• Q&A With EVMWD Board of Directors Candidate George Cambero

I had the chance to sit down with George Cambero and discuss all things water. I'm not much of a taskmaster during chat sessions with people, and many of the questions did not get simple answers that would lead to a succinctly written blog. When a person starts to get into story mode I let them speak. It's only after getting home, listening to the recording, that I find out how concise, or not, they were.

It was a pleasant conversation with George, but it really didn't translate as well as I'd hoped into a blog. I can tell that he's passionate about water, and what goes into getting water from the source to the consumer. He also has a ton of experience when it comes to water. I just wish the hour I spent with him was something easier to encapsulate here.

If you've read any of my Better Know A City Council Candidate blogs, you've seen that, in those, I added a lot of questions to help you know the person better. I didn't choose to do that with the candidates for the EVMWD race. This was more of a What's the job about? What are your qualifications? kind of things.

With that in mind, the first question I had for him was:

WR: What is the difference between EVMWD and Western Municipal Water District?
 GC:  Western Municipal Water District is like the water master. It's a member agency of Metropolitan Water District. Metroplitan is the Water Contractor; the wholesalers. For example: EVMWD is a sub member agency of Metropolitan Water District. 

WR: Where do you stand on rate increases?
 GC:  Basically I don't agree with the way they do it. If I get elected I would take more of an aggressive stance on educating the people as to the way it works. 

George proceeded to tell me the way that water agencies use Prop 218 to raise rates and at the same time protect their chances for reelection. I have the conversation recorded, but it really was a difficult story for me to paraphrase properly, so I'm leaving that part out. I'm sure that if you'd like to contact George, he'd be happy to give you the details that I'm not able to here.

WR: Speak about possible fines for wasting water. (Specifically speaking about the $500 fines, authorized by Sacramento, that made the news this Summer).
 GC:  They (EVMWD) haven't gone through the process to create an ordinance... [without doing so] it doesn't mean anything. To me it's more of a revenue type of deal. 

WR: If elected, how accessible will you be to the rate payers?
 GC:  Just like right now (alluding to our meeting) open; very open.

WR: A lot of voters really aren't up on what all the offices are actually about, what is the name of the seat that you're running for... and what are the boundaries of it?
 GC:  EVMWD Board of Directors, Wildomar/Lakeland Village Division 3. 

WR: What responsibilities does that job have?
 GC:  To oversee what's going on within your, I'm not going to say "District or Division", to me a person can't just say, "I'm only going to represent Wildomar and Lakeland Village"... it's really not true. You, as a board member, you have the responsibility of the whole district. It goes back to "experience counts" I'm going to put my experience to work.

When you say, "We're in a drought"... well we're in a drought in a way because... the position that we're in is our fault. Number one is, if we are in a so called drought, why do we keep approving thousands of homes to be built?

The State of California says that if you allow [developers] to build a housing development, you have to guarantee them water for twenty years. 

WR:  To me, 20 years isn't NEARLY long enough of a guarantee. 

Do you know about the $7.5B bond on this November's ballot? They downsized it from $11.3B because they were afraid that the voters would not go for it. They're using the drought as a [fear tactic], saying "drought, drought, drought". So it's on people's minds, [and they think] "We do need it" (the bonds measure). But the problem with that is that really no one oversees where the money goes. Proposition 13 (2000 Water Bond), proposition 50, all of those were multi-billion dollar bonds —what do (did) they do with the money?

WR: I basically vote NO on all new bonds.
 GC:  Myself, being in this type of business [my opinion is], for the most part, they don't use it (the bond money) wisely. 40% of the $7.5B was going to build two new large reservoirs; Central Valley and Northern California, none for Southern California. Where do we need them? Over here [in SoCal]. We have several reservoirs but they aren't big enough. The largest one is Diamond Valley Lake —800,000 acre feet. We need at least two or three [more] of those in the area. 

WR: What experience do you have that makes you ready to do this job?
 GC:  32 years on the job (water production supervisor), 5 years as a consultant in the industry. I know where the water is. 

WR: What makes you the best candidate on the ballot?
 GC:  What makes me the best candidate is because water is second nature to me. I just love to know more... you just never know enough. I'm always researching. 

I like to say, If your car won't start, don't call me. If you want to sell or buy a house, don't call me. If you want me to cook —no— because you won't even eat my food... but if you want me to deal with the drought, yes I can... or anything that has to do with water.

