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Why I'm NOT voting for Jim Bond.

Observations from the Edge
Robert T. Nanninga
Coast News
March 2, 2000

 

"Our chore, I feel, is to help nature. Make it supranatural, not super...supra, beyond natural. And I think we can do this." — Jim Bond - 01/26/00

As a resident of Encinitas I have always known Jim Bond to be anti-environment, his voting record as a member of the Encinitas City Council bears this out without exception. Whenever he does mention environmental issues, such as bluff failures and disappearing beaches, it is never about preserving habitat and protecting biodiversity. Mr. Bond's reasons for addressing coastal issues has little to do with a healthy environment and everything to do with attracting tourists to our already over-crowded region. For Jim growth is always good.

Time and time again, Mr. Bond has systematically turned his back to the environmental concerns of his constituents. During his two terms on the Encinitas City council there has been a glaring deficit of both sports fields and open space in Encinitas, and while kids still struggle for a place to play, Mr. Bond made sure his supporters had a golf course with an ocean view. As we all know a round of golf is a good way to raise campaign funds, and considering the deceptive television ads being run by the Bond campaign, I would say Jimmy Boy has been playing a lot of golf at the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course.

Another area where Mr. Bond has actually worked against those trying improve the quality of life in Encinitas is his desire to dismantle the city's civic center in favor of scoring political points with his cronies at the San Dieguito Union High School District. Jimmy Bond believes believe the reasonable thing to do with funds reserved for a new city library, is to build one for the San Dieguito Union High School District instead.

In the face of ample public testimony that joint use libraries don't work, and the placement of a library at the San Dieguito Academy would require a major amount infrastructure upgrades, while increasing traffic in a neighborhood that can barely accommodate the high school and all it's resulting impacts, Councilmember Bond continues to alienate business groups such as the Downtown Encinitas Merchants Association, the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce.

By advocating relocating the library away from the downtown hub, Mr. Bond is actually encouraging the continuation of suburban sprawl, while promoting traffic gridlock in residential neighborhoods. Is this the type of representation we want in Sacramento. Common wisdom in Encinitas holds that as population increases mass transit becomes increasingly desirable, and that commuters will be well served by a library that is in walking distance of the Encinitas transit station.

Recently, a Coast News reader mailed me one of councilmember Bond's campaign flyers, with notes written in the margin. The intent of this was to point out misleading statements made by the candidate, one of which sheds a great deal of light on why James Bond orchestrated the effort to oust fellow councilmember Sheila Cameron from the ceremonial position of Mayor less than a month before her rotation ended. Ousting the Councilwoman, was done to guarantee Jim the use of "Mayor" in front of his name while running for State Assembly.

Talk about a smoking gun, in the mailer Bond states his number one qualification to be - "Mayor of Encinitas. Elected in 1992. Reelected in 1996." To be clear in my communication, where Jim Bond is not, the mayoral position in Encinitas is a rotational one, to which no one has ever been elected. Yes, Jim was elected twice to City Council, the state of Encinitas's degraded environment can attest to this, his flyer however does not say this. By purposely marring the line between his elected position and and one bestowed on him by his two "growth at all costs" allies on the Encinitas dais, Mr. Bond has actually presented a well-crafted lie as his top qualification.

Stating his priorities, Mr. Bond says he well pursue legislation to create a state commitment to shoreline protection and preservation. Not mentioned in this statement is the fact that the state of California has long been committed to protecting this vital resource. The numerous State agencies overseeing coastal issues, the California Coastal Commission being one of them, is proof that Mr. Bond is making promises that others have already fulfilled.

First and foremost, the reason I believe Jim Bond is unfit to represent Coastal North County in Sacramento is his willingness to severely alter our natural environment as a way of improving it. His campaign literature, and I use that term loosely, never once mentions quality of life issues such as clean air and water, open space preservation, livable communities, or environmental protection. Again I ask, is this the person we want representing the 74th Assembly district?

 
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