Here's my first installment:
There is a lot of bad behavior in our community once a political battle begins. The current fight over the Dream Inn demolition and new hotel conference center is a great example of Santa Cruz at its worst. I hope I can shed some light on it and stir up a debate that goes beyond the specifics of the Dream Inn thing.
I should tell you, since I kind of like the idea of blowing up the Dream Inn and putting something nicer there, that I have been particularly following the bullshit of that project�s opponents. Their bad behavior is impossible to ignore. Some people really deserve a spanking (not literally!) for being so bad�
This week I�ll talk about the current leader in terms of bad behavior, County Supervisor (and former mayor) Mardi Wormhoudt. Wormhoudt wrote a long editorial in the �Sentinel� in which she tried to place herself above the battle and speak ever-so-wisely about the bad process which brought the hotel proposal to us. In that editorial, she said that she had been ill just prior to writing it. It�s pretty obvious the illness must have been something a lot like amnesia.
Wormhoudt forgot to tell you that this Dream Inn project has been making its way through the process for more than a year. (I read about it in the Sentinel a year ago and went to a community meeting about it something like 8 or 9 months ago.) Anyway, there�s a lot more she forgot to tell. Like, did you know that she has been monitoring it every step of the way both directly and through her staff assistant, Andy Schiffrin. Insiders know Schiffrin is an ever-vigilant monitor of Santa Cruz city government. Unlike Wormhoudt�s constituents, some of whom probably were actually unaware of the proposal, she has had virtually unlimited opportunity to weigh in on any detail of this thing and on any process problems she saw. From her position of knowledge and influence, she could have waved a warning flag a long time ago. But, for some unknown reason, she did not. So when she writes about the project already being a �failure� because it�s so controversial, she should stop pointing at the City Council and, instead, look in the mirror to see a big reason why. This deserves one spanking�
But Wormhoudt�s �amnesia� is bigger than that. For instance, she also forgot to mention that she lives and owns a home about 7 blocks from the project. There�s nothing wrong with a neighbor opposing a big project. There is a real problem when an elected leader doesn�t tell you of her personal axe to grind. Another spanking for this! (As an aside, did you know that two other former mayors (Weed and Beiers) also live within a few blocks of this project? Can you imagine the nerve of the City Council to consider something that might have even a small impact on their lovely streets and million dollar houses?)
Maybe the most important thing Wormhoudt forgot to mention is how much(according to just about everyone in local politics) she despises former councilmember Scott Kennedy. (I think Kennedy didn�t realize that Wormhoudt was named the queen of Santa Cruz and didn�t bow down to her enough.) This is important because among Wormhoudt�s political homies, the hotel project is seen as Kennedy�s gig even though he isn't even on the City Council any more. In the petty world deep inside local politics, the merits of a project can get lost in the effort to �pay back� a political opponent without ever mentioning his name. It�s weird that she puts so much importance on Kennedy�s connection to this proposal. She has conveniently ignored the fact, at least in her public comments, that her closest political allies on the City Council (Emily Reilly and Tim Fitzmaurice) had joined Kennedy getting this project going on a unanimous vote!! It�s strange how, for some politicians, revenge can be more important than the stuff that really matters. Spank!!
And here�s another strange thing. Consider this statement by Wormhoudt: �I don�t think you can make land use decisions on the basis of needs for money.� Is it just me or is that statement just about as dumb as what the people who wanted to develop every open space around here used to say when I was a kid? They essentially said, �I don�t think you can make decisions about the city�s need for money on the basis of land use rules.� Both those ideas are stupid. We need to protect important open land and the environment here but we need to have a city that works, too. I�m tired of paying more and more extra local taxes when we could pay reasonable taxes and have just a little healthier economy to give the city what it needs�money, jobs, and good services. Anyway, Mardi Wormhoudt deserves a spanking (don't be so touchy--I don't mean it literally) for being so full of shit so many times in such a short period of time. (okay, I deserve a spanking, too, for saying so many snide things)
That�s enough for my opening round� as Arnold always says: I�ll be back.