WR: Finish this sentence: Dear Voter, Vote for me because...
 GC:  Vote for me because I'm the perfect candidate for water related things. Vote for me because experience counts. This is where you need me to deal with [your] water issues.

I'm proposing that we do a regional Water Master Plan. When I say Regional, I just want to do deal with Elsinore (EVMWD). 

I'm sure that most of you already were aware of the following, but it wasn't something I was overly familiar with.

Authorized under the Municipal Water District Act of 1911, EMWD's duties and responsibilities are further delineated in the California Water Code. In 1951, EMWD annexed to The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).

As with many other public entities, EMWD is authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain, to levy and collect taxes, to fix, revise and collect rates or other charges. The district may also issue bonds, borrow money and incur indebtedness.

Municipal water and sewer rates are not subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of California. EMWD customers instead are represented by a board of five directors. They are elected by registered voters to four-year terms in divisions representing comparably sized populations..

Here is contact info for George Cambero.

http://www.georgecambero.com/

https://www.facebook.com/george.cambero

I'm not here to endorse any candidate, and I'm assuming that the candidates are giving it to me straight. If a reader thinks some of the above needs correcting, then please use the comment section to do it. 

I've put requests out to the other two candidates, but haven't been able to set a time up for an interview. The window is just about closed on the offer at this point.

Here is a link to the Q&A with Judy Gugliemana.

My expertise on water is limited to my dominance on Surf Hill at Wild Rivers in Irvine. Had you ever been in an adjacent lane, when I was going down that hill, I could have given you a three second head start, and I still would have blown your doors off.

Wildomar Rap is available in three sizes. Awesome, More Awesome and Awesome Beyond All Reason.

• Meet Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit

Here is the last in the blog series Better Know a Candidate for the 2014 Wildomar City Council election. Ben was out campaigning and took a break to meet me at Teakwoods for some lunch and a chat.

Ben Benoit

 WR:  Everybody's got a story about how they got to Wildomar. Tell me yours.
 BB:  I met my ex-wife out in Palm Desert/La Quinta area, her family was all from this area. Her parents made us the offer once we got married that we should come live on the back forty of their property. I did get an opportunity to build a house on that property and go through the development process, it was a 2100sf modular home on it. 

Did all the county work, all the grading plans... all the plan checks through the county to get that done ten years ago. It was a neat opportunity to go through the development process and also see the development process in that area, Oak Circle Drive, which is right in the middle of our habitat areas. I got to hear about the kangaroo rat, and hear about all these other programs that now I'm on those boards.

 WR:  Tell me a little about your home life... the joys of being a dad.
 BB:  The joys of being a dad have been watching my little girl grow up in this community, where she's got a great loving environment. She loves being around Wildomar. I like to say, "She can work a room faster than I can."  She likes to go to events with me and likes to get out and talk to people. [She] Knows most of the people that I know in town... because she's out talking to everybody. 

And lately, family life has been really amazing, (looking to his right) since I've met my new love here —Jaimie. It can't get any better right now. 

 WR:  How about hobbies?
 BB:  I have the same hobby that Tim Walker has... I play video games occasionally. Besides that I like to go shooting. I have a little collection and like to go out and spend some ammo; some target practice.

 WR:  What does Ben Benoit do to put food on the table?
 BB:  I have my own computer networking business. I've had it going on fourteen years now. It's a good business that keeps me mobile, and allows me my own schedule. Allows me to get some work in, get some money in the bank and then be back to doing my civic duties. 

 WR:  Most people are aware that your father is a Riverside County Supervisor. Two Questions: 1) Do you use him as a mentor when it comes to being an elected representative, and 2) Do you have future aspirations to serve in higher office?
 BB:  I definitely use him as a mentor. A lot of people think I grew up with this (a father in political office). I was pretty much out of the house when he was on the school board, those were my high school years. When he ran for State Assembly I was already living on my own. I saw that experience from an arm's reach. 

I'd come home and visit mom and find out mom was sitting home by herself, and I get to hang out with mom while dad's up in Sacramento. I have a neat story about that. Dad got to buy my mom and me dinner every Wednesday night. I made a deal with dad, where I'd take out mom every Wednesday night, keep her company, and he'd get to pick up the check. So my mom and I know every nice desert restaurant that there is. (punctuated with some laughter)

As for higher office, people keep asking me that. My response, for as long as I've been doing this is —I have a daughter and I want to see her get out of high school before I do anything else. Having been as close as I was, through my dad's eyes —to see Sacramento, and what it means to be up there. The time commitments and everything else, I've got no ambition to be up there anytime soon. To get a flat forehead for the most part —probably. And not to be able to do as much as you can at a local level.

