ENCINITAS — Mayor Jerome Stocks and Mark Muir appear to have gotten an early start posting campaign signs late at night Oct. 5, more than a day before the Oct. 7 limit imposed by local election laws. In a video recorded by Encinitas resident Joseph Corder, the two city officials along with an unidentified man are shown placing signs and dismissing concerns that the placement was too early.http://youtu.be/kHLQ1p70rP0
52 comments
The penalty should be the immediate removal of all Stocks & Muir signs.
I received the political mailer from Mark Muir today. It is so ironic that he chose “Tested. Proven. Trusted” as is tagline.
Tested
Yes, he was tested on October 5th. Thank you to Joe Corder for administering the test. Test result: An F for dishonesty and blatant disregard for our municipal codes.
Proven:
What exactly has he proven in his 10 month tenure at council?
Encinitas good credit rating is not to Muir’s credit. In fact large pension of $170K a year for retiring at 55 is unheard of!
Same can be said about the balance budget. It has nothing to do with what Muir did on council. He has not even been on council for a full budget cycle.
Encinitas Community Park is now being built. Oh yes, take credit for that one too. All Mark Muir has done is approve an $8M revenue bond and shovel contaminated soil for a photo op!
Moonlight Beach improvement? More debt, an a photo op opportunity shoveling sand.
Rejected high density on El Camino Real: Any official with a brain would have realized that stuffing 1300 apartment units on a short section of El Camino Real was a disaster.
Then Mark Muir has the nerve to claim he will favor a vote on the final general plan. That’s ludicrous. The update to the General Plan will be adopted by a 4/5th council majority. Why would Muir claim this but then in turns oppose the Right-to-Vote Initiative on zoning increases? This is one of the intended consequence of the initiative: Put the GPU up to a vote of the people, since the GPU will result in zoning increases
Voted for pension reform: The only council meeting where pension reform was discussed was not even attended by Mark Muir.
Trusted: ditto from Tested. We can’t trust Mark Muir. He has failed the character test on October 5th. He is also aligned with Stocks which make untrustworthy
Mark Muir: Failed Test, unproven, can not be trusted!
FIRE MUIR ! OH Yes and DUMP STOCKS!
Don’t forget, Jerome is Steve Danon’s campaign manager, and we have seen Danon signs up for a long time! I would have thought that the campaign manager might have wanted to follow the Municipal Code, since he is also the Mayor of Encinitas!
Wow. What cheesy behavior. Speaks volumes about the character of these two.
Scary that the Major can’y even count 30 days backward and we have entrusted him to make good decisions on the pensions for the city. No wander he says it is complicated. Its probably too difficult for him.
Dump Stocks!
..and Fire Muir
@EYNU: Please don’t call me “lazy.” It’s a label I’ve not earned. I clearly delineated the facts that two signs were seen on a specific date and time in the lawn area of a private residence. If you aren’t able to discern the facts, well, that is an issue you need to deal with that doesn’t require name calling. Next time you feel compelled to leave a comment that includes my name, do us all the courtesy of leaving your REAL, full name and we can have a discussion about reporting if you’d like. If not, keep your comments to yourself. There is no shame in doing my job…none.
My apologies Ms. Tucker. I agree there is no shame in doing your job. A comment thread is indeed a lousy place to make a complex argument and mine is more about journalistic style throughout our nation that too easily slips into the tired he said, she said and both sides do it. You are not responsible for this miserable trend. I should never have called you lazy in a public format. It is hurtful and mean. Though I hold myself responsible, I claim the incendiary words dulled my civility filters. New day and sincere regrets . . .
I hope people will come early on Wednesday, by 5:30, to protest Stocks’
disregard of the law, in particular his improperly suspending current law so
that no applications for banner or sign permits in the public right of way are
being accepted, or have been since April 11! If we sit on our hands, our
freedoms will continue to be abridged by bullies, who use their power to rob us
of our individual liberties, our neighborhood cohesion, and our community’s
diversity in character.
Stocks, as we know, doesn’t follow parliamentary procedure or Roberts Rules of
Order. He unilaterally shortens our alloted time to speak, as listed on the
agenda, while allowing City and Water District reports to go on interminably.
These should be restricted to no more than half an hour, particularly when there
is a full agenda and many public speakers. Instead, the public’s right to speak
is taken away and a “connected” few, special interests, get to go on an on,
approaching or for more than an hour!
