December 8, 2010

November 17, 2010

1. Proposals by the President’s bipartisan deficit commission (per L.A. Times article) regarding: 1) Social Security, 2) Taxes. 3) Domestic Spending and 4) Health Care
2. President Obama’s Asia trip

November 10, 2010

Topics:

1. Midterm postmortem
2. Should California provide its own initiative to block Union card check elections? This insures a secret ballot by its members. as per article in the Wall Street Journal 10/4/10, Card Checkmate.
3. An Apocalypse is forecasted for Global Disaster on December 21-23, 2012. Is it real? Meteors and the Sun will affect our planet along with Solar flares shooting out our electrical grids through all the countries in the world. as per History Channel documentary 9/12/10
4. What are your thoughts on Senior Citizens getting the Whopping Cough vaccine? California has had 6000 reported cases so far mostly in young children. Elderly parents would be prevented from passing on the Whopping Cough to grandchildren. As per LA times 10/24/10, Some elderly patients can't get whooping cough vaccine

Regarding item #3:

ABC News: Phew! 2012 Doomsday Date May Be Wrong

From another blog of mine: Apocalypse

October 27, 2010

HOA Board candidate nomination process and Pulte involvement.

October 13, 2010

Propositions on California November ballot, 19-27.

See Smart Voter Guide.

KPCV: Confused by the ballot - tune into "The Proposition Song , also Gerrymandering.

We’ve switched our regular meetings to 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. So, our meetings this month are October 13 and 27. In deference to the holidays, our November and December meetings are 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays, i.e. November 10 and 17, and December 8 and 15. We’ll resume on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays after that.

September 27, 2010

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. Should the ACLU prevail in its suit against the U.S proposed Drone Air Attacks for targeting Al Qaeda operators? Reference: WSJ 9/2/10, “The Lawfare Wars” within the Review & Outlook Section on Page A14.
2. What are your thoughts on the proposed Mosque building to be built within the two block area of 9/11 ground zero? Ref: Too many to mention.
3. What are your views on denying citizenship to the so called “Anchor Babies” (aka Infants born in this country to both illegal parents.)? Ref: WSJ 9/9/10-“Birthrite Repeal Likely to Increase Illegal Population”Page A7.

Regarding item #1:

There are 2 parts to the WSJ opinion piece 'Lawfare'. It starts with the suspension of the military court's USS Cole case. In my opinion, there may be reasons the Administration might have held off on pursuing the case in military court, reasons beyond those spelled out in the piece. Intelligence gathering secrets could be jeopardized. I think that one could elucidate a theory that we are engaged in a war where hostilities continue, and we ought be under no compulsion to try or release enemy combatants until such time as hostilities have ended.

The 2nd part goes to the legality of drone attacks against an American enemy combatant, specifically al-Awlaki in Yemen. Again, in my opinion, we are fighting an enemy that is in many places around the world, often as non-state actors, and is pledged to fight to the death. We are compelled, thus, to oppose such persons as we find them.

With regard to the ACLU, I hearken back to the words of JFK, 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.' The ACLU's mission is all about claimed rights with little regard to costs and responsibility.

Regarding item #2:

The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd cuts through the muck in Our Mosque Madness.

Here’s an ABCnews segment with Daisy Khan (10/3/10 - and a Town Hall Debate on This Week).

Here’s an article about Rauf.

Here’s one about Sufis.

President Obama added to his earlier comments on the subject during his press conference on Friday, 9/10/10. For more about that press conference, see this MSNBC article and this KPCC Airtalk discussion.

The New Republic contains further opinion on the project.

Currently new on HBO and available on-demand is My Trip to al-Queda.

Recently, one Florida pastor threatened to burn copies of the Koran. Here's Jon Stewart's humorous take on that subject.

Regarding item #3:

A new amendment to the constitution repealing part of the 14th amendment is highly unlikely. Inasmuch as the 14th amendment was part of the Reconstruction amendments, ending slavery in the U.S., a rejection of the 14th can be seen as yet another insult to our African-American President.