 WR:  You're trapped on the Palm Springs Tramway. For some inexplicable reason it has two working video game systems. You're going to be stranded for a couple of hours so which do you choose to pass the time: Old School Nintendo or a new release FPS/RPG?
 BB:  Is it a computer RPG or is it on X-Box?
 WR:  It's on a console.
 BB:  Nintendo. I don't do the controller. I'm a keyboard and mouse guy. Which is why Tim and I don't meet up online... he's an X-Box guy.

 WR:  There is a very vocal minority that appears to dislike everything that goes on in Wildomar. I've actually read repeated assertions from them that City Staff and the City Council are both INEPT and CORRUPT. When you get wind of such comments circulating around, what are your reactions and thoughts on it?
 BB:  That they are a very small minority. They're a very disingenuous group that's in it for the wrong reasons. If you had to pick out who's corrupt... I'm sorry, they're the ones getting the checks from the developers at the end of the day when they are extorting the money from them. That's probably the biggest part of CEQA I'd love to see changed is —where does the money go? We know in these lawsuits, when these attorneys get paid, six, ten, twelve times their normal hourly rate... they're not keeping it all. It's likely going other places. That's the toughest part, when they're calling us corrupt.

It's my belief, that they're doing it because they used to run this place. Sheryl [Ade] and Gary Andre would be down at the planning commission, if they were giving the thumbs up to the planning commissioner for this area, the project would go forward. If they gave it a thumbs down Dave Stahovich and Bob Buster would kill it... and they ran this area. I think it's unfortunate that they [seem to] think now they have to use CEQA to try and keep some of that control. I wish they would move on.

 WR:  About how much energy gets eaten up by discussion/defense of the various legal maneuvers faced by the city?
 BB:  It's very difficult to quantify that when it involves the city. Because a lot of times we're not billing a client, but what we can look at is when they're suing, for instance, Bill Lo (Sunbelt Properties). You can ask staff, they can give you the exact dollar figures of how much it cost Bill Lo to defend his lawsuit that Martha Bridges brought, and then the second lawsuit that Gary Andre and Sheryl Ade are continuing to bring forward. That's very countable money and it's easy to to look at.

 WR:  When it comes to the City Council closed sessions, how much time goes to lawsuit talk?
 BB:  I can tell you that in closed session probably 75% of the stuff we're talking about is related to some sort of a lawsuit, and it's usually from one of those three people.

 WR:  With Governor Brown's recent veto of SB69, does that signal an end of the fight to restore the VLF funds to Wildomar?
 BB:  I'm still in communications with our lobbyist, I'm still in communications with Jurupa [Valley]. We're game planning, we're talking about various avenues, what would be successful, what wouldn't be. I don't know that our city will be able to carry on our fiscal connection with our lobbyist, because it is expensive. At some point we have to come to the realization that this isn't really going to happen. I think our only next opportunity, in any foreseeable future, would be to get the governor to tell us what he wants and put it in his own budget in February.

Beyond that, going through another legislative cycle, I've got no reason to do that in my mind unless we can get some word from the governor of exactly what he would want. To that end, I'm continuing to press my contacts to try and get that question asked to the governor. Either way, if our city isn't going to continue to pursue that, I'm personally going to continue to pursue that in every channel I can.

 WR:  I know that city services, such as police protection are important to you. What are some realistic options to increase the level of patrols in Wildomar?
 BB:  Open a Walmart. The tax revenue from Walmart can support one more officer on another shift. We'll slowly move forward on that. It's very upsetting how long it can potentially take to get back to where we even were... let alone more. Because even when we had what we had it was not enough.

One of Ben's many signs seen throughout town.

 WR:  You're at the dentist office with ten minutes to kill, and your smart phone is NOT getting a signal (gasp!). Which magazine do you reach for: The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Mad Magazine, Highlights or Vogue?
 BB:  New Yorker.
I let Ben know that I'd choose Highlights. The Hidden Pictures page is cool no matter what your age is.

