• Campaign Signs 2018

Everyone loves political signs... right?

Like rich and fatty foods, campaign signs should be consumed in small doses.

Today's blog is about the race in EVMWD Board of Directors position (for District 3) that will be on the ballot in November. The seat was last won by Wildomar's George Cambero in 2014. 

Link to the 2014 "Better Know a Candidate" blog about George.

Before I weigh in I should tell you that I've known George for more than four years, and have been having breakfast with him (along with the other Wildomar/LE Goodfellas) on a nearly weekly basis since February.

Clockwise, Joseph Morabito, George Cambero, David Masters, Robert Garza, Billy Shawn Williams, Steve Enzio, Scott Rux and Christy.

He has also donated to my campaign for city council, so it would be fair to say that I come into this a wee bit biased.

Facts are, I would have backed George for his 2nd term on the EVMWD Board of Directors even if we hadn't been having weekly breakfasts this year, and irrespective of his contribution to my campaign. 

He has a long record of being an outstanding member of the Wildomar community, that does a good job both in town and in his elected position, and has rightly earned a second term.

Link to 2015 blog about rate increases, and how difficult it is for the public to stop them

Andy Morris is also running for another term on the EVMWD Board of Directors in Wildomar (District 5). 

He didn't donate to my campaign, and we don't have a standing breakfast date either... still I'm backing his run, because he's an outstanding member of the Wildomar community and has done a good job in his elected position too. (Hmmm... in full disclosure, we are both in the Wildomar Rotary Club, and do see each other at meetings a couple of times a month... but believe me, being members in the same Rotary Club does NOT mean the other members are obliged to back a person's run for elected office... but I digress here.)

Let's jump to the meat of this blog. 
 

***Ridiculous Campaign Signs***

When I first considered running for city council, I read a lot of information on the things to do and the things to avoid in a local election.

Words of wisdom. For the full blog, use this link.

Key things to avoid: name calling and dirty politics. 

This flyer was put on the windshields of cars parked at a
Lakeland Village Neighborhood Watch meeting last month.

Wouldn't it have made more sense for McBride to have openly attended the meeting, and then personally introduce himself to the voters? George Cambero, though a longtime resident of Wildomar, has been attending those meetings regularly for quite awhile now.

Looks like McBride failed this one.

The backside of this flyer was even more ridiculous than the front, but I have to admit, it's some pretty clever and slick marketing... not to mention some awfully pretty colors too. 

Are likely voters really that easily led by the nose? He appears to be banking on it.

Isn't there a time when substantive points (aka: PROOF) have to accompany crass accusations?

The other important part of campaign advice I got was don't put too much value into campaign signs.

Comedy Gold!!!
Ahhh... the memories of the 2016 election.

According to the article I read, “There are only two reasons why you need to put up yard signs. One is to encourage your supporters, and the other is to scare your opponents.”

Someone out there might be saying, "Yeah, but I've seen a couple of your campaign signs out there, what about that smart guy?"

I've been honored to have so many people ask if they can put one of my signs in their yard. Like I tell voters at the door, if you have questions or concerns, even as "candidate guy", I welcome your emails, and will respond promptly.

My answer is that I wanted to get my name out there so that when I showed up at a person's door to ask for their vote, they might have already seen it. The signs were step one, in a two step process. 

When it comes to McBride, I've google searched "Vote McBride EVMWD, Jared McBride EVMWD, Lakeland Village McBride Candidate", plus a few other variations and didn't get any hits leading to a campaign page. 

Maybe he just needs better SEOs.

I tried searching in Facebook for his campaign, and again, nothing came back. 

If you happen to be wondering how to find my campaign website, just click this image.

I remember seeing McBride's first banner about two weeks ago. The first time I drove by it I thought he was offering mortgage refis. Then I saw the claim of "Corrupt Water District" the next time I drove by it.

Hmmm... I guess that the next time I bump into Andy Morris I'll have to ask him his thoughts on being called corrupt. My guess is that he's not too fond of such accusations since he, like George, are the polar opposites of "corrupt".

 If you want to see "corrupt" used properly in a sentence, check this out:

The CF Card in Joseph's phone wouldn't show the backside of McBride's scandalous flyer because it had become corrupt, and needed to be replaced. (Good thing I regularly take the photos off my phone)

Corrupt? That's some pretty provocative language.

I brought it up to George at a breakfast we were having, and though he wasn't all that pleased with it (who among us would like to be libeled with banners hung all over town?) he suggested to me that if there is corruption, it needs to be reported to the DA or the FBI at once.

