Quiet and sleepy Dana Point, California, occupies some of the most beautiful, and conservative real estate in the entire country. All of the Republicans in this left coast port town act as a symbolic counterbalance to Newport, Rhode Island, on the right coast.
With a town so Republican, it may come as some surprise that there is one Democrat on the City Council, Steve Weinberg – but he is more than offset by four card-carrying GOPers – Lisa Bartlett, Joel Bishop, Lara Anderson and Diane Harkey (who is off to Sacramento in December as a new member of the legislature).
With the conservative credentials of this Council, you have to ask yourself how, a week ago Tuesday, the first reading of a city ordinance passed that would increase the stipend (pay) of council members by 30% and provide taxpayer funded health care for “volunteer” council members. Seriously.
How did this happen? Firstly, Councilwoman Harkey had a conflict and was not able to be at the meeting. Weinberg and Bishop voted for the ordinance (Bishop “called in” via videoconference!), Lisa Bartlett stood tall and voted no. Councilwoman Lara Anderson abstained. So the final tally was a bizarre 2-1-1-1. But based on some obscure city council policy, this is considered a “passing” vote.
A few years back, Diane Harkey actually authored a policy ending government-paid health care coverage for council members.
First and foremost, and this goes without saying, we are extremely disappointed that a council with so many Republicans would vote, in the midst of so much financial chaos taking place, to increase
benefits for… themselves! Congratulations to Lisa Bartlett (pictured), though, for stepping up and voting against this outrage.
There is good news, though, for Dana Point taxpayers, and for those who look to Dana Point to “stand tall” against those liberals over in Newport, Rhode Island — this pay raise comes up for a vote again tomorrow night.
We caught up with Councilwoman Anderson, and based on that conversation, I think there is a good chance that she will switch her vote from that of abstaining to an oppose position.
Also, Councilwoman Harkey, who has proven her mettle on this kind of boondoggle, also has an opportunity to vote against the measure tomorrow night. Assuming that Weinberg and Bishop continue to support increasing their own lot at the expense of taxpayers, we’ll be looking to Anderson and Harkey to make the difference.
A resounding 2-3 rejection of this kind of measure will send a strong message not only in Dana Point but throughout Orange County – we are looking for citizen politicians who are looking to volunteer their time on small city councils – not those looking to line their pockets at the expense of taxpayers.
We’ll report back on the final vote.