 WR:  Can you name some projects that are in the works, even just the early stages, that you're excited about seeing come to fruition in Wildomar?
 BB:  Besides Walmart? I think one of the ones I'm most excited about is our potential development of the park near Ronald Reagan Elementary School. Of all the things that could come forward on this side of the city, in the near future, that's the one I'd love to see happen. The next one would be the college. I'm really hopeful that the college can move forward, we'll have to see how their bond measure does.

 WR:  Assuming you had to choose... If a dear relative had their heart set on buying you a replica of a famous painting, which one would you opt for: A Rembrandt Selfie, Edvard Munch's The Scream, Whistler's Mother, a Norman Rockwell classic or a Jackson Pollack?
 BB:  Rockwell... definitely Rockwell.

▼

 WR:  If you had the attention of the Wildomar voters, what would you tell them are some key things they should be looking for in a city council member? Conversely, what are some factors that a voter should be concerned about when it comes to the list of 2104 candidates?
 BB:  I think everyone should be looking at their candidate(s) —someone that's willing to not just be there for the monthly meeting. Someone that's willing to put in the time to give this community what it needs, and respect that this is not just a monthly meeting type of job where you've got to actually be involved way beyond that. Through your civic duty, chamber of commerce, through interaction with other outside agencies, and not just get the title and pretend you're doing it.

As far as the current candidates, I think you've got one... that staff would have difficult time interacting with, and congealing with —Gary Andre, to put it frankly. He would go in there and want to butt heads with everybody. Other cities have seen this happen and it's cost them a lot of money. We can't afford to lose anymore money at this point. On top of that, he's been so anti THE CITY, he's sued in every which way that would cause legal issues. We'd probably have city attorneys spending lots of money on how do we get through a lot of these problems when you can't have one of your council members involved because there is a potential conflict —and would Gary listen to that?

Our two other incumbents do a great job, they really support our city, they're always out there doing stuff in the community. I would have liked to have seen Israel [Leija] get a little more involved before he decided to run.

That's my biggest concern with those two candidates. One, over involvement, the other, a lack of involvement. In that, we've seen a lack of understanding of what the job is.

•     •     •

There's not a lot for me to add here, other than this. I first met Ben Benoit (and Tim Walker) quite by mistake about a year ago. I'd just started doing Wildomar Rap and it was at Heritage Regency Park the week of The Great Day of Service. As it turned out, I bumped into both of them as we were lugging bottled water for the next day's work crews.

It never dawned on me who they were until Ben reached over, threw out his hand and introduced himself, followed by Tim Walker doing the same. I'd seen their pictures on the city's website, but that had been all. For about five minutes before the introductions, we were chatting about a forklift that had run out of gas, blocking the lane. 

When they told me who they were, having been so thoroughly negatively infected about them, from some recent meetings I'd had with Martha Bridges, Gil Rasmussen and Sheryl Ade, I thought "uh oh, now I'm hanging out with those evil, corrupt city council people I'd been warned about."

What a joke. It wasn't simply a case of the pot calling the kettle black, it was more like the discarded ashes from the fireplace calling the white linen table cloth black. So far off the mark that they couldn't have been more wrong in their assessments, even if they'd applied maximum effort. 

I've never had a bad/negative conversation/interaction with Ben Benoit... and a few months ago, in a blog, I even alluded to how I thought his "Opening Pitch" at a Storm Game resembled that of a XX chromosone holder (you know... like a girl) and I constantly harp on how I'm not a fan of WRCOG. Point being, the guy possesses plenty of self confidence and isn't bothered by such silliness... off a duck's back.

He knows me today, but the first six months or so I was just Joe Windsong Valley as far as he knew... but he still made time to chat if I approached him. If you haven't made time to speak to him about the issues that Wildomar is facing, I'm confident that he'll make time for you. 

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Even when my arm was hanging from overuse, and I had to throw sidearm just to get the ball back to the infield... I delivered it with a very distinct XY arc.

Pinky,  are you pondering what I'm pondering? 
I think so, Brain, but if they called them 'Sad Meals', kids wouldn't buy them!

• Meet Mayor Marsha Swanson

This is the third in my series of "Better Know a Candidate" and I'm really enjoying the process. Today my recording equipment served me well as I spoke with Mayor Marsha Swanson under a pagoda near the newly installed Freedom Swing at Marna O'Brien park.

