When I was elected to the Encinitas City Council in November 2006, the council was a toxic environment.
Most of the negativity was directed at then-Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan — a fact the current mayor, Bruce Ehlers, was very aware of. He was her personal friend and had been her campaign manager.
One of my goals as a council member was to restore some level of civility amongst council members and to improve how the public was treated during council meetings.
Regardless of how I felt about them or their comments, I began referring to my colleagues not by their first names but by their titles and last names to show them respect.
No matter how I felt about public comments, I gave each speaker my full attention and tried to understand their perspective.
I believe that, at the end of my eight years on council, including my terms as mayor, there was a marked improvement in the council’s professionalism.
Consequently, it is very disheartening for me to see the growing toxic environment and extreme lack of civility at recent council meetings. The vitriol is primarily directed at Councilwoman Joy Lyndes and select members of the public.
The bullying and disrespect have no place in our community. The community looks to the council for leadership, not petty and insulting false accusations.
Mayor Ehlers has the duty to set the tone for civil and productive discussions. I urge him to do so and keep this Council from returning to the past toxic environment.
Teresa Arballo Barth served as mayor and council member on the Encinitas City Council. She lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
3 comments
Mayor Ehlers Must Restore Decorum. Former Mayor Teresa Barth’s reputation was built on bringing civility to the dais. Today, that civility is being dismantled. Under Mayor Ehlers’ watch, one Councilmember is repeatedly allowed to violate Policy C003, turning public debate into a series of personal attacks.
The record doesn’t lie: look at the December 10 meeting. At the 4-minute and 65-minute marks, the lack of decorum is on full display. By failing to intervene and subsequently appointing this member as Deputy Mayor, Ehlers is fostering a hostile environment. It is time for the Mayor to exercise his authority, enforce the rules of order, and return our City Chambers to a place of respectful discourse.
Barth is counting on people having short memories. In reality her mask often slipped when caught working behind the scenes against residents. I’ll take a plain spoken, honest council member who truly listens over the façade of caring we’ve seen from Barth and her following associates Blakespear and Kranz.
It’s hard to disagree with calls for civility on the Council, but Ms. Barth takes it further with her allegation of “vitriol”. Perhaps her understanding of the word is different than mine (or Webster’s), but I haven’t seen it.
No example was given to illustrate her point, but I suspect she was alluding to Mr. O’Hara’s challenge to Ms. Lyndes regarding what he perceived to be a conflict of interest. In my view he advanced his point with admirable civility. As it turns out, I agree with Ms. Lyndes that the circumstances described did not warrant her recusal, and the vote in the matter proved to be unanimous.
It seems that some political leaders have become so accustomed to getting their way that they regard disagreement as incivility. Ms. Barth’s complaint perhaps illustrates that phenomenon.
As Ms. Barth’s letter notes, her experience on Council occurred long ago. Many Encinitas voters like the direction the current Council has taken. A welcome change.