Outgoing Mayor
All of Encinitas Council should be calling out points of order, objecting to outgoing Mayor Jerome Stocks’ actions. Councilmember Mark Muir, when he said he supported Councilmember Teresa Barth’s motion on lifting the ban on banners,
should have corrected, “I mean that as a second! “
Then Council could have voted. Instead, a bogus subcommittee was appointed, an
alternative not on the agenda, so no public speakers could address or object to
the advisability of that move to delay and extend the banning of freedom of
expression within a limited public forum. As usual, the subcommittee idea
didn’t come up until the public hearing portion of the discussion had been
closed.
Stocks has the balls to blatantly manipulate the agenda, to change the law to
ban banners, while trying to do retroactive damage control . . . in a futile
attempt to cover-up or excuse his violations of the Constitution and EMC. He
attempts to codify the very abuse of discretion to which lawyers, artists and
the general public object!
Stocks, in his flagrant disregard for the letter of the law, demonstrates that
he thinks he is the law, and therefore above it. The issue of campaign sign law
is also not about hours or days; it’s about Stocks’ hypocrisy in his lack of
respect for the public trust, for our Constitutional and common law rights, our
property rights . . . our right to pursue happiness while causing no harm . . .
Like outgoing, convicted Mayor Dan Dalager, before him, Stocks has been talking
out of both sides of his mouth. With one face he calls for decorum, while the
other side threatens us with the “big guns” of a bully, who disregards,
disrespects and attempts to devalue the voice of the community as we ask our
representatives to stand for truth and our freedom to enjoy and be grateful for
our quality of life.
Kydd is Clueless Andreen has added four of his typical offerings.
Please stop
No Encinitas city council candidates had any signs on roundabouts along Leucadia Blvd. on Friday or Sat. There are Open Huuse signs in the roundabouts. Maybe that’s what Clueless is talking about.
You may regret that false statement, which is clearly related to your hyperpartisanship, especially if the pictures are released of those signs (with time stamps). Hundreds of people saw them and Kamada appears to admit to them on this blog. Nice try….
I have no first hand knowledge of Kranz and Shaffer signs being put out early. I do have first hand knowledge that signs were distributed to supporters with explicit instructions to wait until the 7th to put them out. If individual supporters chose to ignore those instructions that is unfortunate, however, that is completely different from the candidates themselves knowingly disregarding municipal law regarding the display of signs. Stocks and Muir obviously knew what they were doing, and knew it was against the law, and attempted to use their stature as city officials to intimidate a law-abiding citizen who had every bit as much a right to be there as they did, and was respectful throughout the encounter. This isn’t the kind of behavior we should expect from our elected officials, and no effort to deflect or spin the facts can obscure this. I hope I’m wrong, but I fully expect a full-fledged character-assassination campaign to ensue shortly.
Yes, Cyrus, you’re right that the article fails to make that obvious point (and apparently I didn’t either). At minimum they should verify the facts in the photo they used. It seems like an attempt to appear objective that failed. Who lives there? Were they aware of the municipal code? or Were they directed? The informed voters are very clear, but not everyone reading the story or viewing the video know this. This is hot, breaking news.
I had asked, by e-mailing all of Council, and City Attorney Glenn Sabine, that since sign code was going to be revised and revamped, then campaign signs should also be re-considered. Current law, as designated in Encinitas Municipal Code, is improper, Unconstitutional, in restricting yard signs on private residential property. The City cannot legally impose time limits on those types of signs, as depicted in the “thumbnail” photo on Vulcan.
A homeowner should be able to have a sign up all year round, should he or she choose, provided it does not violate height restrictions, and provided the homeowner is not restrained by the covenants and restrictions of a homeowner’s association, for example. HOA’s can be much more restrictive than cities and counties with respect to certain issues, such as signs in yards, or colors of paint on one’s home!
Councilmember Mark Muir had mentioned campaign signs could be a subject of consideration when he was appointed to the subcommittee that, under Glenn Sabine, came back with a terrible proposed ordinance for banners in the public right of way. The proposed ordinance simply tried to make part of EMC, to codify, language that was a blatant attempt to “legalize” the abuse of discretion that took place through current Mayor Stocks, his “henchman” attorney, Sabine, and the City Manager, Gus Vina, initially disallowing Maggie Houlihan’s image to be displayed, as tribute, on the back of the Arts Alive Banners.
