Undoing the damage of the previous administration

Desert Dispatch,
Letters to the editor,
April 2, 2009

Undoing the damage of the previous administration

A lot of letters written to the editor from Republicans lately are full of rattlesnake venom and poison. Their letters are directed toward people who rightfully express their opinions on the way our former president plunged our nation into such a big hole. That hole is so deep that it will take us a long and hard time to dig ourselves out.

The Republicans are showing their true colors by acting like a bunch of crybabies (boo-hoo) because they lost a lot of congressional seats and the presidency as well. They are calling people, such as Carol Jensen, fascists, Nazis, communists, and other vile names.

Thank God the American people sent a very strong message to our country and the Republican party that we are ready to take back our great country. We can once again hold our heads high and let the rest of the world know that America is back. Our new administration is not a bully, like the former “holier than thou” group who occupied the White House, compliments of the Supreme Court.

I feel like a huge burden of the lower wage earners has been lifted since the national election, last November. This president will not use pressure tactics to scare the American people the way Bush did. Ex-President Bush tried to set himself up like a king or dictator.

Whatever he wanted done, his “brown-nosers” took care of it and also, took the blame for all the bad deeds. The Republicans claim to be such great patriotic citizens, but our last president used political influence to keep from serving his military obligation. He used religion to fool a majority of people to believe that he had compassion for them. He sure showed it after Katrina and the stock market crash and unemployment roll.

Just like all the Republican presidents since President Richard (Watergate) Nixon — President Ronald (Iran-Contra, union busting) Reagan ‚ George (Savings and Loan) Bush — and George (Enron, big oil, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bid Laden, WMD’s, torture) Bush Jr. It takes a really compassionate Democrat to straighten out the messes that the Republicans left behind. Look at the biggest mess of all — it took the Bush Administration only eight years to throw out the laws of the land. If a law didn’t fit his agenda, he and his lawyers and cronies change it to fit his position whenever and whatever it happened to be.

Wake up, America, our new President Obama has been in office for only two months. He is working hard to try and dig us out of the monstrous mound of manure that was left behind by President Bush and his party.

I feel so much more optimistic now that the Democrats are in office.

Mary E. Boyce, Barstow

Smith, angry at campaign tactics, suggests supporting Democrat

Smith, angry at campaign tactics, suggests supporting Democrat

Note-I know Bob personally and have always found him to be a respectful person. More than once I have told him that I appreciate his respectful treatment of me and how I see him as honorable. As the recently elected Chair of the 34th AD Democratic Committee, I am involved with our candidate, Desmond Farrelly. Desmond is an outstanding candidate and we were really looking forward to contesting this seat with Bob because he is someone we felt we could have an honest debate over the issues that are critical to the citizens of Barstow and the entire 34th AD. We need to do a lot more to protect our environment, create jobs through alternative energy, and improve our education, just to name a few.

Now Connie Conway has stooped to a new low in the level of sleaze politics that has hurt Republicans in the past and that has greatly diminished the quality of debate that voters desperately need in order to make an informed decision. It is sad that Connie has now set the tone of her style and what she is capable of doing.

With Bob Smith, I believe that he differs on many of the issues that stand opposite to what I am fighting for. But with Bob, you don't have to question his integrity.Had he become the Republican candidate we would never expect him as our opponent, to be capable of lowering himself or his ethics and engage in lies, deception, or other sleaze politics that we have seen demonstrated by Connie Conway in her campaign.

I called Desmond the morning after the election and found him totally outraged over the actions of Conway. He was still in disbelief at the scummy tactics that Conway would use against another Republicans. Desmond has been involved in supporting law enforcement and knows how devastating these lies can be to a past member of law enforcement like Bob.

Desmond and Bob have campaigned at some of the same events like the Rock The Vote event at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia. Desmond, like me, found Bob to be a very like able person and feels like he enjoys a friendly relationship with him even as an opponent.

Desmond and I both support a complaint being filed and would like to see this kind of sleaze politics eliminated from an honest and straight forward debate on the real issues.