September 13, 2010

Topics covered:

1. HOA Board monthly meeting September 13
2. The City of Indio has proposed Measure S (which is an increase in the Utility Tax from 3% to 5%) for the November 2, ballot. How do you feel about this? References: City of Indio mail circular of 9/2/10. Desert Sun Page Indio should vote to save vital services
3. What are your thoughts on either dropping charges or postponing the military tribunal of Al Nashiri the alleged mastermind behind the U.S. Cole attack. Reference: Wall St. Journal Page A14 Thursday 9/2/10. Washington Post Administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber

concessions by Israel?

The following is by George Will of the Washington Post on 8/18:

Skip the lecture on Israel's 'risks for peace'

In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis. As a portion of U.S. population, that would be 42,000, approaching the toll of America's eight years in Vietnam. During the onslaught, which began 10 Septembers ago, Israeli parents sending two children to a school would put them on separate buses to decrease the chance that neither would return for dinner. Surely most Americans can imagine, even if their tone-deaf leaders cannot, how grating it is when those leaders lecture Israel on the need to take "risks for peace."

During Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's July visit to Washington, Barack Obama praised him as "willing to take risks for peace." There was a time when that meant swapping "land for peace" -- Israel sacrificing something tangible and irrecoverable, strategic depth, in exchange for something intangible and perishable, promises of diplomatic normality.

Strategic depth matters in a nation where almost everyone is or has been a soldier, so society cannot function for long with the nation fully mobilized. Also, before the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel within the borders established by the 1949 armistice was in one place just nine miles wide, a fact that moved George W. Bush to say: In Texas we have driveways that long. Israel exchanged a lot of land to achieve a chilly peace with Egypt, yielding the Sinai, which is almost three times larger than Israel and was 89 percent of the land captured in the process of repelling the 1967 aggression.

The intifada was launched by the late Yasser Arafat -- terrorist and Nobel Peace Prize winner -- after the July 2000 Camp David meeting, during which then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to cede control of all of Gaza and more than 90 percent of the West Bank, with small swaps of land to accommodate the growth of Jerusalem suburbs just across the 1949 armistice line.

Israelis are famously fractious, but the intifada produced among them a consensus that the most any government of theirs could offer without forfeiting domestic support is less than any Palestinian interlocutor would demand. Furthermore, the intifada was part of a pattern. As in 1936 and 1947, talk about partition prompted Arab violence.

In 1936, when the British administered Palestine, the Peel Commission concluded that there was "an irrepressible conflict" -- a phrase coined by an American historian to describe the U.S. Civil War -- "between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country." And: "Neither of the two national ideals permits" a combination "in the service of a single state." The commission recommended "a surgical operation" -- partition. What followed was the Arab Revolt of 1936 to 1939.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations recommended a partition plan. Israel accepted the recommendation. On Nov. 30, Israel was attacked.

Palestine has a seemingly limitless capacity for eliciting nonsense from afar, as it did recently when British Prime Minister David Cameron referred to Gaza as a "prison camp." In a sense it is, but not in the sense Cameron intended. His implication was that Israel is the cruel imprisoner. Gaza's actual misfortune is to be under the iron fist of Hamas, a terrorist organization.

In May, a flotilla launched from Turkey approached Gaza in order to provoke a confrontation with Israel, which, like Egypt, administers a blockade to prevent arms from reaching Hamas. The flotilla's pretense was humanitarian relief for Gaza -- where the infant mortality rate is lower and life expectancy is higher than in Turkey.

Israelis younger than 50 have no memory of their nation within the 1967 borders set by the 1949 armistice that ended the War of Independence. The rest of the world seems to have no memory at all concerning the intersecting histories of Palestine and the Jewish people.

The creation of Israel did not involve the destruction of a Palestinian state, there having been no such state since the Romans arrived. And if the Jewish percentage of the world's population were today what it was when the Romans ruled Palestine, there would be 200 million Jews. After a uniquely hazardous passage through two millennia without a homeland, there are 13 million Jews.

