicans like Holt, only one has endorsed Holt and the other four have endorsed Lowenthal. During the time I have been on the city council in RPV Holt’s contributions as a volunteer have been divisive and disruptive. In sum, Holt does not work well with others. State Propositions
Judgeships. What we are faced with is runoffs for those positions not decided earlier. The Los Angeles County Bar Association’s ratings from earlier this year are still useful. You can find them and links to the candidates own websites and more information about them at the following link: www.lacba.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=9390
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Dear RPV Residents, The City Council decided to accept the proposal by the Annenberg Foundation for Lower Point Vicente. The proposal will still need to go through the planning process which will shape the details. Nontheless I am pleased that we will be able to enhance the area in a way that builds on the educational experience of the Palos Verdes Interpretive Center (PVIC). Also much of the Annenberg Foundation's pledge will be spent restoring natural habitat to an area that has been used for a commercial farm for decades. We will end up with a site that is entirely accessible to the public with over 75 percent open space and less than 3 percent building footprints. This contrasts with the current use of the site where little of the land is natural habitat and about 40 percent is used for farming and not fully open to the public. Many specifics of the project will be addressed in the planning process. I hope all who were interested in the project will stay involved so that we can make it the best project possible. The City will also be developing a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) at upcoming meetings. The City will be seeking residents' input to identify capital improvement projects to be funded over time. On September 20th, the City Council will be holding another all day team building workshop to address how the council works together and with staff. On October 11th from 10 AM to 4 PM, the City will be holding a celebration fo the 35th Anniversary of its founding at PVIC. During this election season, I thought you might find the link below to a "candidate calculator" to be interesting. The webpage surveys you on your opinions on various issues (you can also click on the issue to get a description of what is involved) and compares your views to those of the candidates on the ballot. http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html Finally, no mention of the 2008 election is complete without providing a link to the Jib Jab video on the campaign. http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables/1191/time_for_some_campaignin#/teaser/1191 Tom Long |
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Dear RPV Residents, Some of you may have heard that Trader Joe's is not coming to RPV at Golden Cove, at least not for now. Some people have jumped to the conclusion that the city made this decision. In reality the property owner made the decision to withdraw the application before the city even acted on it at the planning commission level. The matter never even came up at a city council meeting. The property owner submitted a design for a 23 foot interior ceiling with an additional 14 feet of decorative components. As we all know RPV has a view ordinance adopted by the voters which the city staff, planning commission and council are charged to enforce. Staff asked the property owner to consider lowering the decorative components of the building to help preserve ocean views. The property owner's response was to withdraw the application. Are there other factors involved? Probably, but they are known only to the property owner. Did the city make the process too difficult for the property owner? Not at all. While it is disappointing not to be able to welcome a new and desirable business to town, perhaps we will have new opportunities in the future. In the end, though, a property owner is entitled to withdraw an application and leave a property underutilized if that is the owner's choice. We live in a free economy, not a centrally-planned one after all. Tom Long |
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Dear RPV Residents I am posting a copy of Mayor Stern's recent e-mail and former Mayor McTaggart's comments about the FPPC investigation. The complaints and demands made by supposedly anonymous parties (almost certainly Peter Gardiner and Paul Wright) continue to waste city resources. I completely agree with Mr. McTaggart that this nonsense should stop. As you may recall the complaint is that Mayor Stern and I received free gifts of webpages and e-mail addresses that we did not report. There is no requirement to report items that have little or no market value and are available to all candidates. Many candidates (including ironically Gardiner) have used such free webpages in the past and no one reported the webpages.. Those webpages remain available for us to look at even now except for Gardiner's--he has taken his down perhaps in recognition of the hypocrisy of his having done the exact same thing he complains about others doing. Tom Long
