Recent events in social justice demonstrate that the powerful shall eventually be held to task. Ghislaine Maxwell, Harvey Weinstein, even Ellen DeGeneres’ show what we discover when we listen to victims.
The mayor of Encinitas, Catherine Blakespear, should be held to the same standards of scrutinization.
A lawsuit filed against City of Encinitas alleges that Fire Marshal Anita Pupping was dismissed in September 2019 because she stood by concerns that “Streetscape” — the $50 million debt-driven plan to turn Highway 101 through Leucadia into a pedestrian zone — threatens public safety to the community that surrounds it.
Not wanting this opinion shared with state investigators, the City removed Ms. Pupping from her position of authority.
According to the lawsuit documents, Anita Pupping was a 33-year, decorated veteran of EFD She also happens to be a woman of color. And now, Ms. Pupping appears to be out of a job and full pension, because she would not fall in line to endorse Mayor Blakespear’s pet project.
Other details allege an environment of toxic masculinity at EFD. Women were held to different standards than male counterparts. Sexist language was common. When Ms. Pupping went to HR with her concerns, her male superiors retaliated.
A “progressive thought leader” like Mayor Blakespear should credit Ms. Pupping as proof that even the highest ranks of our city are accessible to women and minorities. Instead, Mayor Blakespear fails in her primary duty—to protect the people and workers of Encinitas—and aligns with the #MeToo offenders.
Indeed, details of this lawsuit uncover many disturbing questions:
• Ms Pupping filed a harassment complaint in July 2019, and faced increasing persecution until she was fired in September 2019. Requests to be reinstated in October and November were both denied.
Mayor Blakespear must have been aware. Why did she not take up Anita’s cause? A mayor who has herself faced multiple threats of sexual violence should offer aid to a colleague facing similar conditions.
• Should city staff worry they might fall victim to politics near the end of their career? How does this affect the integrity of their work, or their willingness to share opinions?
More importantly, think of the impact on community: it sends a message to potential talent to go elsewhere, because integrity and safety take a back seat to our mayor’s personal interest.
• Examples: City Manager Karen Brust unexpectedly resigned in April 2020 under rumors of internal conflict.
City Planner Brenda Wisneski left late last year for Dana Point. Why are so many high-ranking women leaving city staff?
• Finally, what does it say about the value our leaders place on people of color? It is one thing to pose for a photo opp at a protest; it is quite another to put inclusion into professional practice.
30 years ago, American women raised a rally against workplace harassment: “Anita, we believe you!” It is sad that we still see discrimination in a city led by a rising Democrat woman.
Pray we have evolved enough this time to take action.
Lisa Leslie
Encinitas
20 comments
This appears to be a political hit job from a Thunder supporter. The writer implies that a female Mayor/Leader may have discriminated against a long-term female firefighter employee without evidence that discrimination was the cause of the termination? It is not clear that Ms. Puffing was discriminated against or if an internal conflict occurred over a safety issue regarding the Streetscape project. The reader does not have enough evidence to determine the real cause of termination with just a court filling.
The author makes a huge jump when she states, “A progressive thought leader” like Mayor Blakespear should credit Ms. Pupping as proof that even the highest ranks of our city are accessible to women and minorities. Instead, Mayor Blakespear fails in her primary duty—to protect the people and workers of aligns with the #MeToo offenders”. To imply that our current mayor is aligned with #MeToo offenders”, is not only insulting to the MeToo victims but also very sexist towards our current Mayor.
This article was written as political hit piece against the mayor. The article implies that a female Mayor/Leader may have discriminated against a long-term female firefighter employee with no evidence that discrimination was the cause of the termination? It is not clear that Ms. Puffing was discriminated against or if internal conflict occurred over a safety issue regarding the Streetscape project. The reader does not have enough evidence to determine the real cause of termination with just a court filling.
The author makes a huge jump when she states, “A progressive thought leader” like Mayor Blakespear should credit Ms. Pupping as proof that even the highest ranks of our city are accessible to women and minorities. Instead, Mayor Blakespear fails in her primary duty—to protect the people and workers of aligns with the #MeToo offenders”. To imply that our current mayor is aligned with #MeToo offenders”, is not only insulting to the MeToo victims but also very sexist towards our current Mayor.
John “Marco Gonzalez” Carmah…. trolling with the usual character attacks and don’t have the common courtesy to leave his real name
As a former city employee, I can say from first hand experience that this isn’t the first time that Anita has filed complaint against the City. One of these alleged complaints previously cost the taxpayers of Encinitas tens of thousands of dollars, for nothing but Frivolity. Ms pupping is a decorated employee? The fire department does not decorate employees for doing their jobs, other than a certificate for years of service – decorated – nope. The only “decorations“ she has is multiple complaints from the community, contractors, customers, and staff. Previous claims filed by Ms pupping against employees And with the city we’re invalid and served no purpose, other than for her personal gain. It’s sad and disgusting at the same time, that she chooses to use the 101 project as a springboard for a lawsuit, that has no bearing on her dismissal. We believe you Anita, that the City dismissed you for good cause. Stop dragging the fire department and City thru the mud for personal gain. Stop costing city staff and taxpayers money on a frivolous lawsuit. Go ahead and retire; collect your six figure – taxpayer funded pension and taxpayer funded medical coverage for the next 30 years. We believe you Anita, that it’s your Time to stop grandstanding for personal gain.