Then, because a banner at every intersection wasn't enough, team McBride affixed banners to more and more spots at locations already covered. 

The intersection of Cervera and Central started off with one McBride sign (where you see number 4). When I had affixed my sign the week before, I had wanted to put it where you see the number 3, but there was a handmade sign by some school age kids thanking the fire fighters, so I put mine in another spot. The next week, three more McBride banners showed up on the same corner. Seems like a high level of insecurity to me.

Since that still wasn't satisfactory, smaller signs of his started going up en masse all over the area, including utility poles. 

A look at just one example of "if one sign is good, half a dozen must spell 'easy victory'"

Here is a close up of the photo above.

But that was a bozo no-no since it's clearly stated in the candidate handbook that you may not put signs in such places.

Seems like simple enough directions that anyone should be able to comply with.

I've never been impressed with this kind of "in your face" campaigning. If it appeals to you, then you may have found the candidate of your dreams. ☺

The signs are literally all over this part of Wildomar. Since this is expressly forbidden, let's see if the signs get taken down by the proper authorities. I know that I wouldn't come within a country mile of them (other than with a camera) since it's also against campaign rules to touch other candidate's signs.

The Cambero Team's approach has been going door to door, making himself directly available to the voters. There, in person, to answer what gets thrown at him. He's always at community events, and always ready to discuss all issues related to water. (I've heard talk of at least one meet the candidate event that he has in mind, it was rumored to involve pizza. ☺)

He also said he plans on attending the Windsong Valley Neighborhood Watch meeting too. See flyer for date and time of the meeting. It's not a campaign event, but he'll be there if you have questions for him. 

Though this meeting is geared towards residents of Windsong Valley, no one is checking I.D. upon arrival. Just make sure to arrive far enough before 6pm so you can set up a chair and get comfortable. The sun will be going down by 7pm and it'll be pretty dark by 7:30pm.

I've been told that there will be Re-Elect George Cambero signs starting to go up soon, if there is any available space left in town that is! If you'd like one in your yard, contact him and he'll see to it that you get one.

Here is contact info for George Cambero.

http://www.georgecambero.com/

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

Wildomar Rap opinion time

(you must be thinking: Wasn't this whole thing your opinion already?)

When it comes to water in California, Jack Nicholson didn't get his nose sliced up in Chinatown for nothing. The sordid history of water rights in this state go back well more 100 years and was pushed along further by an act of the California Legislature in 1928, primarily to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct. 

If you want to say that the various water districts (starting with the macdaddy of them all: Metropolitan Water District) have been too buddy-buddy with elements of Sacramento (or Don Corleon'esque) since way back when, it would be hard to argue with you.

But to suggest through bold lettered banners that solid local citizens, like George Cambero and Andy Morris could be less than they appear is an intolerable smear and I hope not accepted by the voters here.

Reverse Angle Spin Time:
If we take one more look at google's definition of "corrupt" where it says, "having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for [...] personal gain." I'd think that could apply to a campaign team that blithely disregards the rules that each candidate is told about when it comes to their signs.

If breaking a small rule like where signs are permitted to be placed doesn't faze a candidate, then how could he/she be trusted with your vote? 

Just pointing out the obvious.

In the past I offered candidates of all the local races a chance to sit for a "better know a candidate" blog, but if a candidate starts off on such a bad foot, as McBride has, the offer becomes null and void. Sorry, that's on you.

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To believe with certainty we must begin with doubting.
– Stanisław Leszczyński

It was common to doubt Wildomar Rap when it first showed up in 2013. It took awhile, but now it's relatively believable. 

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• Local Volunteerism

The Holy Fire dominated the news for more than a week. It burned right down the hill and many neighborhoods were under mandatory evacuation orders. 

Today the skies are clearer and the billowing columns of smoke are no longer prominent above the ridgeline. The fires are now 100% contained, but that doesn't mean they aren't still smoldering among the nearly 23,000 acres that have been affected.

Link to CalFire's incident info page.

Which brings us to the subject of this blog: Local Volunteerism.

Lisa Watkins and Barry Puckhaber of Parker, Arizona started to gather donated supplies to bring to the first responders. She is the bar manager at the Fraternal Order of Eagles 4419 in Parker, and he works for Parker Unified School District. (From Parker, Az? Yes, it's still about Local Volunteerism)

Barry Puckhaber on the left, Lisa Watkins on the right, and the goods in the middle.

Lisa grew up in Wildomar, over on Shoemaker Drive, graduating from Elsinore High School.