In the 62 years since this homeland was founded on one-sixth of 1 percent of the land of what is carelessly and inaccurately called "the Arab world," Israelis have never known an hour of real peace. Patronizing American lectures on the reality of risks and the desirableness of peace, which once were merely fatuous, are now obscene.

Then there's this NY Times op-ed about Jewish opinion, Oy Vey, Obama.

summer hiatus

until after Labor Day. Next regular meetings are September 13 and 20, then 1st and 3rd Mondays.

June 21, 2010

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. Two states have approved a tax on soda pop, and such a tax has been proposed in fourteen other states, including California, plus various cities. Is this a good idea? Ref: Wall Street Journal- May 2010 -Soda Tax Uncaps A Fight!
2. Should congress reform the method of taking the census to only include U.S. citizens? Ref: LA Times - 22 May 2010 - Whom Should the Census Count?
3. Is a college degree still worth it? Ref: LA Times-Saturday 12 June 2010
4. Israel blocked a flotilla heading to Gaza, and as a result nine died on board one of those ships, with many wounded including Israeli soldiers. Is Israel responsible for the dead and wounded?

Topic #1: Slate: Why the Soda Tax Makes Us Angry

Topic #2: U.S. Constitution 14th Amendment

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.

Topic #4: Here's the Wikipedia article on the flotilla raid. I think it (at this moment) is a fine example of objective (as much as is possible) reporting.

NY Times update 7/12/10: Israeli Military Finds Flotilla Killings Justified

Our Steve R. sends us this (in my view) plausible first-hand account:

Hello Uncle Erwin,

This is Amir writing you after reading what you sent to my father, Eitan. As you know, it was my unit and my friends who were on the ship. My commander was injured badly as a result of the "pacifists" violence. I want to tell you how he was injured so you could tell the story. It shows just how horrible and inhuman were the activists. My commander was the first soldier that rappelled down from the helicopter to the ship. When he touched ground, he got hit in the head with a pole and stabbed in the stomach with a knife. When he drew out his secondary weapon-a handgun (his primary weapon was a regular paintball gun: "Tippman 98 custom") he was shot in the leg. He managed to fire a single shot before he was tossed from the balcony by 4 Arab activists, to the lower deck (a 12 feet fall). He was then dragged by other activists to a room in the lower deck were he was stripped down by 2 activists. They took off his vest, helmet and shirt, leaving him with only his pants and shoes on. When they finished they took a knife and expanded the wound he already had in his stomach. They cut his ab muscles horizontally and by hand spilled his guts out. When they finished they raised him up and walked him on the deck outside. He was conscious the whole time. If you are asking yourself why they did all that, here comes the reason. They wanted to show the soldiers their commander's body so they will be demoralized and scared. Luckily, when they walked him on the deck a soldier saw him and managed to shoot the activist that was walking him down the outside corridor. He shot him with a special non-lethal bullet that didn't kill him. My commander managed to jump from the deck to the water and swim to an army rescue boat (his guts still out of his body, and now in salty sea water). That was how he was saved. The activists that did this to him are alive, now in Turkey, and treated as heroes.

I'm sorry if I described this with too many details, but I thought it was necessary for the credibility. Please tell this story to anyone who will listen. I think that these days you are one of Israel's best spokesman.

June 7, 2010

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. What are your thoughts regarding the oil gusher in the Gulf?

2. Should government pay union pensions if the unions are unable? Ref: Wall Street Journal - 1 June 2010 - Union Pension Bailout!

3. postponed

4. postponed

5. June 8 ballot propositions

Topic #1: US EIA: Gulf Fact Sheet, Here's an essay from PBS about the oil spill in context of our relation to nature: The Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world . Also, see my entry on the subject, Limits on Power, in another blog of mine, the spare can.