I agree with Lisa Leslie and I’m grateful she wrote this editorial, grateful the Coast News published it. I have been living here and involved with City politics, as an activist, long before Catherine Blakespear came back from going to college and then working as a journalist in LA. She returned to live on her mother’s compound, in Cardiff, as I understand, and to work for her mother as an estate attorney? Although I had supported Julie Graboi and Sheila Cameron, I was hopeful that CB could be a good leader, that her being a lawyer would allow her to be more objective and logical. But she has disappointed me and many others on many issues, including her pushing of the over=priced, financially unsound and UNSAFE North 101 Leucadia Streetscape, aka Streetscam.
I’m very glad that former Fire Marshal Anita Pupping opposes that project on health and safety grounds, as has former Fire Chief and Councilmember Mark Muir. The “buck” does stop with the Mayor. She has huge influence on the heads of departments, through the City Manager. The timing of Anita Pupping’s firing is highly suspect, after Ms Pupping had reported that she was going to meet with the State Attorney General and share the facts about N101 Streetscape, and her opposition to it because of public health and safety.
Lisa Leslie’s letter to the editor, her voice in our community, is greatly appreciated. Also, I’m glad that the Coast News is finally publishing some letters to the editor critical of our current, we hope outgoing, mayor. I am a Democrat, but I support Julie Thunder, as well as Susan Turney. Our Mayor and Council Members are supposed to be non partisan offices. I object to Catherine Blakespear because of her policy choices. We need fresh eyes and fresh voices on Council. Please unite to vote out the incumbents. We need a fresh start.
I’ve been very happy with Mayor Blakespeare and I think Julie Thunder and her supporters are the same terribly transparent Republicans as always.
If we should believe City Staff when they complain of abuse, then I think we should also support and believe the staffers who complained of Bob Nichols’/Surfing Madonna harassment in the City Staff report. He has been vocally supporting Lisa Leslie’s letter to the Coast News, yet when the staff report came out, he denied it and dismissed their complaints. He also claims that if Julie Thunder, Susan Turney, and Alex Riley are elected, that they will restore Surfing Madonna events. That means he is suggesting they will ignore the city staff report and ignore the grievances of city employees? If we believe Anita, should we then believe City Staff? The report is here: https://encinitas.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=2081&meta_id=108083
BLM group stages a protest, and our mayor is out front for the photo opp. Woman of color gets harassed in a city department, and our mayor is silent. Silence = Violence, right? And then our mayor gladly promotes the EFD endorsement for her campaign. Thank you, Anita, for standing up to your bullies. May you ultimately prevail!
Lisa Leslie happens to be a very good writer in her own right! I applaud her for speaking up in support of a woman who has been unjustly harassed and fired for doing her job as Fire Marshall with the Encinitas Fire Department. The planned Streetscape for 2.4 miles on north Coast 101 in Leucadia, being reduced from a 4 lane Highway to 2 lanes, creates a dangerous situation, and has been flawed and unjustified since its inception by a group of consultants hired by the City.
Good Luck Anita – and Thank You for being brave enough to go through all this on behalf of the safety of the citizens of Encinitas and everyone who travels that scenic corridor.
Anita for Mayor!! Fakespear can pack up her progressive bag and beat it.
Nicely written, but WHY SO MUCH CONJECTURE? … and written like it’s true!!! Aside from the mayor and council legally having nothing to do with the firing, why should anyone believe the commenter’s notion that it was to silence her??? There are so many reasons that someone can be fired. Good Lord, how could someone here think this is believable? It might be “possible” to believe if you already hate someone, but if you’re forming a picture in your head of how things work, this material is a disservice.
Brave Lisa Leslie, for speaking up for those who were fired or left our city. This is a concern that we all should be asking about. Anita was speaking up for our safety and I agree with her. Big expenditures or changes like Streetscape should be voted on by the citizens affected by it.
Lisa Leslie continuing to play the role of pawn by putting her name to a hit piece written by the Thunder and Turney campaigns. It’s easy to identify Susan Turney’s writing style from top to bottom.
Blakespear is a disaster, Julie Thunder won’t let overgrowth and density ruin Encinitas. Blakespear is a liar and a corrupt fraud.
Absolutely. We have long known that Streetscape is a major disaster waiting to happen. The City of Paradise had implemented a similar one-lane plan when it burned down and many citizens couldn’t escape. Imagine Coast Highway- one-lane in an emergency. But those of us, like Anita, who raised issues were belittled by the mayor who has her own agenda and doesn’t tolerate other input. This is a sad a shameful case.
Blakespear needs to be voted out!
It’s a fact the major would have influenced this even though “It’s not her role”
Ms. Leslie opposed the Safe Parking program and turned against the mayor over that issue. OK. But to allege that Mayor Blakespear is responsible for personnel changes and sexism in the Fire Department is unfair and irresponsible. The mayor and Council have authority over two individuals in City government – the city manager and the city attorney. The rest are under the city manager’s control. Elected officials are prohibited from interfering in personnel matters related to city staff. The city staff are supposed to be non-partisan and protected from political interference from elected officials. So Ms. Leslie may have a problem with the former City Manager or the Fire Chief over these matters, but don’t blame the mayor.
To be clear, at one time I did support Mayor Blakespear and trusted her. After the safe parking lot fiasco, I felt the need to research and pay more attention to the decisions she was making for our city. “Informed Citizen”, I am concerned that when a senior member of our fire and emergency response team warns the city council about the dangers of a project, which goes against the Mayor’s vision –she gets fired?? This happened on the Mayors watch and while she doesn’t have a direct line of management to Anita, she should have been aware this was happening. She could have prevented getting this far. She could have worked through the city manager to correct this before it got to the point of the city getting sued.
Support Anita !!!
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