Larry D. Halstead
Chair, 34th AD Democratic Committee

Smith, angry at campaign tactics, suggests supporting Democrat

June 4, 2008 - 6:07PM

By Andrea Goodwin, special to the Desert Dispatch

BARSTOW — Two Barstow area candidates blame low voter turnout, in part, for the disappointing results of Tuesday's election.

Both Bob Smith, a Yermo resident, and Ben Echols, a Barstow attorney who lives in Apple Valley, lost their races Tuesday. Smith, running in the Republican primary for the 34th District Assembly seat, received only 34.2 percent of the vote compared to Tulare County Supervisor Connie Conway's 43.1 percent. Echols, vying for a judge seat on the Superior Court of California, came in second with 24.46 percent of the vote behind Bridgid McCann, with 51.51 percent of the vote.

Turnout was low across Barstow and the county for the election. Only 16.46 percent of San Bernardino County's registered voters cast a ballot in the election. Smith was disappointed that so few of the registered Republicans — only 19.58 percent in San Bernardino County — chose to vote.

"Its unfortunate," Smith said.

Smith was, however, very pleased with his campaign team and their efforts.

"I had a good team; we did everything possible to win the seat," he said.

In November's election Conway will face Democratic candidate Desmond Farrelly for Bill Maze's Assembly seat. Due to term limits Maze cannot run again. Smith said that his first inclination is to back Democratic candidate Desmond Farrelly in the November election, due to a last minute negative campaign ad that he feels Conway made against him.

"I'd rather have a Democrat in office that's honest than a liar," Smith said.

Smith was upset about a mailer that was sent out labeling him as a disgraced deputy. This ad was authorized and paid for by Conway for Assembly.

Conway said that the mailers were sent out in response to negative ads made by Smith's campaign. She would not elaborate on the content of the ads. She was, however, happy with the results of the election.

"I plan on working hard between now and the campaign," Conway said.

Smith said that any negative campaign material used against Conway used direct quotes and cited sources of where the negative information could be found.

Desmond Farrelly said he was disappointed in the result of the election. He had hoped for a Smith victory. He said he was looking forward to working with Smith to make sure that Barstow was well-represented.

Ben Echols was happy with the results of the election, although he believes that if more people in the High Desert would have voted the results of the election may have been different. Echols said that although he lost this election, he may consider running again in the future.

"I love my practice in Barstow, for now I am going to stay here," Echols said.

While he does not know McCann personally Echols said she is well-qualified and thinks she'll do a good job.

My Passion For Ancesrtal Right and Indian Sovereignty

My Passion For
Ancestral Rights
and
Indian Sovereignty

For all of my life I have found myself on the front lines of standing up for issues of Social Justice. I often say that I inherited the battle for Environmentalism and Freedom of Choice in Alternative Medicine from my father, Bruce W. Halstead, M.D. From that start, I found myself involved with other issues that included: code enforcement, civil rights, human rights, equal rights, children's issues, government corruption, and corporate wrong doing.

While I received my degree in Political Science from UC Davis in 1976, I have spent my professional life in business. When I met my wife Michelle at the end of 1999, she had already adopted three children who started life as the victims of drug abuse. Together we have adopted five more of these children who would otherwise be at risk of growing up in perpetual foster care where they would be statistically inclined to repeat the sins of their biological parents.

In the process of becoming foster parents, I was exposed to the phenomenal crisis that has been created by the miserably failed war on drugs. We are now creating generations of children who are growing up in the system with little hope for the future. It was this reality that has led us to create the Earth Haven Foundation for Kids to address their needs. The goals for this foundation include educating the public about this crisis, providing methodology for handling their needs, and passing legislation that would open up loving adopted homes for these innocent child victims.

It was the search for affordable housing for these children that brought our family to Barstow. Since it is my nature to practice public participation and citizen oversight, it was only natural for me to get involved with local politics. It didn't take long for me to see what was going on here in Barstow and how this town was being run by the same kind of land baron cronies that ruined by home town of Grand Terrace.