They thought they were headed this way a week ago, but once others in their area heard about the donation effort, they wanted to join in. 

Parker's Cub Scout Pack 16 donated a case of Gatorade, toothbrushes and toothpaste and box of corn nuts.  Others from the area donated items like nonalcoholic wipes, granola bars, clean socks, Propel, Pedialyte and the like.

The pickup bed was filled with various supplies that had been donated to the cause.

As it turns out, members of the Buckskin Fire Department 1101, local to the Parker area, were sent to fight the fires in California. The two weren't apprised of such until just a couple of days ago after they were already well into the donation drive.

This donation letter from the Eagles to the local Walmart helped bring in a
donation of $75 and discounts on other purchases made for the first responders.

The local angle is further established as longtime Wildomar resident, Gloria Allred (no, not that Gloria Allred ☺), Lisa's mom, had also been participating in a local donation effort when the flames were their highest. She listed Albertsons, Ace Hardware, and Barons as key donors in the effort.

My favorite quote from the conversation came from Lisa when she related a story about being asked why she was taking donations. 

A woman had asked her, "Why are you [asking for] donations to take down there?"

Lisa was taken aback and responded, "Excuse me?"

The woman followed up with, "That's why we have FEMA."

After a few more exchanges that didn't make much headway with the woman, Lisa said to her, "You know what? I'm FEMA!", which brought some laughter from us all. 

She continued, "I said, '"We are FEMA! Those donations... we are acting [as FEMA]."

You have to admire the spirit that Lisa and Barry have, one that isn't waiting for the government to show up. One where everyday members of the community can fill the void in the meantime. 

They'd be the first to tell you that it was a team effort that got the goods together. I'll take the blame for not knowing more of the names of the people that didn't make the trek to SoCal. 

I'm sure none of them were doing it in hopes of getting any recognition... and Lisa told me that she had no idea that her mom had asked if I'd be interested in blogging about it. ☺ 

Just people doing good things for other people, because they are so moved.

The donated items were delivered to appreciative faces at Wildomar's Station 61, La Cresta's Station 75 and Station 10 in Lake Elsinore. 

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The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you're made of, not the circumstances.
– Unknown

Wildomar Rap is neither a tuber nor a shelled glob of future fowl. Therefore, direct contact with boiling water is assiduously avoided.

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• Who Was Clinton Keith?

Last month Clinton Keith Road was extended east to the 79 and it got people asking, who's this Clinton Keith?

First, it's interesting to know that "Clinton" wasn't his name. Well, it was his middle name, but he wasn't known by that name; he was known by the nickname "Bud".

Archive photo of Adna Clinton "Bud" Keith taken in the 1960's.

In his capacity as county surveyor for Riverside County, he would sign official documents as A.C. Keith. The story goes that no one in the county ever knew what the "A" stood for (I guess they didn't have the same type of employment paperwork to fill out back then), and it's said that he kidded his colleagues by saying that he'd reveal his first name upon his retirement. (more on that in a bit)

He was born in Perris in 1903, and his family later moved to Riverside where he attended Longfellow Elementary, Poly High School and then later studied civil engineering at UC Berkeley.

In 1925 he got his foot in the door with Riverside County as a deputy county surveyor. During his first twenty years, he worked on many key road projects. Among them were the Riverside County side of Ortega Highway and Pines to Palms Highway.

Thanks to Google Maps that we can take a look at a sign that is no longer there.

When his boss, Alex Fulmor, retired in 1945 the county board of supervisors didn't hesitate to promote Keith to the job of County Surveyor. In those days the position was an elected post. He won reelection in 1946 and was given the additional job of County Road Commissioner.

He continued in those positions until the age of 68 in 1971. As he was closing in on retirement, the county wanted to honor Mr. Keith's years of service by naming a street after him; Slaughterhouse Canyon Road* was selected.

This is what came back from a google search of Slaughterhouse Canyon Road.

Thing was, they still didn't know what the "A" stood for (and apparently didn't think to ask), but for some reason they did know his middle name, and that's what they went with: Clinton Keith Road.

Mr. Keith retired at the age of 68 and that happens to be the off-ramp number too. 

Back then, there was no I-15 freeway anywhere near this area, and though it is indeed a tremendous distinction to have any road named in a person's honor, they couldn't have envisioned that it would eventually be such a big part of a city that didn't even exist at the time. 