Topic #5: Smartvoter

May 17, 2010

From the agenda committee:

1. Was the Indio City Council correct to raise Ms. Adam’s salary? Ref: Desert Sun 5/8/10 Interim Indio city manager awarded 10% pay boost (116 comments); online article is followed by over 110 comments.
2. Should the constitution be revised to no longer grant automatic citizenship to children born in this country of parents without citizenship? Ref. WSJ (Wall Street Journal) 5/10/10 Page A7 – “Immigration Debate Flares In Oklahoma”.
3. What are your thoughts on having the US dollar once again backed by a gold standard in order to curtail federal deficit spending? Ref: WSJ opinion 5/7/10 page A17 “the Gold Standard- The Case For Another Look”.
4. Should the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have autonomous control in granting permits for construction projects? Ref: WSJ 2/8/10 Page A6-“Permit Process Drags on US Mining Projects”.
5. Should we acknowledge that the US is involved in a war on terror? Ref: WSJ opinion 12/28/09 “The Terror this Time”

Topic #1: Desert Sun 5/18/10 update: Indio city manager search going well

The city received about 70 applicants for the position.

May 3, 2010

From the agenda committee:

1. General update on special Indio City Council meeting held on 4/27/10.
2. What are your thoughts on the recently passed House bill “Akaka Bill” under which most of the nation’s ethnic Hawaiians can organize with powers and privileges of self government? Reference: WSJ (Wall Street Journal) opinion 3/1/10 Hawaiian Secession
3. Arizona just passed its immigration bill, what are your thoughts on this? References: Desert Sun 4/24/10 page A1-“Protests Planned Against Arizona Law”, LA times 4/24/10 Page 1 – “Immigration May Spur a Shakedown”, WSJ 4/26/10 Page A9 – “Immigration Law Boosts Governor”, WSJ 4/27/10 Page A16 – “Arizona’s Immigration Frustration”
4. A value added tax is being proposed, what are your thoughts? Reference: WSJ 10/8/09 –“Mrs. Pelosi’s VAT”, OCED, Heritage Foundation Policy Center 2008 “Comparative Table of European VAT and General Taxes”

More references:

Topic #2:

Republican committee: Native Hawaiian Recognition (Akaka Bill)

Princess Kaiulani (the movie), Hawaiian Independence Blog

Deepwater Horizon blowout

The agenda committee did not propose a discussion of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, so here I'm providing some details about it.

Wiki piece

Also, see my SpareCan entry.

April 19, 2010

Topics:

1. How do you think the Federal Supreme Court should decide in the matter of extending prison terms for sex offenders who have already completed their State Court Mandated prison sentence? Reference: WSJ opinion 1/20/10 “Predators and the Constitution” continued from April 5, 2010.
2. What are your thoughts on the recent policy statement issued by the President regarding when we would use nuclear weapons to respond to a biological or similar attack on the U.S.? No reference.
3. What are your opinions on methods for stimulating employment and the economy? – One recent proposal has been to exempt teenagers from the minimum $7.25 Federal Wage Policy. Reference: WSJ opinion 3/5/10 Friday Page A20. The Young and the Jobless
4. What are your thoughts on the recently passed House bill “Akaka Bill” under which most of the nation’s ethnic Hawaiians can organize with powers and privileges of self government? Reference WSJ 3/1/10. Republican source

Additional references:

Topic #1: SCOTUS: merit briefs, Oral Argument, heretical ideas, Duke law

Topic #2: NY Times: Obama Limits When U.S. Would Use Nuclear Arms, Nuclear Weapons

Topic #4: Hawaiian Independence Blog

April 5, 2010

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. WSJ opinion:
2. Predators and the Constitution -
3. The feds usurp another area of state law
4. WSJ: Teacher Seniority Rules Challenged - With Tens of Thousands of Layoffs Looming, Government Officials and Parents Want to Change the 'Last in, First out' System
5. WSJ opinion: California Cap-and-Trade Revolt - A ballot measure would suspend the law until joblessness falls

Re. Topic #2:

Newsweek: Schoolyard Brawl - A leading reformer and a union head square off over teacher tenure.