With the advent of Indian gaming as the dominant issue of Barstow, it didn't take long for me to investigate the influence of the billionaire Detroit developer which now runs this small town. It also brought forth an interest in the questions relating to Ancestral Rights which I admit to only having a basic concept of prior to my involvement with this issue. But the more I looked into Ancestral Rights, the more that I came to realize how sacred this was to Native Americans and how it was the same as civil rights and human rights.

But standing up for my beliefs has brought me into conflict with the Barwest machine and the object of their smear campaigns to discredit me. I have always been willing to stand up for Native Americans and I would be honored to represent them in any way that would assist in their fight for self determination and Indian Sovereignty.

But since I have yet to be called upon to represent Native Americans, I highly resent the Barwest, Tom Shields ugly lies that I am acting as a paid political hack for "the other side". I can think of nothing that would offend me more than being accused of being another "Tom Shields". I see him as a sleazy, scumbag lier that would stoop to the lowest form of political manipulations for the big bucks that Barwest pays him. This morally bankrupt slime is the best at what he does which is to buy influence, corrupt politicians, and destroy local democracy. The fact that he has some local leaders like Barstow School Board Member Julie Clemmer participating in perpetuating his lies against me is a sad and pathetic statement about their moral character.

For all of these reasons and more, I felt compelled to write the following statement and read it during the "Casino Update" Item of the Agenda for the September 17 Regular Meeting of the Barstow City Council Meeting.

My Three Minute Comments
On Ancestral Rights
During Casino Update
Barstow City Council Meeting
by Larry D. Halstead

"Make no mistake about it! This battle over Indian gaming here in Barstow is all about Ancestral Rights. To those that don’t understand this simple truth, I wonder what part of Ancestral Rights don’t you understand, Ancestral or Rights? It is almost as if you have never even thought about how we went from Native Americans as the ONLY American citizens on the continent, to the ugly history of genocide and forced exile and onto these god-forsaken lands we call “reservations”.

It is like you never even stopped to think about the deplorable conditions imposed on Native Americans on those reservations. Those deplorable conditions have been undeniably turned around by Indian gaming.

Ancestral Rights and Indian Sovereignty is as sacred to Native Americans as civil rights are to non-Indians because it was paid for by their blood. Ancestral rights are not determined by Dale, Rector, or Tom Shields but was determined over a 250 year history of treaties. These days, Ancestral Rights for lands in Barstow are identified by the Native American Heritage Commission and dictated by Senate Bill 18 to be listed on Barstow’s General plan as belonging to the Serrano, Kaaiisu, Fort Mojave, and Chemehuevi Tribes.

This Mayor’s unauthorized letter to the Department of the Interior attacking the Chemehuevi and their Ancestral Rights is ugly, disrespectful, shameful, and illegal. This Council, except for Gomez, has shown a disregard for their blatant conflict of interest. This Mayor can never again expect even the slightest respect from me after his assault on the great nation of the Chemehuevi and his gross disrespect for their elected honorable leader, Chairman Wood.

Barwest politicians obsessive lobbying and acting like the paid pawns and puppets for Barwest that they are, is counter productive to Barstow ever having a casino. It is also a blatant disregard for Ancestral Rights, the Brown Act, and all laws against conflict of interest.

Barwest specializes in Reservation Shopping which is considered by tribes that respect the Ancestral lands of other tribes as an evil threat to Indian Sovereignty. The Barwest strategy for violating these rights in their greedy quest to profit from Indian gaming is to find these fledging tribes and supply them with the lawyers to fight in the courts, the lobbyist to persuade legislators, and the millions of dollars needed to buy influence and politicians like they have done here in Barstow.

Standing up for Ancestral Rights and against government corruption is something that I am proud to do. It is consistent with every battle for social justice that I have ever been involved with and I will continue this battle until justice rolls down upon Barstow like a mighty river freeing this town of the Barwest influence and the corrupt politicians who run this town."

Why Barwest is on the Attack

Why Barwest is on the Attack

TheVerifiableTruth.com
These videos were posted on YouTube.com and on theVerifiableTruth.com. The good people at The Verifiable Truth have been working to expose Barwest lies, deceit, and corruption on the national level as I have been on the local level. The difference is that they are much better equipped to deliver up-to-date coverage in a highly professional manner than my time and resources will allow me. For these reasons, I am deeply grateful to the role that they are playing. I really appreciate all they do and especially for posting these videos and the comments they posted with them.