I have to wonder though, if everyone knew this fine gentleman by the nickname of Bud, and had never even heard his given name, then why not just go with what they knew? Must be something from past generations that think an unknown name on a birth certificate outranks what a person is known by. ☺

It is what it is, but "Bud Keith Road" would have worked just fine as well. ☺
Finally, with the aid of PhotoShop, we have the proper recognition that Mr. Keith deserves. ☺

He logged 47 years on the job, and passed away in 1995, living to be 92 years old. 

There's a local angle to the Clinton Keith story 

Katie Boothby, a resident of Windsong Valley in Wildomar, is married to Cody Boothby, the great grandson of Bud Keith. That would make his mother, Kathi Keith-Boothby, A.C.Keith's granddaughter; she resides in San Bernardino.

Must be something to travel on a road that is named after your great-grandfather on a regular basis like they do.

Kathi Keith-Boothby, Katie & Cody Boothby.

This blog relied on information from the family, a 2013 Press Enterprise article and the story that John Hunneman shared at the ribbon cutting that opened the road extension.

Link to the recent blog about the road extension ceremony

*The Press Enterprise had it as Murrieta Road, but John Henneman had it as Storm House Canyon Road (at least that's what I could discern from the audio recording of his ribbon-cutting speech). I'm going to go with John here... being that this area has been his beat for many, many years. ☺

Correction: an earlier edit of this blog had used "Storm House Canyon Road" because that's what I heard on the recording mentioned above. I went back and listened again and that's still what I heard. However, there is an area called Slaughterhouse Canyon Road that is in the exact spot of Clinton Keith Road (see map above), so I've updated the blog to reflect the new info. If that needs further correction, please let me know.

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"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
– Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

Wildomar Rap would like to add Decca's miscalculation to the list of "Classic Blunders" delineated by Vizzini in The Princess Bride. 

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• Fun And Inspiring Reading Program

Have you ever heard of Huey's Heroes Reading Program? 

It's service provided Saving Huey Foundation and happens at Animal Friends of the Valleys.

Kids and canines benefit from each reading session.

"What better way to work on your kiddo's reading skills than to share some reading time with the fur babies at the shelter? They need the attention and love you can give with just a little bit of your time. Come and be a Hero!"

Every Wednesday. The times are now from 3:00-4:30 and any donation or $5 will get you a T-shirt. Ages are from babies to adults. ☺

From the website
Huey's Heroes Reading Program was designed to help readers of all ages improve their reading skills, while sharing those skills with animals in a shelter. 

Participants can use the program to learn the fundamental basics of reading (early stage readers), increase their ability to read to a non-judgmental listener (elementary readers), and/or share their love of reading (advanced readers) with an animal that longs for and benefits from companionship. 

The Saving Huey Foundation not only provides the reading program but also rescues extreme medical cases of abuses and neglected animals.

LINK TO HUEY'S READING PROGRAM
contact savinghuey@gmail.com

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Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.
– John Locke

Reading Wildomar Rap is part of a nutritious breakfast for your mind.

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• Various and Sundry Things Vol 6

As the Holy Fire has been raging to the north of us, displacing many with evacuations, there were a couple of recent fires in Wildomar. Thankfully they were both put out before they had a chance to spread.

Friday, August 10th there was a fire near Giant RV.
Mayor Ben Benoit arrived on the scene and took some pictures.

Saturday morning (August 11th) there was a fire that destroyed a double-wide, displacing three people, while no one was injured. This was near the Bundy Canyon Christian School and was fully contained before 10am.

Photo courtesy of Wildomar City Councilmember Bridgette Moore.

While out looking in the area of the Giant RV fire, I happened upon some graffiti that has been on a cell tower for many months. Have you seen this from the freeway? 

This has been visible most of the year. How do we get this removed?
Calling it in hasn't helped so far.

As long as I was out driving around I went to check if Wildomar's famous chimney still had its tag. Yes and no... it seems that the previous tag was tagged over again. Looks like those spray can hooligans are in a virtual danse macabre of some type. I hope they both lose, or win... whichever is worse. 

If you've ever wondered what the other side of this chimney looks like, now you know.
For the uninitiated, this is directly to the south of the Elks Lodge on Mission Trail.

Right across the street, there was another impressive tag. I wonder if it'll remain up into 2019?

Do we really want all the traffic that uses Mission Trail to see this on a daily basis?

On the way from the Giant RV area to Mission Trail, I happened upon the intersection of Grove and Cherry. 

There I found an interesting sign for trails. I saw the sign, but am not sure where the trail is or leads to. Perhaps it's just the street? Since it's in District 3, and I'm running for city council in this district, I'd better get familiar with such things post haste. ☺ 

A hearty thanks to Ronnie's Jewelers for "adopting" the trail.
 Still, I wonder what such an "adoption" entails?