Marsha Swanson

 WR  How did Wildomar become your hometown?
 MS  That's a little bit of a story. My grandmother moved to Oregon, a beautiful place called Cottage Grove. We thought about moving up there, but with John [Marsha's husband] in construction we thought, "probably can't work here." So we came back home, Lakewood then, and started driving looking for some country. We were on old 395 and ended up in Sun City. The real estate office we stopped at in Sun City said, "We're sorry, you can't live here, you're not old enough."

We explained what we wanted and the realtor said, "Oh, I have a really nice piece [of property]" and he drove us to Wildomar. We liked the house, and put an offer on it, but someone else got it... well that house happens to be right across from where we live today. 

We're in the third house in Wildomar that we've built and lived in. Our very first one was a single wide mobile home, with three children, two cats that had kittens and a dog we got from the Stater Bros in Perris.

 WR  What was the approximate population of Wildomar then?
 MS  I don't think they had a count back then. When we drove down the 71 (the highway of the time) the sign for Lake Elsinore said 1400, and there wasn't a population for the area called Wildomar.

 WR  Tell me a little about your family.
 MS  I have a large family and they are all here in the area. I have three daughters, all three married —to the original men they married (said with a smile). I have seven grand children and six great grandchildren. We do a lot of family things together. My great niece is having a birthday party Sunday and we're going to the park and having a soccer game; family against family. Black shirts against white shirts. There will be from two year olds to seventy year olds playing soccer together.

 WR  How did you get involved in local politics?
 MS  I've always been concerned about business and the people in Wildomar. Through the chamber [of commerce] to start with, then we had a group called the MAC. We had no power, we were appointed by the County Supervisor, who at that time was Bob Buster. There were four of us, or five, at a time... it changed —there were different people all the time. Our job was  to have community meetings and to let him know what the community was missing, or we we wanted or what we needed. 

At that time, local government didn't exist. If we wanted to touch government, we had to drive to Riverside. That was before the freeway was in, so it took awhile to get there. So it was nice to have some input [with the MAC]. In the three years that I was on there, the library went in. We didn't get to pick the name, but we did get to pick many of the things... what the building was going to look like, the colors. That kind of got me started.

 WR  What was your position on cityhood for Wildomar?

(really an extension of the previous question)

 MS  I was skeptical at first. I knew what was here, I knew what kind of commercial base we had, I knew what our houses sold for, I knew how much tax they produced. I was skeptical but I wasn't against it. I campaigned very much in favor of becoming a city. I had two good friends that came to me and said, "You know, we've got  a lot of people running for city council... and not all of them are good. We want good people in, will you run?"

I thought, "What!" "What do I know about running for an office." I'd run a business, and had been president of the board of  Realtors... but a city is very different. After a few breakfasts, and a couple of lunches, I did say, "Yes I would."

 WR  What are some of the highs and some of the lows you've experienced as a city council member? 
 MS  The highs are pretty easy [to identify]. Becoming a city, sitting out on the field at Elsinore High School and being sworn in. I didn't realize how awesome it would feel... and I thought "local control, I don't have to drive to Riverside anymore, we get to make our own decisions.

The lows have been, that I found out, we don't have a lot of local control —really. The feds have the highest control, the state steps in and takes money that LAFCO said was ours to run our city with. The different rules, the different laws that come into effect [such as] The Housing Element. 

Wildomar's first city council. Scott Farnum, Bob Cashman, Bridgette Moore, Marsha Swanson and Sheryl Ade.

 WR  You're out on a special occasion... do you head for a Steak House or a Seafood Restaurant?
 MS   Right now, we'd head for a Steak House, because we've given up red meat. John has a heart condition, and we do a lot of fish. When we were eating red meat, we would have gone to the Seafood Restaurant [for a special occasion].

 WR  Being on the City Council requires leadership skills. Describe how you developed yours.
 MS  They've been slow in coming. I got my real estate license because we were moving out here, and there were no grocery stores; I had been a grocery checker. That got me started in that direction. I got my broker's license two years later, which allowed me to own my own company. Being a leader evolves one step at a time. I don't need to be a leader, but if nobody's leading, I tend to step in. 

 WR  Four years isn't a long time in the life of a city. Still, what would you like to see transpire during your next term if you get re-elected.
 MS  We need everything. The Board of Realtors does a report on each city, and the only thing that Wildomar has enough of is pharmacies. Right now I'm personally talking to a restaurant owner; a high end fast food establishment. I'll be showing him around tomorrow, not as a realtor, but just giving them information and trying to get them to come here. There is an ICSC event happening in San Diego, and I'm going to get info from every hotel and motel that is represented there. There is a [construction] pad right behind city hall, that is totally approved —including CEQA, water, sewer etc. They could start building right as soon as they had their plans done.