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Dear RPV Residents, You may recall in our last election season that RPV was portrayed as suffering from a rapid surge in crime. PVP Watch recently circulated its analysis of the issue claiming increases of up to 100%. What is really happening? Here are links to data assembled by the Daily Breeze: http://www.palosverdes.com/tomlong/pdfs/statistics01.pdf http://www.palosverdes.com/tomlong/pdfs/statistics02.pdf The data shows an increase in crime in RPV from 2006 to 2007 of about 10%, much of which is the result in increased burglaries from cars. (See excerpt from the Daily Breeze article below). The crime rate in RPV has declined by 29% over the longer term since 1995. RPV's crime rate per person is about one-third that of the nearest LAPD patrolled area. One would think that if RPV were really suffering a surge in crime compared to other areas that it would impact the city's real estate values. Nonetheless, even in the current market, the median home sales price in RPV is up in the first quarter of 2008 over 2007 by about 17%. (See link to LA Times summary http://www.palosverdes.com/tomlong/pdfs/LATimes2008_04-20.pdf ). Demagogues are distorting the situation in RPV to advance their own personal agendas. Yet these same people are failing to support improvements in technology that would substantially improve crime control efforts in RPV. The sheriff's ASAP program is being used in other contract cities. It provides automated license plate detection (even in the dark) and database lookup to replace the current method of deputies spotting plates and inputting data by hand. The demonstration I saw was impressive. I believe the system will improve our deputies' abilities to spot criminals. The cost of rolling out the system or something similar Peninsula-wide and maintaining it for 10 years will probably be less than adding one additional patrol car for two years. I urge you to join others in asking the city council to take constructive steps to improve the technology used to combat crime in RPV. Tom Long
Excerpt from Daily Breeze Article of Sunday April 20, 2008 Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates - all patrolled by the Lomita sheriff's station, along with Rolling Hills - saw increases in major crime, each for different reasons. Lomita's crime increase was related to a dramatic rise in assaults and slight uptick in burglaries, but the city experienced drops in robberies and auto theft. Rancho Palos Verdes' rise was linked to more burglaries, and Rolling Hills Estates could blame its surge on burglaries and robberies. Detectives have made arrests to curb the increase in burglaries, working with Los Angeles and Torrance police and Carson deputies to nab criminals who have targeted the entire area, said sheriff's Capt. Ronene Anda, commander of the Lomita station. Like most South Bay cities, thieves are targeting car owners who don't lock their vehicles or put their valuables away. "Vehicle burglaries have been a tremendous problem," Anda said. Deputies have made a large number of arrests to put a dent in the problem, but Anda said it "isn't like the old days," where putting away a few people eliminates a problem. Now, she said, there are plenty to replace those taken to jail. Detectives recently arrested con artists who preyed on elderly residents on The Hill. Criminals claimed to be workers who needed to trim trees in their backyards. When the elderly residents accompanied them to the yard, an accomplice entered the house and took belongings. "Fortunately, we made some great arrests," Anda said. "We haven't seen them come back." Anda said she is redeploying some deputies, taking them from duties inside the station and placing them in the field to put more bodies on the street. |
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Dear RPV Residents, PVP Watch has also posted the complaint made to the FPPC [PVP Watch FPPC Complaint Only ] against both Mayor Stern and me along with a series of letter supplementing that complaint. You will find an index of the complaint and the letters and links to each of them under the PVP Watch "Current Issues " page. [PVP Watch Current Issues] I respond to that complaint on my webpage as well. [Response to Complaint] Personally I remain concerned that Councilman Gardiner's decisions on some issues are influenced by improper motives. Certainly city staff are continuing to be abused and city resources wasted by Gardiner's actions and by those acting on his behalf. Sadly, Gardiner did not respond to my suggestion that he abandon his current course of action and allow city staff and councilmembers to focus on the business of the city. Gardiner continues to miss many of the council meetings (33% last year, 36% in the first three months of this year and he will miss both April meetings) but still manages to find time, with the assistance of others, to be very disruptive to the city's operations. If you have not done so already I urge you to write him at cc@rpv.com and encourage him to get back to business. Tom Long |