On the other side of town, I saw a new palm tree at Wildomar Square that had succumbed to all that high heat we've been having. I've seen plenty of dead trees in my lifetime, but never one that bent over like it was just punched in the stomach. 

If I had been out in that 110+ degree weather every day, I'd be in far worse shape than that.

UPDATE: After my lovely wife Grace read the blog, she reminded me that she taken a (better) photo the day before. It looks like one of those wacky waving inflatable tube guys after someone has unplugged it.

While driving over the freeway, I couldn't help but see the new landscaping (cough) that Wildomar Square is sporting these days. We all know that the tumbleweed is Wildomar's official flower and all, but had no idea that the new center would be displaying them so prominently.

First, too few parking spaces, now tumbleweeds adorning Wildomar Square.
What will they think of next?

I headed over to the emerging Clinton Keith Village (the corner of Clinton Keith and soon-to-be Wildomar Trail) to check out their construction progress. They got a lot of the grading done and are well on their way to getting that corner ready for retail.

A look from about 60 feet in the air.

Funny thing is, last November I was talking to a guy on the site that presented himself as some type of super, and he had been telling me that he was expecting buildings to be up by August 2018. Hmmm... missed it by that much.

Link to 2017 blog about Clinton Keith Village

This shot was from just north of the project.

I'm not an electrician, and I've never played one on the radio, but isn't a missing meter like that (indicated by the red arrow below), on the dangerous side of things? This was across from Clinton Keith Village (to the west). Maybe it isn't live... I wasn't interested in testing it one way or the other. 

Any thoughts on the matter?

While in the area I drove through Hartford Park. 

What a nice neighborhood! 
I happened to see a sprinkler of theirs malfunctioning, so I thought I'd toss that in here in hopes that someone in their HOA will see it.

It was a tad early, and a bit out of sight.

UPDATE: The next day I got an email from one of the homeowners there, thanking me for posting this photo. They found the sprinkler in question and reported it to the landscapers that take care of that neighborhood's green spaces.

While out flying my drone I went over to Marna O'Brien Park to practice some maneuvers. The good news is that I noticed the sign that touts the remaining 4 park events of 2018.

They all look like fun, and I recommend that you try to attend at least one of them... if not all four. ☺

I'm looking forward to the Mariachi Night. This will be new for the city.

The bad news, or at least the "what the H was that" news, was that either I was being paranoid (yeah — NO!), or there were some unsavory characters that were spending an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom... "washroom" to the Canadians out there.

Upon arrival at the park, I made use of the facilities and heard what could be described as snoring coming from the far stall (if not snoring, then some other oddball sound... but I prefer we stick with "snoring"). 

As I exited, another guy went in, and about 10 minutes later a third guy went it. A couple of moments later they all came out and went over to a car. (maybe one of them lost their play book for the big game or something, and the others were helping him look for it before the coach found out)

A screen capture from my drone.

Yes, I'm sure it's normal activity for skeevy looking twenty-somethings to do on a Sunday morning around 10:00am, bro'ing down in a park lavatory, but I guess I'm just from a different generation since I don't get it.

If I didn't know better, I'd almost swear that some type of transaction had happened in there while I was wringing out the last bit of juice from my drone's battery. 

Which reminds me... If you live in Windsong Valley and would like to be part of a revitalized Neighborhood Watch program, please join the new FaceBook group. We're hoping to have the first meeting in early September. We're just waiting for Officer Baca to put us on her calendar.

You don't have to be part of FaceBook to be part of Neighborhood Watch, but it just makes communicating with each other much easier. 

This group is primarily for Windsong Valley residents. It's not a general group that people from all over are encouraged to join. Most areas in town have similar pages that are geared towards their neighborhood too.

Last on the list of things I noticed while out this morning includes the first sighting of a campaign sign for the November election. 

Wildomar city council hopeful, Joseph Morabito, hung his first sign (sorry about speaking in the third person, it seems to be a habit now). This was at the corner of Palomar and Gruwell. The Little League sign is new, but it seems as if Dr. Norman Quintero didn't get the news that he finished a distant third, with only 8.25% of the vote, back in June.

Speaking of campaign signs, while walking on Clinton Keith, these were just off the road. Woody was even further behind Dr. Norman with only 4.83% of the vote. Come on man, clean up your mess.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
– Arthur Schopenhauer 

Wildomar Rap prefers to skip the needless rigmarole of stages one and two and accept reality at first blush, self-evident or otherwise.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.