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I.B. Voters' Guide

At taxpayers’ expense, they abuse the system to silence their critics By Ed Kravitz

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ecause of other technical mistakes and perjurious disputable testimony, the case of John Carr, arrested while trying to join SWIA two years ago, is headed back to court. In closed session, two years ago, Patricia McCoy voted to pay the City Attorney to represent Mayda Winter in a personal civil case. The City Attorney’s efforts to have the matter resolved ex-party, without the defendant present, failed. Winter had pleaded to the other council members for the City Attorney's representation to have restraining order issued against John Carr. This would have prevented Carr from covering City Council Meetings for the I.B. Sun newspaper and - whatever your opinion of the I.B. Sun, that's censorship of the press. And, to add insult to injury, this attempt at censorship was paid for by the very taxpayers who need to be told what's happening in council meetings. Whenever the City Attorney is hired to represent the City, he is paid a flat fee retainer of $7,500 to take the case. That’s a lot of taxpayer money, especially if the case happens to be frivolous. He bills additional time on an hourly basis. Winter committed perjury in her testimony before a judge of the Superior Court. Her allegation that she was in “fear for her life” and “Carr was only a foot away from me when I got to my car,” now appears specious. Winter and Deborah Carey were almost jovial, smiling and laughing as they entered

their minivan. And photographs taken of the incident by two different parties show this. Carr was nowhere near the vehicle. When this case goes back to court, Mayda Winter, Patricia McCoy, Diane Rose and Jim Janney will have some explaining to do before a judge in the Superior Court. Did the Council support Winter’s efforts to get a restraining order against Carr to prevent him from covering City Council Meetings and reporting accurately about what was really going on at City Council Meetings? The ladies don’t like criticism. You can get a lot more work done when people don’t know what your doing. Carr has questioned their ethics and motives in editorial comments. So Winter’s restraining order against Carr had very little to do with whether or not it was legal for him to try to join a 501(c)(3) non-profit group called SWIA. McCoy approved spending a minimum of $7,500 for the City Attorney to execute a vendetta against Carr, for coining the phrase “Las Tres Cucarachas” to describe the three ladies on the council’s ability to survive disaster after political disaster. The restraining order was a punishment handed out in the same manner as the $35,000 fine the three ladies imposed on Carr for building a fire escape on his apartments after the City had delayed his plans for more than a year. The building was occupied and the small deck and stairs, within his fenced yard protected him from liability as a landlord in the event of fire. He could not wait more than a year to get it approved

Page 2 - I. B. Voters' Guide - Nov. 2006

and he built it as an act of civil disobedience and out of self preservation in case there ever should be a fire when there was no fire escape. The small railed wraparound porch and stairs were removed by Carr after the City cited him ”within his fenced yard” that one of the posts was in an easement. While it would have been easy to give a variance for six inches, they made him dismantle the entire structure and build it back another foot or two. After he complied, they voted to fine him $35,000 anyway. No wonder Carr is pissed off! And this is the “Patricia McCoy Treatment.” If you criticize the council, you will be punished too. If I was doing this project and living in Imperial Beach, I’d be in jail for spitting on the sidewalk. They would abuse their power and influence to the extent they could get away with it. Why are people afraid to display SaveIB.Com bumper stickers, T-shirts and other art? Fear of retribution is the sad answer. Although most of my former neighbors and friends are pretty smart people, they are also afraid to speak against the ladies and their new accomplices. They know about how David Garcias or Greg Wade can be sicked on a business or a homeowner. They’ve heard about it in the past and they’ve been there long enough to have seen it with their own eyes. A passive press is very important in the overall plans of the three women and their two newer accomplices on the City Council. When your doing sneaky consent-item

stuff and there aren’t many citizens there to witness it or request that an item be pulled and held for a public hearing before voting. It’s great to have a reporter who is asleep or who only prints the official press release from the incumbents as being news. People in Imperial Beach are just waking up from a long sleep. You guys missed a lot while the IBCC was running the City. If you read the Eagle & Times, you know almost nothing. That’s they way they like it! The SaveIB.Com Web site has run a series of advertisements in The Imperial Beach Sun and in the Eagle Times Newspaper. We paid an advertising contract with Eagle Times for four ads over six weeks and then expanded that ad with two more color ads of businesscard size. For the last two days prior to this writing I have placed more than six telephone calls to the editor of Eagle Times

Newspapers Dean Eckenroth Sr. He did not return any of my calls. But his display advertising manager, Guy, did call to tell me that the Eagle Times would not print our “IBCC House Of Cards” cartoon. He also went on to tell me that the Eagle Times would not sell me advertising space in next week’s preelection newspaper. He said he had been told by Eckenroth to tell me they would no longer advertise a Web site. I asked him if he would be willing to send me an email to document that, and he hung up the phone. We’ve reached a milestone. We are officially censored by the local adjudicated newspaper the Eagle & Times. While that might sound like it’s not so good, here’s the good news: We have exceeded our bandwidth. That means that there’s an awful lot of you folks out there reading this. SEE ATTORNEY, PAGE 8

Is this Bixler's car?

Could this illegally parked auto on south Seacoast belong to Port Commissioner Mike Bixler? For some reason it has neither been ticketed or towed during its long term parking experience on South Seacoast Drive. Note the debris under the tires! It’s been there long enough to be towed, no matter who it belongs to. This is a perfect example of selective code enforcement and parking enforcement. A policy supported by Patricia McCoy, Mayda Winter, Diane Rose & Fred McLean. Who knows where Jim Janny stands. But it looks like he’s standCommissioner ing with the ladies now! Mike Bixler