Barstow Citizen Activist Gets it!
(from 6.4.07 Barstow City Council Meeting)

A citizen activist frequently spotted at Barstow City Council meetings, who often sites TheVerifiableTruth.com as a reference tool and alternative source of information, speaks out on the realities of future dual Indian casinos in Barstow being bankrolled by Detroit-based Barwest LLC.

Activist Challenges Mayor's Failed Casino Strategy
(from 7.16.07 Barstow City Council Meeting)

Mr. Larry Halstead, a citizen activist and former candidate for City Council who frequents the Barstow City Council meetings; rose during the July 16, 2007 Council meeting to challenge City leaders to acknowledge Mayor Lawrence Dale's failed six year Indian Casino strategy.

The activist challenged the Council to identify any independent third parties not under the influence of Detroit-based Barwest or either of its two tribal partners who express confidence that the parties will get their plans approved by the California legislature as Halstead reports he has found no one.

The activist put forth a challenge to the Council which has been silent on the matter following the directions of the Mayor. Halstead suggested they consider tendering their resignations when Barwest fails to win approvals by the latest deadline extension -- September 15th.

The parties have made no progress in the legislature since concluding negotiations on agreements with the Governor in 2005 nor been willing to make any changes to their plans. Their original plans for one Barstow casino owned by the Los Coyotes Tribe were denied by the Governor in 2004. The Detroit casino syndicators first began talking with Barstow officials about an Indian casino in 2001/02.

My Commentary

For two years or more now, I have been trying to bring some fair and balanced perspective on the issue of Indian gaming in Barstow. During that same period I have been up against the giant Barwest machine. Since the Detroit developer first set their eyes on Barstow, they used their money and power to buy up all of the old guard of Barstow as their strategy to do the impossible. As their project has met dire failure at every turn of the road, Mayor Dale has compromised his integrity, violated political ethics, and turned our city government into a public relations firm for the project that has absolutely zero chance for success. Along the way, Barwest started their own local PAC, Barstow Citizens for Real Economic Development (BCRED) and established a local builder with no political background, Greg Lint, as it's President. This PAC became the rallying forum for local leaders to get together and count the money, positions, and power that they were do to get if this project were to ever fly.

There has become an enormous divide between the lies, spin, and deceitful propaganda that is being passed by Tom Shields and the Barwest Kool-Aid Club at every city council meeting on one side. On the other side is the real story of why these compacts will NEVER succeed at the state and federal level. This side include virtually all other tribes (gaming and non-gaming tribes alike), the CA Senate and Assemble Government Organization Committees (that will not allow these fatally flawed compacts to move forward), and all gaming industry analyst. In essence, this side includes everybody that isn't part of the Barwest Kool-Aid Club.

But in the warped perspective which our city council meetings have become, the only representations of the real world have had to come out of my mouth. Chairman Charles Wood of the Chemehuevi Tribe is much to honorable and committed to the high road to ever respond to the sleazy politics of Barwest. The other tribes and gaming interest have been way too reluctant to get involved. They seem to be content to wait it out and watch Barwest go down in flames in the quagmire of false homes and deception that they have created.

Since I know that we will never get started on a legitimate project until the Barwest fantasy bubble has been burst and buried, I have taken it upon myself to use my background in political science and community activism to expose the full extend of corruption now running rampant in our city. Sure I would love some backup help in my efforts to shine some light but until that day, I am willing to be the target of Barwest. While I would have no problem being paid to represent any of the other tribal interest that has legitimate ancestral ties to Barstow, so far that has not happened and what you see on these videos is my volunteer efforts to bring just a little light in the Barwest ocean of dark deceit.

