For those of you out of the loop, the incumbents running for re-election for the Encinitas city council are orchestrating a smear campaign against one of the challengers. Mike Andreen, and other operatives for the status quo are engaged in dirty politics. No longer content with stealing signs and slinging mud, the gloves have come off and the bully boys are now throwing stones. At issue is council candidate Christy Guerin's role in the Sheriffs departments handling of a case ten years ago.

Since we are fostering clouds of suspicion, I am sure Encinitas voters would love to be reminded that Mayor Lou Aspell has one of her own. You see before becoming a council member Lou resigned as president of the Encinitas Little League as questions regarding embezzlement were laid at her feet. She ran, and the money was never accounted for. All that is missing is the smoking gun, and that's probably buried beneath Home Depot.

I'll be honest with you I voted for Lou the first time around, I will never make that mistake again. You see I was swayed by her claims to support the arts, and her promise to see a performing arts center in the Ecke Ranch development. Well there is plenty of retail space and asphalt, not to mention a golf course, yet no theatre space. Oh sure they have set aside a tiny a spot, wedged between a barbecue store and a bank, for a future theatre space. Is this "future' as in Senior Center and beach sand?

Let's face it folks, those of us who were opposing Home Depot and Ecke Ranch we kept saying that the El Camino Real corridor through Encinitas would become a traffic nightmare if these proects passed. We were right. Now we have John Davis standing up at candidate forums and insulting voters by saying there is nothing we can do about the gridlock. There is John, it's called voting. And I believe that the communities of coastal North County are fed up with business as usual, and that we are going to elect individuals who are looking beyond the wallets of the development industry, and who are seeking regional remedies to problems that affect us all.

To that end I am endorsing Dennis Holz and Christy Guerin in Encinitas, Mark Whitehead in Del Mar, Mary Azevedo in Oceanside, and Robert Payne in Carlsbad. These candidates are actually trying to move us beyond the ideology of the cancer cell. I also encourage voters to give Bill Horn his walking papers, Jerry Harmon is a proven leader who believes business can exist within a healthy environment. Imagine that. I also endorse Prop BB in Solana Beach. and Prop R in Encinitas. And please, Oceanside voters, just say no to V.

Recently in this paper you have been able to witness a dialogue that is taking place around the world. Mike Andreen and I have been giving voice to two opposing agendas that are struggling to find a place for themselves in the 21st century. Here in coastal North County we are distinguished as the Greys and Greens. Stanford Population biologists Paul and Anne Ehrlich recognize this as an issue of Browns Vs Greens. I assume the grey distinction is referring to the business suits. Brown invokes an image of a dry, barren earth. And Green, is green.

As environmentalists are emerging as a force to be reckoned with, the battle is being fought on many levels. Last week eight protestors from Greenpeace chained themselves to a ship that was hauling newsprint that was harvested from the rain forests of British Columbia. In Colorado, The Earth Liberation Front, torched a Ski resort to protest it's expansion. And in Germany, the Greens now share a parliamentary majority with the Social Democratic Party. Finally a place at the table.

Thinking globally while working locally has never been so important. On November 3rd we have a chance to say, "enough is enough." Here in California we are faced with the possibility of Matt Fong as Senator, this is a man who is calling for a weakening of the Endangered species act, as well as, reductions in environmental  regulations that keep our state livable. I don't know about you, but I don't consider breathable air, and drinkable water a special interest.

Mr. Fong may not be out of touch with special interests, but he is certainly out of touch with environmental reality. Also on the ballot, and completely out in right field, is Dan Lungren. Dan refuses to take a position on off-shore oil drilling. Hello! Isn't it odd how when activists seek to protect the environment they are called radicals, yet we call those seeking to exploit it Governor...and Mayor. Vote.