Friday, April 18, 2014

• Congressman Calvert and the City Council

Well, it was nothing of what I'd expected. I really was anticipating a full house and plenty of public comments. I got to the council chambers about 20 mins before start time to see a locked door and an empty hallway. I figured if there were people wanting to speak in front of our Planning Commission, which is a regular occurrence, there would be a throng of those wanting to get on the record in front of a congressman.

This is where you insert the game show buzzer sound >>>RRRR<<< because I was 180 degrees wrong on that one.

I was among a very few that weren't with the city or part of the congressman's entourage.


Before the meeting was called to order, congressman Ken Calvert came over to me and introduced himself. He's represented this general area for 21 years, so I asked if he knew my dad (a former business owner in Corona) and they had met before.

Council Member Bridgette Moore, Mayor Marsha Swanson, Congressman Ken Calvert, Mayor Pro Tem Ben Benoit.

Several topics were brought up.
  • Funding for Bundy Canyon (which led to a conversation about gas taxes)
  • Help with getting funds restored that were taken away by the state
  • Waterways and fairy shrimp 
  • Modifying and modernizing the Endangered Species Act "to reflect the reality of today's society."
  • Some addresses in town that still have Lake Elsinore listed as their city


In the end, as pleasant as the 40 minutes were, I didn't see how anything was going to be noticeably different here any time soon. We all know that congress is broken, and even the most well intended ideas are usually going to go nowhere... or if they were to, it will be so many years into the future that I'd have forgotten they were ever on the table in the first place. Welcome to the snail pace of government. Oh, and most of the things we face are local or state level, and a Republican Congressman is going to have little sway over our governor... even if they've known each other for years.

Check out the brief video of comments that are out of context. Calvert jokingly talks about whether or not Gov. Jerry Brown listens when he (the congressman) speaks to him... I only included it because he mentions "the blog getting back to Jerry" which I found to be funny.


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 18, 2014 at 12:04 PM

    This was billed as a "Special Meeting of the City Council" if one less council member had showed up they would have had to cancel it (Ms. Melendez was in town last and not one council person was in attendance). Not sure what you expected but being up for re-election is the only reason Mr. Calvert was in town.
    Kenny Mayes

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    Replies
    1. Joseph MorabitoApril 19, 2014 at 7:06 AM

      I was at least expecting the supporters of his Democrat rival, Sheridan (I think that's the spelling), to show up and protest through public speaking. Obviously I've been watching too much TV.

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