The Barwest Scam in Barstow

The Barwest Scam in Barstow
by
Larry D. Halstead,
Political Scientist

Since the idea first surfaced, I have been supportive of Indian gaming in Barstow for several reasons. First and foremost, as many as 80% of our citizens are in favor of one or more casino projects. The hope and promise is that it would bring jobs, entertainment, and economic development to a region that has long suffered with a depressed economy. Resort-style casino projects have the potential to make Barstow a destination city rather than just a pit stop on the way to Vegas or the river.

I also believe that Indian gaming has done much to increase the quality of life for Native Americans. Besides the much needed funding for housing, health care, education, jobs, and basic infrastructure that gaming has provided, it has done much to provide self respect, self determination, and the power to negotiate with strength.

As an individual of European decent, it does my heart good to see the scales of social justice lean in a direction of compensation for the ugly history of atrocities and genocide that my people committed on Native Americans throughout the history of this country.

I was originally project neutral on Indian gaming in Barstow and was eager to network with representatives from all tribes involved. But early on, I had difficulty in understanding the strategy that Barwest had for getting these compacts through a Democratically dominated State legislature in Sacramento by buying Republican influence in Barstow. The more I came to understand the question of "reservation shopping" and how that relates to Indian Souvernty, Prop 1A, Prop 5, the more baffling it was that Barwest could be so confidant that their project would ever get approved.

Barwest sign in Barstow, notice the lack of any tribe names and the
deceptive reference that this is a Community of Barstow backed project
when Barwest and Mayor Dale refuse to take it to a vote of the people.

I quickly retracted my support for Barwest when some simple internet searches exposed Barwest as a right wing developer with ties to former Rep. Pombo and the Jack Abramhoff scandal. It didn't take long for Barwest to demonstrate exactly what their strategy and style is, as they began buying up influence in Barstow and the state capitol in Sacramento. The good people of Barstow have been hood-winked, bamboozled, and led a stray as our leaders have compromised themselves and sold out the institutions they represent.

Two elections bought and paid for by Barwest and millions of dollars in influence later, Barwest now owns the old guard of Barstow. They own Mayor Dale and the two members of the Council that they had elected. Tim Silva was promised a seat on the council if, as president, he could deliver the support of the Chamber of Commerce and against the competing project. Julie Hackbarth was on the Fire Board and active from the beginning with the Barwest formation of their PAC, Barwest Citizens for Real Economic Development as was Tim. Her family was one of the sellers of the land for the Barwest project. Both Tim and Julie have accompanied Mayor Dale on numerous trips to Sacramento to lobby on behalf of Barwest, both before and after their election to the city council.

The campaigns of Tim and Julie were marked by a relative low involvement by the candidates as it was totally orchestrated by Tom Shields and his operatives. The campaign duo were billed as "the turn around team". Barwest utilized, and no doubt subsidized, the local Republican caucus to get out the absentee vote. This effort, along with the slickest color campaign literature ever to hit Barstow, and an advertising budget funded by their PAC, coupled with an all out attack on my integrity, resulted in Barwest now having a solid three vote lock on all city policy.

This means that they control the direction of policy in favor of Barwest and against any other project. Essentially, the Barstow Council has become a public relations/ lobbyist firm for Barwest. The first act of the new council was to ratify their support for Barwest, throwing out all conflict of interest ethics in favor of unconditional support and loyalty to their benefactor.

As all of these realizations have unfolded, I have made an increased pattern of exposing local Barwest influence in Barstow. When the compacts started going through the Senate and Assembly Government Organization Committees, I began contacting members if those committees and sending them relevant documents. I watched the video of those proceedings and have spoken to some of them about Barwest contributions and their influence in Barstow. The feedback they have given me has always been consistent that the compacts will never be ratified.

At the recent August 6, 2007 City Council meeting, Mayor Dale again abused his position as Mayor to orchestrate a political attack on me by Barwest, Los Coyotes, and himself. Tom Shields, chief spin doctor for Barwest, was first on the attack with a pathetic accusation that I had tried to extort him into hiring me or I would "sign on with the other side and attack him." He said that when he refused to hire me, I got hired by "the other side" and have been attacking Barwest as a hired gun ever since. He went on to say that I was "for sale to the highest bidder" and how "negative" I always was.