Reference from Andy: Time Magazine 2/8/10 page 20-“In The Arena With Joe Klein

Re. Topic #3:

References from Andy:

• WSJ 3/11/10 Page A20 “Going Green vs Going Broke”-Can CA afford this?
• WSJ 12/17/09 Page A26 “Cap & Trade in Practice” – an incentive to go overseas

Other:

KPCC Airtalk: Do climate laws hurt California's economy? The movement to repeal AB 32

Wikipedia: Cap-and-trade , compare to Fishery management

new & related - opening up ocean drilling - Newsweek: Obama's Drilling Decision

PBS Nova: The Big Energy Gamble

my own observation:

Most commentators conflate global warming (GW) with fossil fuel depletion(FFD). They're similar in two principal ways:

1. They're caused by the burning of fossil fuels (read on), and
2. They both involve a limited resource (in GW, an atmosphere low in greenhouse gases - in FFD, the quantity of oil/gas/coal left in the ground). Most of the emphasis has been on GW.

They're different in how a reduction of the resource could negatively affect civilization.

1. Global warming could take years to fully manifest.
2. A major disruption in oil supply, such as the destruction of a Saudi oil terminal, could result in world-wide chaos in a matter of days.

Even if you don't believe in man-made global warming, the other threat (FFD) remains and is the more pressing. I cannot stress enough that Global Warming is different than Fossil Fuel Depletion.

National Geographic TV: Peak Oil

Museletter: Economic History in 10 Minutes, IT’S TIME TO DEAL WITH PEAK OIL, QUACKS LIKE A DUCK…

History Channel: After Armageddon (itunes, Youtube, torrent)

The End of Suburbia (Youtube, torrent)

more:

California Watch: Business group loses ‘green’ members in global-warming fight

L.A.: Los Angeles Launches Carbon Reduction Surcharge , local NPR: Al Gore comments

March 16, 2010

Indio City Councilman Glenn Miller

March 1, 2010

The agenda committee mostly gets the topics it recommends from a perusal of major newspapers in print. For those topics, the committee has agreed to cite the articles from which its topics are derived. As always, club members are invited to suggest discussion topics to the committee.

Topic #1 alleges that the U.S. Treasury contains some $800 billion in gold, at present valuation, and has decided to part with $200 billion. The rationale for the sale did not emerge in the discussion. One participant claims that gold has little intrinsic value.

Topics #2 and #3 involved a parsing of the Second Amendment and the role of precedent before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court is hearing oral arguments these days. I wonder about the effect of the 5-4 Citizens United ruling removing limits on corporate campaign spending.

NY Times: Supreme Court Remains Divided Over Gun Control

February 15, 2010

Topic #1:

Originally in August, 2005 a policy to extract oil from the Bakken Oil Reserve (having an estimated volume of two [b]illion barrels was federally mandated. However none has been extracted to date. Why are we still dependent on Middle East oil?

• Government cannot mandate production of oil. Oil was created over eons.
• Even if completely extracted, there's not a lot there. See my calc below.
• Bakken is solid rock. Requires lots of energy to extract oil from rock. See below.
• We're dependent on Middle East oil, because the Middle East has most of the earth's remaining oil and we're utterly dependent on oil, period.

recoverable barrels in Bakken (oil shale) per USGS: ~3000 million

barrels used in U.S. each day : ~20 million

days of U.S. supply in Bakken : ~150

See also my 'peak oil' blog entry on the Bakken.

From a recent NY Times article: New School of Thought Brings Energy to 'the Dismal Science'

Through analyzing historical production data, experts say the petroleum sector's EROI (energy return on energy invested) in this country was about 100-to-1 in 1930, meaning one had to burn approximately 1 barrel of oil's worth of energy to get 100 barrels out of the ground. By the 1990s, it is thought, that number slid to less than 36-to-1, and further down to 19-to-1 by 2006.

"If you go from using a 20-to-1 energy return fuel down to a 3-to-1 fuel, economic collapse is guaranteed," as nothing is left for other economic activity, said Nate Hagens, editor of the popular peak oil blog "The Oil Drum".

