Carlsbad's elected officials
like to describe their city as a special place, where scenic beauty mirrors
civic harmony. Unlike other city leaders,
there’s no need for our Mayor to summarize, in a public address, the city’s achievements
and challenges the previous year, identify opportunities and threats in the
years ahead, and outline the titular city leader’s plans to address them.
In North County’s Camelot, a 15-minute
video, rolled out at a pricey Chamber of Commerce dutch treat luncheon, is
designed to show there’s simply not a more congenial spot than right here in our
Village by the Sea.
This year’s State of the City
Luncheon
will be held at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa on August 18. You may
reserve a seat at the table now for $59, or pay $99 at the door. If you are a
Chamber member you merit a more modest $69 late fee. Members may also claim a
table for ten for $625, no late fee required.
The Chamber’s website says
the event is co-hosted by the city and that you can join the city Council and Chamber
business leaders to get a “progress report on current and future city programs
and projects.”
You won’t find any mention of
the luncheon on the city website. The event is evidently only a Chamber
fundraiser and yearly opportunity for Council incumbents to scout for campaign donors.
One of the five sponsors of the 2013 event was Caruso Affiliated, the L.A. developer’s
firm that won the Council’s unanimous endorsement of an unsuccessful campaign to
bring a mega-mall to the South Shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
What you will find on the
city’s website is an invitation to attend the public viewing of the video,
free of charge, at the Dove library, ironically scheduled for the evening of
the day of the solar eclipse, August 21.
Unlike the Chamber event, there’s
no promise Council members will attend the viewing. The Ruby G.
Schulman Auditorium has a seating capacity of only 215. You are invited to R.S.V.P.,
but there’s no offer of a seat reservation. I’d say get there early.
If you miss those two opportunities,
you will be able to watch the video at home after its release on the city
website.
If the content of this year’s
video is anything like the feel-good versions of the previous three years, you
won’t find any information in it that has not been posted in more detail in
January on the city website.
Here’s
my pie chart analysis of the content of last year’s video.
More
than 10 minutes of the 15-minute production depicts the beauty of the city, chronicles the
history of growth management, and describes the six City Council goals for the year. All
of that, absent the hyperbole, could be found on the city website eight months
earlier.
Two
minutes are given to local businesses and their executives, who take turns praising
city leaders.
The
environment and city services get less than two minutes.
Less
than a minute is given to tourism numbers.
Measure
A gets only 48 seconds of air time, featuring each council member, with the
exception of Mayor Matt Hall, putting a positive spin on the outcome, despite
their unanimous opposition to the Measure. In an extraordinary show of chutzpah,
given his battle to prevent it, Councilmember Keith Blackburn excitedly boasts,
“We had a tremendous turnout!”
There
is too much self-satisfaction, too little introspection in Carlsbad’s yearly State
of the City videos. The parade of beautiful natural settings, happy residents, and elected officials
boasting of their own accomplishments, suggests the video is designed
for a different audience. Maybe it should be titled, “Why Carlsbad? A Travel
Guide for Arizona Emigrants!”
In
the 2010 election Mayor Matt Hall was reelected with 46% of the vote. Keith Blackburn
had 41%. There were two other candidates. Had there been a runoff for that
at-large seat, it’s likely Carlsbad would have had a different Mayor over the
last seven years, maybe a Mayor who would not have to hide behind a Chamber of
Commerce luncheon video to deliver his state of the city report.
The
2018 election by district should include the requirement of a mayoral runoff election in
the event no candidate gets a majority of the vote.
Carlsbad
has a registered voter population of over 90,000. To help them decide who to
vote for they deserve to get more than a yearly State of the City puff piece.