This "for sale to the highest bidder" and "negativity" charges were repeated by two members of Los Coyotes Shane (?) and Tina Johnson. Tina created her own lie that I had asked her "who cut the checks for the tribe" and that they needed to buy me off. Later on, it was the Mayor's turn to chime in on the "negativity" and added that this negativity was somehow damaging the image of our city and the integrity of the good people of Barstow.

Lies and accusations of extortion aside, the real truth is that none of that ever happened. While I fully expected this from Mr. Shields or even this Mayor, it is a shame that members of the Los Coyotes would bring dishonor to themselves and their tribe by engaging in these lies.

For the record, I have never received a penny from any tribe to represent them in any capacity. I have never been asked by any member of any tribe to say a single word or do anything on their behalf. Never.

Over the past couple of years, I have been networking with various other tribes. I have been doing this because I know, and they know, that the Barwest compacts as currently structured will never be approved by the Democratically dominated state legislature. The Governor has decreed that only when these compacts die their due death, then and only then can we bring a casino project to Barstow. Only then can we proceed with a casino project that will enjoy the support of the CA Nations Indian Gaming Association, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, and those tribes that have a rightful say in bringing a casino project to Barstow.

Over the same period of time, I have come to know Chairman Wood of the Chemehuevi Tribe and have developed a deep respect for him and the Tribe he represents. He is an honorable man who would never stoop to the sleazy tactics demonstrated regularly by the Barwest Kool-Aid Club or the lies now being told by members of the Los Coyotes.

After over two years of speaking out on the Barwest grip of influence on our city, I met some representatives of San Manuel through my participation with Congressman Joe Baca and the County Democratic Party. After much persuasion on my part and some deliberation on the part of San Manuel Tribal leaders, the tribe made a one time contribution to my campaign. I believe they did so on the basis of my respect for Indian Souvernty and how that relates to Indian gaming. Since then, I have encouraged them to get more involved in the Barstow Indian casino issue but they have been quite reluctant to do so. To date, they have never asked me to do anything, say anything or take any other actions on their behalf.

I have challenged the City Council or anybody to come up with the name of a single individual outside of Barstow and the Barwest Kool-aid club that thinks these compacts stand a snowball chance in hell of succeeding. The fantasy of these compacts succeeding is something one has to wonder if even Barwest still believes. For this hoax, this corruption of influence to be allowed to delay by several years, a real project that would succeed, there needs to be proportional level of accountability we demand of leaders who led us astray for personal gain.

In the meantime, I will not stand idly by and allow Barwest and members of the Los Coyotes to slander my good name. The Barwest operatives will not be allowed to get away of accusing me of extortion in order to continue their hoax on the Barstow people. Furthermore, I will continue to shed light on their lies and corruption. At the same time, I intend to do what ever I can to help bring a casino project to Barstow that has the proper backing need to succeed.

Citizen Oversight and Public Participation

Citizen Oversight and Public Participation

If you read the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, or any of the wittings of our founding fathers, the over-riding philosophy was about freedom. And their directive to all future generations of Americans to come was that freedom isn’t free and the price of freedom is eternal vigilance in protecting those freedoms. Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and all of those rights granted under the Bill of Rights, must be preserved through public participation and oversight of their governments at all levels.

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!”

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said that: “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!” Ben Franklin urged the people to be protective of your rights at all cost and added that: “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security, deserve neither!”

The words of the founding fathers go as far as to advocate a violent revolutions to take back the government from tyrannical leaders. This was the motivation for the Second Amendment with the right to bear arms. The clear intent of that Amendment was that a well armed militia "being necessary to the security of a free State". A militia at that time was a voluntary people’s army that was formed to take back control over a territory or the whole country. The founding fathers knew that if we were not vigilant, then tyranny would certainly follow.
















Public Participation is the friend of any politician that is trying to do the people’s business. It provides them with valuable input and new ideas and how to create responsible and responsive government.

However, in this day and age of lobbyist and special interest, politicians have increasingly come to look at the public participation as a nuisance and those that disagree with their agenda as the enemy.