See these Oil Drum posts for in-depth analysis on oil shale: here and here.

A comment I made during the meeting, I think, sums it up:

The crunch will happen very soon when there's the realization that (the physical) supply can't match demand.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

From the L.A. Times:Before they could spout off on the airwaves, folks debated (and spit) in the open air

As for the style of the oratory, Times columnist Lee Shippey commented in 1935 that it seems "when you know a thing, you may merely speak it, but when you are rather doubtful, you must assert it so loudly as to overwhelm all opposition."

As for substance, see Slate's: Down With the People - Blame the childish, ignorant American public—not politicians—for our political and economic crisis.

February 1, 2010

Here are the announced topics as received from the agenda committee:

Opening:

Guest speaker: Joanne Leinow with the “Big Brothers and Sisters of the Desert”

Hosted by Andy Fisichelli

Followed by:

Two questions from our previous meeting that were not presented.

1. What do you think of Governor Schwarzenegger’s request for Federal money bailout so as to balance this state’s $20 billion shortfall?
2. Should Mark McGuire be excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame due to his use of enhancement drugs?

Use of SCSH fitness equipment by minors

As a follow up on the question of allowing minors to use fitness equipment at SCSH, the following information is given for everyone’s feedback and if necessary a change in the rules to not only restrict minors from using the equipment, but to ban them completely.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that each year about 8,700 children under 5 years of age are injured with exercise equipment. There are an additional 16,500 injuries per year to children ages 5 to 14. Types of equipment identified in these cases include stationary bicycles, treadmills, and stair climbers. Fractures and even amputations were reported in about 20 percent of exercise equipment related injuries.

The CPSC is concerned about the severity of injuries to children, especially because the hazard may not be obvious. Therefore, the CPSC warns parents always to keep children away from exercise equipment. Never use a bike without a chain guard, and when not using the equipment, store it or lock it so children cannot get to it.

fitcommerce.com website states:

Multi-million dollar liability judgments are awarded by the courts in recreation, sport, and fitness suits each year. It is crucial that you as a professional learn to protect yourself and your business from liability for negligence - whether you are an employee, an independent contractor, a club manager, or an owner. Surround yourself with resources ranging from an attorney in whom you have confidence, to risk management materials, to further education regarding liability (often found at fitness conferences), to trained and knowledgeable employees.

Learn as much as you can about waivers - and do not assume a waiver you see in an article or one that a friend is using will protect you. Find an attorney who has experience writing fitness, sport, or recreation related waivers. Most attorneys have had little or no experience in this area. The fact that a waiver was written by an attorney is not a guarantee of its effectiveness, as evidenced by the fact that about half the waivers that fail were written by attorneys.

In an article written by John T. Wolohan 3/01/2007 he states:

As nearly everyone knows by now, in most states a well-written waiver, signed by an adult, can be an effective tool in protecting fitness and recreation providers from negligence liability. What is not so clear, however, is what happens when such waivers are entered into by a minor, or ratified by his or her parent on his or her behalf. The reason minors present such a difficult case is because as a general rule, minors can, before they reach adulthood, disaffirm any contract into which they enter. Since this general rule is not altered by a parent's signature, contracts involving minors are only enforceable if approved by a court.

The SCSH may have a signed waiver from a parent when the minor is using the fitness equipment, but this does not necessarily mean that the SCSH is completely safeguarded.

Your comments please.

Meeting notes from Monday 18th January, 2010

Items:

1. Should the Federal Government continue to subsidize Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac considering they have already received a $400 billion subsidy?
2. We have received from the HOA office three proposed changes in our operating rules and regulations for approval at the Board's meeting of January 25, 2010. What are your comments on the following items: a) fitness guest policy b) kitchen rules and procedures c) kiln room procedures.
3. Do you think President Obama's approach to using the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) as sanctions against Iran, in contrast to President Bush's approach for U.S. sanctions, is proper?