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Dear RPV Residents, As time goes on the city is spending even more time (and money, now well into the tens of thousands of dollars) looking for and producing documents demanded (sometimes on less than 24 hours notice) by Councilman Gardiner and his surrogates. I thought it might be useful for the public to know a bit about some of the players involved in the investigations spawned by Gardiner and a few facts about each of them. The background of these individuals helps explain what is happening and whether or not your City's government is becoming crony government. D. M. "Chip" Rawlings: Mr. Rawlings is Gardiner's attorney and a leading member of Gardiner's church. Gardiner urged the city council to hire Rawlings to represent the City in the Monks lawsuit. Such a decision would have cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars because Rawlings and his firm are not on the panel of attorneys for which the City's insurer will pay. Thankfully the council majority rejected Gardiner's suggestion. Of course Rawlings and his firm lost considerable income they would have earned had Gardiner been successful in getting them hired. In pursuing his client Gardiner's interests, Rawlings has suggested that there will be lawsuits. Other surrogates of Gardiner have referenced "Peter's lawsuit." Brian Hildreth: Mr. Hildreth is a Sacramento political attorney who represents supposedly anonymous clients who have made public records act requests to the City. Those requests closely track issues raised by Gardiner and his surrogate Paul Wright during the last campaign. Like Rawlings, he is a member of Gardiner's church. The results of his document requests are being shared with Rawlings and Gardiner. Mr. Hildreth also represents Tina Maron, the RPV resident who has filed FPPC complaints against Mayor Stern and me. More about her below. Tina Maron: An RPV resident represented by Mr. Hildreth who brought FPPC complaints against Mayor Stern and myself. While I was mayor, Mrs. Maron sought to have the City intervene in a dispute with her neighbor. Maron wanted the City to force her neighbor to bring his drainage "up to code" even though work he was doing on his property was not extensive enough to trigger such a requirement under the City's ordinances. Gardiner intervened and attempted to force a resolution favorable to Maron. The city staff, with my support, refused to give Mrs. Maron special treatment. Mrs. Maron later sued her neighbor. She lost her lawsuit. Mrs. Maron attended a public candidates' forum during the 2007 election campaign where she was disruptive and verbally attacked Stern, Wolowicz and me for not forcing city staff to accede to her wishes. Gabriella Holt: Former school board member, as is Gardiner, and manager of Gardiner's 2005 city council campaign. While on the school board, Holt hired an attorney to aggressively pursue her agenda against the board majority. When Channel 33 was established at Gardiner's urging, Holt became general manager. Rather than report to the city manager Holt reported to a one-person council subcommittee consisting of Gardiner until I became mayor and Carolyn Lehr became city manager, at which time efforts to change the management of the station began. Mrs. Holt expressed dissatisfaction with the new management structure at Channel 33 prior to her resignation as general manager shortly after the council election last fall. She also had a poor working relationship with Mr. Vegvari. More about him below. While still general manager of Channel 33, Mrs. Holt became campaign manager of Paul Wright's campaign. Wright was Gardiner's chosen candidate to unseat either Doug Stern or me. Mrs. Holt made use of her position as general manager to advance her own political goals by posting self-promotional pictures of herself with our County Supervisor. Shortly after resigning from Channel 33 Mrs. Holt formally announced her campaign for state assembly. Her major supporters include Councilman Gardiner and Suzanne and Paul Wright. Ted Vegvari: Head of the non-profit PV on the Net which provides many IT services to the City and the community. PV on the Net also helped with Channel 33 for a time until Mrs. Holt became dissatisfied. Mr. Vegvari supervised an unsuccessful Channel 33 internship for Councilman Gardiner's son that resulted as well in a failed job opportunity for Gardiner's son. Mr. Vegvari was blamed by Mrs. Holt for supposed problems at Channel 33. After Mrs. Holt's complaints and his son's failed internship, Gardiner began accusing the City of overspending on supposedly unnecessary IT services, including in his criticisms IT services that he had previously asked the City to provide. Mr. Vegvari has been particularly vilified by Gardiner's surrogates. Mr. Rawlings suggested to me that Mr. Vegvari should be fingerprinted because he works with children. Mrs. Wright, an attorney, spoke to the city council making vague allegations of financial misconduct by PV on the Net but providing no facts. Ken DeLong: Board member of PVP WATCH, an organization that is typically critical of the current city council. PVP Watch recently expressed support for Gardiner's investigations in an e-mail distributed around the same time that Councilman Gardiner demanded the production of documents relating to the City's contracting for phone services. Interestingly Mr. DeLong had sought a contract to provide those very same services to the City a few years ago and had expressed unhappiness to Gardiner about not getting the contract, pointing out that he had supported Gardiner's campaigns. I stand by each statement above as factual. I urge the local press to investigate these facts and to see what additional ones they can develop. Some interesting questions remain. For example: Who is paying for the expenses of Gardiner's investigations of his fellow councilmembers and city staff? Who are the anonymous clients represented by a Sacramento attorney who have such a strong interest in our City's issues and whose concerns so closely track those of Gardiner and his surrogates Suzanne and