Thomas Jefferson addressed this issue when he said: "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."

But modern day politicians have trended to ignore the warnings of our founding fathers and the underlying philosophy that drives the Constitution. Consequently, they have attempted to restrict and limit the public’s access involvement in the public process. These days there is almost always a time limit, usually three minutes, for which a citizen is allowed to speak on any issue. Bigger municipalities like Los Angeles have reduced the time limit to one minute. If you educate yourself on a particular issue and attempt to present an articulate argument, three minutes is almost never adequate to speak your mind.

What has developed is an us vs. them mentality where citizens are having to go to battle with their elected officials just to participate in the way that our founding fathers anticipated we should. Countless lawsuits have resulted while meanwhile citizens are routinely interrupted, cut off, and even arrested when they try and exercise their First Amendments. As a result, case law and legislative law has come to dictate the parameters of how a open government should operate.

The Brown Act has become the premiere over riding law on open government in California. Anyone that has followed any city council or county supervisor meetings is undoubtedly familiar with The Brown Act. Enacted in 1988, and is officially known as the Ralph M Brown Act and is actually part of the California Government Code, Sections 54950-54962. It was enacted to attempt to shed some light on backdoor politics and protect citizen participation and oversight.















The Brown Act basically states that all local governments must:
-Post notice and an agenda for their meetings, at least 72 hours prior to the meeting.
-Notify the media of special meetings.
-Hold meetings in the jurisdiction of the agency.
-Not require a "sign in" for anyone.
-Allow non-disruptive recordings and broadcast of meetings.
-Allow the public to address them.
-Conduct only public votes with no secret ballots.
-Treat all distributed documents as public.

City councils and county supervisors have increasingly tried to skirt these laws by taking agenda items into closed session. I have seen a rise in use of the closed sessions to “close-out” the public from what is going on in their government. Some politicians have remained true to public participation and the Constitution by resisting the use of closed sessions. One councilwoman in San Diego has refused to participate in any closed sessions at all.

Throughout my life I have been committed to speaking out on issues that I feel strongly about, and feel that I can add something to the debate. I make a practice of speaking out at council meetings, County Board of Supervisors, the State Capital or other public forums. I have also participated as an activist in rallies and demonstrations on those issues. I believe in writing “letters to the editor” and to your elected officials. I have also done a fair amount of talk radio which can be an excellent way to get your message out and participate in citizen oversight.

Here in Barstow, I have had strong differences of opinions, on a range of issues about policy issues of the Council, most notably the Mayor. Top of that list would be Indian Gaming as I am 100% convinced that the Barwest project will never ever succeed. And yet Barwest has bought influence and had some of our local leaders compromise the institutions in the process. They have corrupted our political process and violated our elections.

Some of the other issues I care about involve economic development, proper community planning, bringing green energy to Barstow, youth activities, local environmental concerns, and the Hinkley human sludge threat, just to mention a few. With the election last November of the two Barwest candidates, (Tim Sylva and Julie Hackbarth McIntyre) Mayor Dale now enjoys (and abuses) the power of having a guaranteed majority vote on every issue. I often find issues of public policy that I disagree with but I am under increasing personal attack for speaking out.

I always try to research any issue I speak out on. And I try to speak the best educated truth that I can bring to the “public comment and participation” segment of our Council Meetings. But those who don’t like what I may have to say have chosen to make personal attacks on me and my family instead of sticking with the facts of the issues involved. People that know me know that I will always speak my heart and with the passion of believing that it is the truth as best I know it.

In the future, I intend to continue speaking out on issues when I disagree with government policy. I am proud of my record of speaking truth to power. Martin Luther King used to say that: “The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing. I would encourage all citizens, Republican and Democrat alike, to become more involved in citizen oversight at all levels of government. I believe it is more import to speak out and protect the spirit of the Constitution, than it is to enter the popularity contest involved in worrying about the negative personal attacks from those ignorant and disrespectful of our American heritage. My definition of treason definitely includes those that would suppress public participation and dissent.

It is imperative that we heed the warning of Thomas Jefferson when he cautioned that:

"Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."