Notes:

1. There was considerable discussion about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with most in favor of continuing their existence, although nobody likes the unlimited amount of funds that will be pumped into them or the obscene amount of bonuses paid to top execs.
2. The discussion on the changes to the rules on kitchen and kiln usage were mainly common sense and the changes spelled out the rules in great detail. It was agreed that the use of the gym equipment should be restricted and all kids under 17. Health clubs have been enforcing an under 18 rule due to liability problems. Nobody likes the fact that there is a certain amount of abuse by a few individuals that make some of the fitness classes overcrowded because of the large number of guests that these individuals bring in. The use of the 50 passes was discussed and nobody was really sure that this would solve the problem.
3. The IAEA situation was discussed at length and I think that we all agreed that there is nothing we can do to stop Iran becoming a nuclear nation. We all know that the IAEA has no power and short of declaring war on Iran, we cannot stop them achieving their goals. Ben asked what right do we Americans have to dictate to sovereign nations what they can or cannot do. We would not allow it, so why should they.

The remaining items on the agenda were tabled for the next meeting on Feb 1st.

January 18, 2010

Mike Wilson, former Indio City Councilman, sent this out in advance of the Jan. 20 City Council meeting:

If you can make time please come tonight at 5pm or as soon as you can get there after to be seen and speak, if you want too, to the Council and people of Indio. The Golden Handshake should not be given to those that put Indio and us into the current financial implosion that Indio faces. We know Indio is at least 14 million in the hole and probably a lot more. The plan before the Council is a backroom, and a very dark backroom, sweetheart deal that allows those that have colluded in many hidden unthinkable acts to leave Indio with unimaginable retirements and us the Indio Taxpayers the bill for all the dirty deeds. Please forward this email to all of your contacts and friends. We need to fill the Chambers. If you think the Credit Card Debacle by Indio's leaders is bad, wait until the rest comes out. It is time to hold the Council and Administration Accountable and Responsible for their acts. While this deal will allow the Administration such as Glenn Southard, Steve Copenhaver, Dave Ison, Susan Mahoney, Tara Adams, and many, many, more to escape the embarrassment of their acts it will also leave those that are left, the rank and file hard workers, who have been here for many, many years giving of themselves to Indio's residents and earning it, the burden of most likely the biggest layoff's the City has ever seen. It appears that 40-50 more employees will have to be cut to bridge the budget gap that exists. There is no other Revenue sources that will save people. So, why should the rich get richer and the rest of us holding the bag? If people are to be laid off than lay off the "At Will" high salaried contracts first and than proceed. NO sweet deals for anyone.The Council and this Administration need to face the music just like everyone else. Thanks.

Desert Sun: 'Golden handshakes' draw comment. Ms. Pena mostly quotes the proponents.

There is more of a savings with the early retirement program than if the city were to just lay-people off because of how expensive severance pay could be with some employees, Adams said.

Thank goodness for the comments section below the article. Here are some astute remarks:

workinguy wrote:

I believe Mr. Southard is an at will employe and the council could simply discharge him, pay any accrued compensation and select a new manager with a more reasonable salary. The terms of Mr. Southard's employment should clearly call out what he is entitled to, if the council has given him anything that rembles a "Golden Handshake" then their collective judgement needs to be seriuosly examined.

and

SoundsRight wrote:

Increased contributions to PERS retirement is only a benefit to the city if the positions vacated by the recipients of the "golden handshake" are not replaced. Do you think the City Manager is not going to be replaced if he accepts the "golden handshake". Get real.

If you fill the vacated positions, you have increased the cost to the city for the enhanced retirements paid out for the life of the recipient. You are also paying for the current cost of the position filled. How does that save money?

I personally doubt that Mr. Southard and his 'lucky' cohorts would have placed themselves 'at will', given the concessions made by this gullible Council and given Ms. Adams statement about severance pay. This is a factual question. Why not merely allow Mr. Southard, so highly esteemed by this Council, to remain to the end of his contract?

Further, I wonder whether the added costs for early retirement of that contingent are entirely born by the residents of Indio or can Indio shift some of those costs to California residents outside the city?