Paul Wright? Are there quid pro quo arrangements between Councilman Gardiner and the various people whose personal causes he is championing? Is Councilman Gardiner himself simply a front for the interests of others, a Potemkin councilmember, if you will? If Councilman Gardiner succeeds in firing the city manager, ending the relationship with PV on the Net and getting much of the City's senior staff dismissed as well, who will take their place? Gardiner's cronies perhaps? Councilman Gardiner seeks the firing of RPV's new city manager and much of the current senior staff and an end to the City's long-term relationship with the non-profit PV on Net for the provision of IT services to the City and the community. The rest of the council does not support these changes and does not see a valid basis for them. Gardiner is unwilling to accept majority rule and is attempting to cast the city government into chaos with unreasonable demands for information and unwarranted ad hominem attacks on his fellow councilmembers and on staff. If Gardiner succeeds, the answer to the question posed by this e-mail will be "Yes, RPV's government is crony government." Councilman Gardiner's recent actions and those of his surrogates have made a mockery of the City's government. You can draw your own conclusions, but mine are that Gardiner is motivated by strange personal vendettas and cronyism that have no place in the government of our City. I urge you to join me and others in asking him to return to the business-like conduct he showed during some of his first term of office and to allow the council as a whole to do the same. You can e-mail the entire council at cc@rpv.com Councilman Gardiner is out of town on business for the month of April. Gardiner was recently quoted in a local newspaper saying that if 200 residents show up at a council meeting to suggest that he do something that trumps everything. Maybe 200 e-mails will have the same effect. Please help fill up his mailbox with requests to stop the nonsense to give him something to read when he returns and encourage him to (hopefully) attend our meetings in May with a new and improved sense of purpose. Please also share this e-mail with anyone you know who might be interested in the quality of government in our city. Tom Long |
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Dear RPV Residents, As many of you know, the city had a management study
conducted recently. The City Council will be addressing recommendations
from that study at an evening workshop starting at 6 PM next Monday
March 24th at Hesse Park. The council will also have its tactical
workshop the following Saturday, March 29th, at 9 AM at Hesse Park.
Both of these items were scheduled so as to assure attendance of all
councilmembers given the importance of the issues involved. Residents
are also invited to attend. I encourage you to do so or to send your
comments and thoughts to cc@rpv.com Tom Long |
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Dear RPV Residents, Those of you who saw the beginning of the council's Tuesday February 19th meeting were treated to a unique set of events. Councilman Gardiner has hired an attorney, Chip Rawlings. This attorney contacted all of the members of the council shortly before our Feburary 19th meeting. Rawlings asked us to agree to meet with him in private to discuss our alleged violations of the Brown Act. He assured us that if we would take a "cooperative" approach with Gardiner and do what Gardiner wanted done on some of our agenda items everything could be handled "quietly." I will never bend to blackmail. I will not decide public agenda items of the city in private, even if I am threatened with reports of allegations. I have reported Rawlings to the California State Bar. This is the first time in my 25 year career as an attorney that I have had to make such a report. A copy of my report and the e-mails I sent to the bar together with some additional e-mails are set forth in the first PDF below. Read what Rawlings said and judge for yourself. Rawlings has claimed to be Gardiner's "proxy." I hold Gardiner personally responsible for Rawlings' misconduct. Mayor Stern has, quite properly, reported Rawlings and Gardiner to the Public Integrity Unit of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. That report is not public and I am not aware of its contents. The district attorney is charged with investigating extortion, among other things. I did not violate the Brown Act. I do not discuss the substance of agenda items with more than one councilmember before our meetings. A copy of the e-mails Rawlings cited as supposed evidence of a Brown Act violation by Mayor Stern, Councilman Wolowicz and myself are set forth as the second PDF below. Again, I urge you to read the e-mails and judge for yourself. You can also watch the February 19th meeting on the city's website. Link to Feb 19, 2008 City Council Meeting I encourage you to write to the city council cc@rpv.com and join me and others who oppose efforts by Gardiner and his proxy Rawlings to blackmail the rest of us into following Gardiner's wishes. Please suggest that Rawlings and Gardiner and the "anonymous" parties seeking documents from the city to cease their disruption of city government. The actions of Gardiner and his attorney threaten the very fabric of democracy. Tom Long Rawlings Bar Complaint and Subsequent Email as of Wednesday, February 20, 2008 |
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