When Muir also had asked about including campaign sign code in sign law to be reconsidered and revamped, Stocks and Sabine cut him off saying, that’s a discussion for another time. That was the perfect time, as the election was (and is) fast approaching!
Personally, I will put up any sign in my yard for as long as I’d like, as long as it isn’t in the public right of way, and as long as it doesn’t illegally defame anyone, as a previous yard sign did Maggie Houlihan, years ago.
The FPPC did say that DUMP STOCKS signs could go up at any time, because they are not technically advocating election of a particular person; so they’re not campaign signs.
I do feel that Stocks, having been on Council for nearly 12 years, should set a good example and abide by the current code, which says he should not have been putting up his campaign signs until October 7 (NOT 10/6, as October has 31 days). Citizens are held to strict compliance of the law. An elected official should lead by setting a good example, not flaunting the law by his own hypocrisy.
I agree with most of Lynn’s comments. Tony, who has run for 2 offices in the past and Shaffer, the ethics expert should have known better than to put their signs out a full week ahead. In a race the first runner to false start often triggers the others to do so.
Kranz and Shaffer gave explicit instructions to everyone to wait until 30 days before the election to place their campaign signs up. If someone placed their sign a week early it was against instructions.
The point is that neither Kranz nor Shaffer has control over whether a private party puts up their signs early. Stocks and Muir, however, have complete control over when they decide to go out and place signs themselves.
Then it appears that Kranz has no control over his signs or his temper?
I have known Tony for a long time and have never seen the temper you talk about. I know of a situation that Tony was bullied and provoked into an altercation but what red blooded American wouldn’t defend his President? That was entrapment, clear as day.
Aren’t you afraid that Tony may physically assault the first person in the Council chambers that disagrees with him and then claim that he was entrapped? You just can’t behave that way. That’s not the way it works in the real world, but maybe it his universe.
It’s extremely disappointing that staff (Wehtahnah Tucker?) diminishes the story by tacking on an unsupported sentence, “Some signs for candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz were also spotted around the city.” This ‘both sides do it’ statement is a false equivalency. It’s lazy to not give the facts, but instead to give the impression Shaffer and Kranz were also knowingly violating city code. It’s why people dismiss any and all political involvement because – you can’t trust anyone. Shame on you.
This allows the malfeasance shown by the mayor caught in in the act to be diluted or dismissed. The use of the photo thumbnail further blurs the point of the story. Shame on the editor. We expect more from this valiant paper. The publisher just got through telling us all it was time to dump Stocks and his buddy Muir.
Tired Taxpayer, you go girl! Every council member needs a Perfect Bottom, and you sho is, honey! Every comment you make is so well lubricated…keep ’em coming!!
The video, and our councilman and mayor’s behavior in the video, says it all. I applaud Mr. Corder for enlightening the rest of us about who these people REALLY are. Why were they photographing your license plate, and acting as if they were going to hurt you? I don’t want them back this year.
Why were Stocks and Muir skulking around at night? They knew exactly what they were doing. It’s an embarrassment for the city of Encinitas.
Nightime is best if you don’t want to distract drivers. I’m shocked that Tony’s signs were put on the public right of way in clear daylight. Fortunately no distracted drivers were hurt this time. I hope he has learned his lesson, but it looks like he took them down today when he found out he was caught false starting. Did he see the pictures of his signs in the public right of way. Uh-oh. At least Shaffer, Stocks, and Muir put theirs on private property, which Ms. Marr says is OK.
Actually Mike, I picked up all but one of the signs the morning you put them up on Thursday. If you hadn’t placed them on the corner of Hygeia and Leucadia Blvd., right down the street from my house, I might never have seem them. However, I missed the one you put at the eastbound entrance to the roundabout at Hermes until I was on the way home from work in the late afternoon. I also know the signs were taken out of my garage, because they had stakes that were from 2010 and I wasn’t going to use them because they were a little rusty. My bad for leaving the garage door open, but I’m sure you appreciated how easy I made it to get a hold of some signs. You went to great lengths to get those pictures.
I know you’re in charge of disinformation in the efforts at damage control for the video. But most people recognize the fallacy of False Equivalence you’re pedaling.
