By: BILL EFFINGER - For the North County Times
Opinion Page Articles
Community Activist articles authored by Bill Effinger
September 25, 2003
The problem with
democracy is us
By: BILL EFFINGER - For the North County Times
Living in relative comfort in a democracy
as Americans do, we have choices within that framework to change the things
we don't like. Every two years we can vote our local, state and federal representatives
in or out of office.
Good government requires participation from the people who are represented.
(Click on the link below to read more)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/09/25/opinion/commentary/9_24_0319_02_13.txt
September 11, 2003
Total gridlock
in San Marcos
By: BILL EFFINGER - For the North County Times
It's said that when a lawyer represents
himself in court, he has a fool for a client. When a City Council acts as its
own developer, it may have a fool for a client or it may be trying to fool its
constituents.
(Click on the link below to read more)
http://nctimes.com/articles/2003/09/10/opinion/commentary/9_11_0319_52_37.txt
Some of us remember when we could drive into a gas station and have the windshield washed, tires checked, our gas pumped by an attendant, receive a big smile and “thank you for your business” as we paid our bill of something less than 50 cents a gallon.
What happened to “service with a smile?” Every day we are reminded how wise the American consumer is, how demanding the baby boomers and futuristic Generation X’rs are. What’s the real story?
Click Here for the printed article
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030611/60627.html
6/11/03
Kudos to Jeff Frank for his research and erudite analysis of the need for support for the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. and some of the mistakes being made in its management ("Another look at center of attention," June 8).
As a fan of the arts, and one of the original founder/donors for the center, I have watched with dismay and disappointment as a continuum of missteps in programming, management and marketing have continued to stifle the center's success. What should be a North County jewel is being relegated to a tarnished impostor. This certainly did not happen from a lack of desire on the part of the original center planners. However, as in all business plans, desire and ideas must be followed up by astute implementation.
(Click on the above link to read more)
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030523/23836.html
5/23/03
Struggle for power in San Marcos
Bill EffingerGovernment by initiative, while a right of the voters, is not the best form of government. Too often, initiative results become counterproductive and cause unforeseen economic consequences. Initiatives are spawned by poor public representation by careless and willful politicians, who all too often go back on their campaign promises or ignore common sense while they promote their own agenda.
(Click on the above link to read more)
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020919/63000.html
City Council produces disaster
Bill EffingerThe San Marcos City Council has taken us from traffic gridlock to paralysis by agreeing to rewrite its development agreement with San Elijo Hills developer, Home Federal Corporation, to allow 1,100 additional homes to be built before Rancho Santa Fe road is widened.
(To read more click the link above)
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20021214/54339.html
A recent sojourn into the local mall shattered my sense of values ---- not moral, but fiscal and physical values.
"I've found something that Santa can bring me," cooed my spouse, who has a newfound interest in the culinary arts. Her most recent declaration is to have "as many tools in the kitchen as you have in the garage."
(To read more click the link above)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2002/12/19/export25735.txt
Now that the San Marcos City Council has voted unanimously to drop its ill-conceived venture into the power supply business after losing $300,000, it's time to look at another vexing problem.
(To read more click the link above)