We can't afford to hire an economic development person, but I'm retired now. I understand land, I understand real estate, I know it [a project] has to pencil in, I understand business... so I've appointed myself at this point to go out and knock on some doors (said with a smile).

Here is one of her campaign signs seen around town.

 WR  Can you tell fellow Wildomartinis what is was like to have the city sued the first time, then repeatedly by the same groups, over seemingly meaningless issues?
 MS  First thought that comes to mind is: Anger. I don't get angry very often, it takes a whole lot to make me angry.  

That's when I thought, she [Sheryl Ade] has more power, by NOT getting reelected, than we that worked so hard to be elected —and work for nothing. When she didn't get reelected... that's when all of this started. She didn't pull this stuff when she was on the council. 

She had some good questions. She's a very smart lady. She probably really has read CEQA, and she understands it —to her way of thinking. 

It's not a black and white document. I don't know what pleasure they get from doing this. I've tried having a conversation with her on more than one occasion to find out why. [She told me] "They're wrong and I'm right"... she [acts as if] she knows everything there is to know and she's right. It's about proving that Sheryl Ade is right. 

They say it doesn't cost the city anything; they're wrong. Every time there's a document drop we have to pay the different attorneys extra/overtime to go over every word of what they said. To recheck our plans... then to explain it in closed session.

Look at Gary [Andre] bringing in all those papers, and dumping them on our desk five minutes before we started [the last city council meeting] regarding Bundy Canyon improvements. Then at the candidates forum saying how he was in favor of the Bundy Canyon improvemnets. His name may not be on the papers, but he hand carried them from the attorney to us.

 WR  I know that council members get a ton of material they have to read, but when that is done... what do you read in your spare time?
 MS   I'm in a book club. I read every month. The current book is Me Before You. I also like mysteries, thrillers, dramas... those kind of things.

 WR  Tell me about the Rotary Club, your participation, and how it's benefited Wildomar.
 MS   We had a forum back in 2008 at the High School. There was a huge turnout, we broke into smaller groups to find out what everybody wanted. We came back, put the ideas on the board, and Rotary was something they wanted. They wanted a Rotary Club here in Wildomar.

What they do is local, national and international charity work. Their big thing is fighting polio. They also have campaigns to put good drinking water in foreign countries. I think those are all wonderful, and lofty ideals... we donate [to those causes]. We haven't adopted a place like the Lake Elsinore chapter has, but we have done a lot of local things.

The BBQ that we do, all of that money goes back into the community. We've done scholarships, we've taken kids up to a camp called RYLA, where they learn how giving back to their community is important. 

Locally here, we have a lady that is almost completely blind. She used to be a cornerstone of the community. We've gone and cleaned up her house and yard... she has a little mobile home that she rented, the tenants have trashed... physically we've gone out and cleaned. 

We've had a clean up, picking up trash on Mission Trail. Click to read about how they raised money for a local resident in need of a service dog. 


WR  You hear of two different music festivals scheduled for the same day. With all other things being equal, do you attend the Blue Grass Hootenanny, or the Mozart/Beethoven/Tchaikovsky Extravaganza? 
 MS  The Bluegrass Hootenanny! ...and if I had my choice, it would be a rap group (with some laughter thrown in there). See, you didn't know that about me, did you? My day was The Sugar Hill Gang.

WR  Is there anything you'd like to add, that I haven't touched on?
 MS  This is a safe community, but our officers here are not safe. They don't have the backup [additional officers]. We don't have the people to back them up they need and that really scares me. Money to pay for more police, police willing to work for less... I don't care how it works, we just need some help. 

WR  If you had the attention of all the Wildomar voters, and this was your chance to ask them to vote for you, what would you tell them?
 MS   Well, there are all the standard lines, "Proven Leadership" and everybody uses those. the one thing I can say is I Care. I care what happens to my community, I care about the people that live here. I think that Bridgette [Moore], Tim [Walker] and Ben [Benoit] do also. They feel it in a different way than I do... I'm the mother (said with a grin). This is my family here. We're all neighbors and we all live here together.