So now Kranz wants us to believe he has no control over his signs, his temper, or the random people that come in and out of his garage? City Hall deserves more accountability than that. Kranz is Clueless too!
Tony K- I don’t know why you keep referring to “Mike” because this is definitely NOT him. But I completely get your M.O.- blame all of your problems on someone that had nothing to do with them. You definitely cast more blame than “Mike” or anyone else could shoulder because you’ve got MAJOR issues. I’d reveal my identity, but I fear that I might quickly become your next victim.
Please, please, please reveal the identity. The suspense is too much. Who will it be, Mike or Jerome? Pick your favorite town bully!
There is a difference between signs that might have been posted by supporters who were not aware of the rules and unknowingly broke them, and signs that were posted by a sitting mayor and council member caught in the act of breaking the law.
Because there is no evidence that Tony Kranz put up these signs himself, I will assume that someone else did it by mistake. If there is a video of Mr. Kranz doing the same thing, we would all like to see it.
With regard to the Mayor and Council Member Muir, they seem to be aware that what they are doing is illegal.
We need models of good leadership-not people who enforce one set of rules for citizens and apply different standards for themselves.
Of course you will assume it was all a big mistake by Tony’s people, even though he has run for office twice before and should know better than to be the first false starter. Only the complaining 2% get to break the rules and are given a pass by the Coast News.
I noticed that The Coast News has not posted the pictures of the Tony Kranz election signs posted in the public right of way at ALL Leucadia roundabouts a full day before the Muir and Stocks signs went up. Will they do a front-page story on that? Do you all agree that Tony Kranz should withdraw from the race???? THERE is the hypocrisy!
Coast News = Partisan Tabloid Trash
I drove through Leucadia, including along Leucadia Blvd. round abouts looking for signs on Saturday at approximately 1:30pm. I didn’t see any signs for any city council candidates. Let me know where you specifically saw them and when and I’ll be happy to follow up.
The Kranz signs were on the roundabouts all day Wednesday thru Saturday morning, up until the point it was pointed out that Kranz had posted signs several days early. It’s easy to miss them when one looks through the eyeglasses of the Coast News. Shaffer has had a lot of yard signs out during the last week, as well. There have also been several Dump Stocks signs out in people’s yards. Kamada admits to the early Kranz signs on this blog, but does not feel that Kranz had any control or say so over his own signs. What a pathetic excuse! There are a lot of pictures with time stamps on them proving all of this, but it remains to be seen if they will be shared.
The 2% are again trying desperately to smear the 98% even though their candidates committed the false start several days early. Is that all they’ve got? Pathetic indeed.
No it’s people like you that want to spin this around. It’s so funny in your letter that you dont mention our mayor or council man doing anything wrong. Plaese deal with the facts, Encinitas muni code says, you cant put signs up before 30 days of an election. Start with the 5th day of oct when I filmed them, Lets count the days together. 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st, Nov 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th and 6th. Ok lets count these days. When I count them it’s come up 33 days, they might not count the 6th of nov, so thats still 2 days early. Ok now still try and spin this around. You can say anything about me, but these are the facts. Please watch read and listen to whats going to be said on tues at the meeting, and on wens at the town council meeting. Mr jerome stocks has already tried to spin this around by calling me a stocker. Thats ok with me, words are words only, facts are facts And Jerome Stocks and Mark Muir put these signs up early and got caught. We will see what the people of encinitas have to say about this on NOV 6TH, cant wait. Thank you Joe Corder of encinitas
Great investigative journalism Joe! The video is all the proof we need to ascertain that you did nothing wrong while Stocks tried to intimidate your right to stand in public and film. In addition, his aggressive behavior in telling you to leave and taking pictures of your license plate could be considered harassment and interference with your rights…you should find out if he filed a report. Who is the third guy….hope it’s not a City employee. See you Wednesday at council!
Miguelito Andreen, no es lo mismo. Tt’s not the same. I’ve seen a few signs on private property put out too early. In one case I told my neighbor, and he took them in. There is no excuse for sitting council members doing this kind of behavior. I agree that both should resign and withdraw from the race. Sadly I think they will pull a Dan Dalager and stay in. The voters will decide. I hope Stocks and Muir suffer the same fate as Dalager.
There is no evidence that Kranz or Shaffer took part in this kind of violation under the cover of darkness.