1/27/10 update: email from Mr. Southard to Indio:

From: Glenn Southard Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 2:42 PM To: City Council Cc: All City Personnel; Edward Kotkin

Subject: Retirement

I have decided to accept the Early Retirement Incentive effective April 1. This will save a significant amount of money for the city and hopefully make it easier to keep lower level employees. I will work with you on a transition plan. When I accepted the City Manager position I committed to 5 years. I have met that promise. During that time amazing and significant positive changes have been accomplished. The City of Indio has been transformed into a different place. This was achieved though vision, leadership, hard work and a great staff. The recent citizen survey shows high marks for what has been implemented. I have enjoyed the people of Indio and they will always be special to me. Gale and I will continue to live in Indio and be involved in the fabric of the community. I wish the Council and staff the best as they right size the organization to reflect the current economic realities. But make no mistake; Indio has a bright future! Bravo to all that have helped make Indio “The Place to Be”. Sincerely,

Glenn D. Southard

City of Indio

City Manager

I wonder how he could have accepted a 'golden handshake' a week before its enactment, unless the fix was in. I urge attendance at the Feb. 3 City Council meeting. See my earlier note about Indio.

The Desert Sun noticed the presumption and reported on it: Early retirement deal has yet to be approved and Indio City Manager Glenn Southard to retire.

1/29/10 update

Desert Sun: Indio to tap former finance director to 'right-size' city hall

Comments thereunder:

SoundsRight wrote:

What is the matter with those people? Why do you pay high salaries to administrative and management employees, only to have to hire a "part-time" outside consultant [at $14,000/month] to "fix" city hall? I'm sure that it is a coincidence that the consultant is a former associate of the outgoing city manager! When the taxpayers hear that they are paying "golden handshakes" to increase the retirement benefits of employees [for life]being encouraged to leave city service to "save" money, only to then hear that someone is being brought in from the outside at $14,000/month for 20 hours work per week they should be OUTRAGED.

and

carlitos wrote:

you can't even make this stuff up

2/5/10 update

Desert Sun: Indio council OKs 'golden handshakes'

Comment thereunder:

goldeng wrote:

CalPERS needs to review! Golden isn't ment for CMs! It doesn't seem to meet the requirements:

a. The member is employed in a specified job classification, department, or other organizational unit and retired within the period designated by the governing body. (The benefit CANNOT BE PROVIDED on the basis of employee organization or nonrepresented groups).

b. The governing body must certify that it is electing to be subject to the provisions of this section due to mandatory transfers, layoffs and/or demotions that constitute at least one percent of the job classification, department, or organizational unit.

c. The governing body must certify that it is the intention at the time Section 20903 becomes operative that any vacancies created by retirements under this section or at least one vacancy in any position in any department or organizational unit SHALL REMAIN PERMANENTLY UNFILLED thereby resulting in an overall reduction in the work force of such department or organizational unit.

2/4/2010 10:30:25 AM

The 3 hour Council meeting video is available, and it sheds some light on an ugly situation. Who is to blame for the mess? In one sense, we residents are, for electing a bunch of incompetents.

2/26 update: comment on No $300,000 salary for new city manager

beindio wrote:

We have Glen Southard at 300k a year. We also have 2 count em 2 assitant

city managers. Is that enough to run this huge metropolis of Indio?

No we need to hire a consultant at 14k a month to tell these 3 how to get the job done.

Geeeeez cant figure out why were broke.

I'm thinking Mr. Southard's pay is at the top in the nation for such work, a very dubious distinction, and approaching that of The President of the United States, at $400K.

January 4, 2010

Regarding Indio credit card kerfuffle:

Desert Sun: Public questions Indio's credit card use, comments on earlier article

Regarding health care reform:

Newsweek: What Health-Care Reform Will Mean for You

Regarding national ID card:

Wikipedia: Identity Documents

MSNBC: ISRAEL LAUNCHES BIOMETRIC AIRLINE SECURITY SYSTEM

5/13/2010 update: Newsweek: Immigration and IDs: A Modest Proposal