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Back to Catching Up With...Index Page Catching Up With….Glenn Lambdin By Bill Coburn
SGVW: What have you been doing with yourself now that you're out of office?
GL:
Falling in love and enjoying my life.
GL:
I performed at the Hono Bar at the Kauai Sheraton in Poipu two months ago with
my friend and musical mentor, ex-Sierra Madre resident, Steve Farrell. We even
played his original song, "Sierra Madre." The only band I am a part of is the
"Village Idiots" who perform once a year in the Fourth of July Parade. We play
only one song that lasts the entire length of the parade.
GL:
Last year, I was on Kauai for over seven months building a vacation home so that
Liz and I can offer our friends and family a place to "renew their souls." Kauai
is a wonderful vacation destination. It's paradise. While we have no intention of
living there full time, we look forward to spending as much time as we can
slowing down, breathing in the surroundings, and, oh yeah, getting in some
surfing. Kauai is in a process of huge change and over-development. It makes
me sad to watch the level of development without adequate concerns for
infrastructure, the environment, local residents, and long term local economies.
GL:
Budgets, Maranatha School proposal, Measure I-97
GL:
Five-year street improvement plan with identified funding sources, a senior
housing project, YAC
GL:
Tree Ordinance, Demolition Ordinance, the purchase of multiple acres of open
space in the hillsides
GL:
A five-year street improvement plan without increasing taxes.
GL:
Wonderful friendships were made while on the council. Friendships that will last
my entire life.
GL:
Time away from friends and family.
GL:
It was an attempt to force the truth from the proponents of Measure V. I wanted
the residents to have the facts so that they would be able to make an informed
decision.
GL:
Dunn's comment is fine if you are only interested in childish sandlot baseball
analogies. But this is about integrity and being truthful with the residents of
Sierra Madre, our neighbors. What Dunn and company were forced to admit to the
court was that their arguments are hyperbole, wild exaggerations. They actually
argued to the court that they had the right to hyperbole. Dunn even made the
statement that all arguments are hyperbole. I disagree, and I believe that the
residents deserve better. They deserve the truth and they deserve the facts. It's
obvious Kevin Dunn and I embrace different values when it comes to public
integrity, honesty, and facts.
GL:
It is grossly flawed throughout the entire text of the initiative. It is poorly
written and has the potential to put the city at risk for numerous expensive
lawsuits that we can't afford. Instead of controlling development, it creates
more opportunities for development in the downtown and more traffic. It raises
the height limits in the East Montecito area. It removes all requirements for
environmental reviews. It has the potential to be an unaffordable financial
drain on the city. It has the opposite effect of what the proponents wanted.
Simply put, badly written legislation creates bad legislation. Measure V is the
same approach Walmart tried to use to build a center in Inglewood three years
ago. It is a mechanism to circumvent established planning and zoning laws and
eliminates CEQA requirements of EIRs.
GL:
Strong and true! Let me give you a few examples. When the SMRRD organization
collected signatures to put the measure to a vote, they claimed via the front
page of their web site that the initiative would, "force the Downtown Specific
Plan to a vote." That's a lie, but it helped them get signatures. They claimed,
and still do, that the 13 DU restrictions in the Commercial Zone are found in
the 1996 General Plan. Another lie. I'll stop there, for now, but there are many
others.
GL:
More lies by the same group. Their accusations about Councilmember Mosca are
lies. Councilmember Mosca is being accused of not meeting a campaign promise to
put the DSP to a vote of the people. In truth, Councilmember Mosca proposed a
timeline that included a vote of the people. It was approved 5 - 0 by the
council. What I find disturbing is that Councilmember Watts and Zimmerman refuse
to have the integrity to remind their constituents that Joe did in fact fulfill
his promises and that they were involved in fulfilling those promises. The
timeline proposal Joe offered would have been the only way the city could have
put the DSP to a vote of the people under the current CEQA laws. A few
years back, it cost the city $500,000 to learn that before a city council can
sponsor an initiative, it MUST do an EIR. It doesn't take a genius to realize
that we had to have a completed Draft DSP and a completed EIR before it could
have been placed to a vote. Joe did his job! He followed the law and he was
making good on his promises. Those that continue to say he didn’t, are liars.
GL:
This should never have been placed on the agenda. Had Councilmember Watts spent
5 minutes doing a Google search, he would have learned that the day laborers
have a constitutional right to be there. Instead, it cost the taxpayers nearly
$1000 in staff time. The city can’t afford this type of nonsense. This was
wasteful, shameful, and an embarrassment to the city. I have to ask myself,
"Would Councilmember Watts have spent the money if it were coming out of his own
pocket?"
GL:
Who could blame him? We lost a good man!
GL:
I disagree with that statement. We will find another city manager. I hope he
or she has rhino-thick skin.
GL:
Money, money, money. Our general fund reserves are half of what they were seven
years ago. What people need to remember is that those reserves are not a result
of wise saving and planning, but rather are a result of refinanced bonds in
1998. It’s like refinancing one's home and taking out some equity cash. We
really don’t have any mechanisms to replenish those funds. We are getting closer
and closer to financial crisis.
GL:
Stop wasting money on nonsense like the day laborer park issue. Make policy that
will keep us out of court. Spend each and every penny of taxpayer money as if
they were spending their own.
GL:
Elected officials need to be aware that their job is to build and maintain
public trust and confidence. Start acting like a team. Have different opinions,
different solutions, and act like a team. All five council members are my
council members, Sierra Madre's council members. Focus on building public trust
and confidence. They have an entire city to run, not just one or two special
interest items.
GL:
No. GL: Remember, our home is the three square miles we call Sierra Madre, not just the house where we reside. |
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