Señor Andreen: ¡Basta con tus pendejadas!
Estamos de acuerdos Rogelio!
Rogelio-
You don’t know me and I have no idea who you are. The only reason that you don’t think the Shaffer and Kranz early signs (several days early) are the same as the Muir and Stocks signs is because you support Kranz and Shaffer, just like Kydd (who maxed out contributions on them)and his fellow FPPC violator, Audet. Why no stories on Audet, Ms. Tucker? Is it that your boss, Jim Kydd will not permit it? Kydd apparently supports law breakers and pays them to work for his tabloid! Hypocrit!
The video shows that Mayor Stocks and Council Member Muir are hypocrites who easily violate the very laws they put into effect! How can they be trusted to make decisions for the entire city? And the video also shows Mayor Stocks vindictive character when he took pictures of the license plate of the brave citizen who caught him red-handed.
By putting out signs 2 days early, both Stocks and Muir know that they can capture the prime places for their signs and get a significant advantage over the other candidates who obey the law!
At the very least, Stocks and Muir should be made to immediately take down ALL the signs they both put up illegally and be barred from using those locations in this election. By violating the Municipal Code of Encinitas in their election campaign, the most appropriate response would be to prohibit them from running in this election.
I meant to say council man mark muir, not council manager. Sorry
I want to say thank you to Jim kydd the owner and publisher of the Coast News and his staff., for taking time to break this Stunning and shocking story about our mayor Jim stock and council??,,? man Mark Muir. It’s good to know that somebody in the news field cares about breaking and hurtful mews I wad shocked to see people putting up signs early, but when I came up on them on my first stop at the ford place, the shock quickly turned into total sadness. There in front of my own eyes, it. Just wasn’t a regular guy or guys putting up the signs, IT WAS THE MAYOR. Of ENCINITAS JEROME STOCKS and COUNCIL MAN MARK MUIR Of ENCINITAS. Who would think if someone was breaking the law, nobody would even dream of it being our MAYOR or our COUNCIL MANAGER. But sadness has hit ENCINITAS again. It’s time we all get together and go down to the council meeting this week and express your sadness, and ask Both Men JEROME STOCKS AND MARK MUIR to step down. I ASK EVERY PERSON HOW SAW OR HEARD THESE VIDEOS TO COME ON WEDNESDAY NITE THE 10TH OF OCT. LETS MEET OUTSIDE OF CITY HALL ON WEN ABOUT 530 SO WE CAN SIGN IN TO TALK. IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO BATMAN AND ROBIN. PLEASE COME AND SUPPORT ME. THANKS JOE CORDER
I know Jerome and his side kick mark will try to spin this thing around. The reason I know they will try to spin this around is easy, just look at the last 6 years on the council. Jerome will bs everybody. As for mark the saying goes, ( Robin will do anything Batman tells him to do. ) well guys the time has come, please do the rite thing and tell the truth.Then Batman and Robin can jump into the Bat mobile and head for the bat cave to stay
Thanks Cyrus, the truth is in the video, I Was
Interviewed by channel 10 last nite, and they will! air my interview either today or monday. They will call me ahead of time to tell. Me when it will be aired. I will let everybody know when it will be on. I feel strongly that when everybody has seen and heard these videos they will ask both the men to step down from the city council. I will go to city hall. On tuesday to file my complaint, after that, then I will ask both of. Them to step down. I. will ask for help from the city atty. I also plan to file paper with the. Dist atty in san diego.Then I will file a complaint with the state.
Joe, again all the thanks in the world for shining a light on this. You won’t be alone when you face the city council on Wednesday. I don’t think much else needs to be said. The video says it all.
I’m in awe of this man’s courage and determination. Joe, you just did the entire city a huge service, and may have bent the arc of history for this town. We are all in your debt.
STOCKS and MUIR breaking the law !! People, how much more will we have to tolerate from these buffoons? Don’t vote for them, PLEASE.
Vote for Lisa SCHAFFER and Tony KRANZ.
So you’d suggest we vote for an admitted Occupy Wall Street protester (Shaffer) and a person seen by witnesses assaulting a citizen for expressing his free speech rights (Kranz)?
How can you live with yourself?
I feel bad when I tell lies.
Psychopaths don’t. That must be you!
Creepy.
Nice evidence of our city leaders breaking their own municipal codes. And we want to elect these yahoos?
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