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I don't know what other mayors of small towns do, but I've seen ours, first hand, and she works pretty tirelessly for her $300 a month. She is well informed on the issues facing our town and is an active participant in making it a better place to live. 

She's easy to approach and is happy to talk about our town. If you haven't taken the opportunity to pick her brain on things involving Wildomar, then I suggest you put that on your to do list.

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A gentle response turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

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• The APEs Do Another Dump

The APEs are really going bananas now (you knew I wouldn't be able to resist that cheesy line for much longer). Yep, a few minutes before the Planning Commission meeting was called to order, Ray Johnson waddled into the chambers and handed a stack of papers to Alfredo Garcia. Who in turn handed them to assistant city attorney Erica Vega, who then passed them out the the commissioners.

Oh Joy, wasn't that clever and fun.

Oh you guys...

In the video you'll see Ray Johnson break out his junior G-Man badge and pretend to be an expert, then get a facial by the project's civil engineer, then by the city engineer, followed by the planning commission.

At first it looked as if the council was going to punt. Chairman Stan Smith first suggested to "take a motion to continue to a later date". Which is all that the APEs wanted in the first place. Then commissioner Bobby Swann spoke up and disagreed. He got the ball rolling that led to the commission voting on the issue, and NOT kowtowing to the ill conceived whims of those far removed from elected office.

This was in regard to the Shell Station, and a drainage pipe. If you really care, watch the video... my recapping of it would never be able to do it justice.



After the meeting was over, the topic of changing the rules for when documents are allowed to be delivered, was batted around in the foyer. Based on what I'd heard, I'd like to suggest that the city council require that ALL documents, pertaining to whichever coming city meeting —MUST be in— no later than 72 hours before the scheduled meeting... or NO dice.

The APEs act like children, but who can blame them in reality? Our rules allow them to do document dumps, and since they have no actual backing in the community, who can fault them for constantly going to that same worn out play.

Remember Shaquille O'Neal? Weak teams couldn't defend him, so they went to the Hack-A-Shaq move. Which was no more than bad sportsmanship that the league's rules allowed, yet were NEVER intended to be part of the game.

The APEs are nothing but rock throwing Hack-A-Shaqers, that's their only move, and they know it... it's up to the council to remove as many of the rocks, that are in easy reach, as they can.

You may be asking, "What is a Wildomar APE?"
The Wildomar APEs are a group that calls themselves Alliance for Intelligent Planning. They spell it AIP, and I pronounce it like it looks, but change the spelling to the common word we all know —APE. In short, they are a group that tries to block almost every project that gets introduced in Wildomar through litigation, or threats of it.

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Without Miss Miller in attendance, tonight's comedy relief was provided by George Taylor, long time resident out at The Farm. He decided to chime in about potential food establishments in town... he'd like a Golden Corral... but I'm with Israel Leija and I want a Norm's. No matter how you slice it, George is tired of all the fast food places in Willy'Mar.

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What this blog should have been about is a great new project just east of Inland Valley Dr. 

Rancon Medical Office/Retail Project. 

It's going to be 11.62 acres, 13 parcels, 96,240 square feet of medical, office and retail uses located at the southwest corner of Clinton Keith Road and Elizabeth Lane.

But instead we get to talk about the same tired people pulling the same tired stunts. Let me ask you a fair question.

Ready? 

Just how STUPID are those people? Seriously, the election is a mere four weeks away, and they desperately want to get their candidate, Gary Andre, elected. Yet they keep this kind of thing going?

I guess they've never heard the old adage.
It goes like this: Don't break the law, when you're breaking the law.

What that specifically refers to is when a person is driving drunk (breaking the law) and then showing even worse judgement by then speeding (also "breaking the law").

To apply that theory to the APEs, and their incessant need for grandstanding, I have to ask this... didn't they think their recent actions might blow up all over their candidate? They even had Gary Andre be the water boy, and carry the documents, that he then dumped on the council —himself.

There goes Plausible Deniability right out the window.

I'm just mesmerized at how idiotic they all are. It has to be some kind of red herring... some kind of clever gambit, because NO ONE IS THIS STUPID in real life... are they?

Oh well, we have a City Council meeting in less than a week... I can't wait to see more from Team APE... I just hope they don't disappoint by not coming up with more of their typical awesomeness.

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How true it is that so much of the harm that is done in this world does not result from evil motive, or a bad intention, but out of sheer boredom.

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