I.B.
Voters' Guide
THE SUN
Continued from page 3
opposition to Brown Field,
and always had a kind thing
to say about the beloved
wildlife issues, which now
consumes close to 50 percent
of Imperial Beach's total
square footage of land that is
off limits to its residents and
tourists.
But the real purpose of the
paper was to do last- minute
hit pieces on opposing candi-
dates just before elections.
Trook told me, before he
died, that his biggest regret in
life was a hit piece they did
on former councilman Don
Hall just before an election. It
cost Hall not only his council
seat, but also his reputation.
Trook said Hall was a
decent and honest man and he
wished he would forgive him
for ruining his life, but he was
over-ruled by the Careys who
actually controlled the editori-
al direction of the paper.
In a subsequent election,
RAILWAY PLANS
Continued from page 1
Council overruled the
HRB's decision that the rail
line was historic. This was
done at the request of
County Supervisor Greg
Cox with the full support of
the Imperial Beach City
Council.
SOHO intends to file suit
and defend not only the his-
toric status of the railroad,
but to preserve and protect
Imperial Beach's future
transportation corridor.
Imperial Beach may once
again have a direct rail link
to downtown San Diego.
Page 6 - I. B. Voters' Guide - Nov. 2004
the The Sun did a hit piece on
Brian Bilbray just before the
election. It cost Bilbray his
congressional seat and won
accolades from the inner cir-
cle of the political action
committee.
Then Trook passed away.
Because the newspaper
belonged solely to him, on
paper, his heirs had to make a
decision whether to continue
the paper or shut it down.
Daughter Dawn decided to
approach the new
publisher/editor Stacey Long
and asked her if she would
carry on Trook's dream and
keep the newspaper alive;
which Long did with honor.
She continues to do a fantas-
tic job of getting the real sto-
ries out to you without bias or
misleading stories.
In the election of 2002, the
political action committee
wanted to do a hit piece on
Ron Rogers. Rogers, two
years earlier, had bought $200
worth of campaign signs and
gone on vacation only to find
out he had crushed appointed
councilman Dan Malcolm
(cousin of convicted former
Port Commissioner David
Continued from page 5
voters recalled his election.
Peace is most well known for
tripling the auto license plate
fees to make up for state
deficits. He also legislated
part of the B.F. Goodrich land
swap including private lands
taken by eminent domain by
Chula Vista and the Coronado
Railroad right of way, and
transferred to Goodrich.
When the airport authority
came into being, the Port's
assets were divided and,
strangely enough, Pond 20
now belongs to the Airport
Authority.
Malcolm). Dan had been
appointed to fill the now
vacant seat of Diane Rose
when she first became mayor.
It was an obvious political
favor, as was the sweet devel-
opment deal they gave him
(while he was still on the
council) to remodel the shop-
ping center which is home to
Wally's IGA.
The Sun refused to publish
the hit piece on Rogers, say-
ing that he was a decent man.
Without their mouthpiece, the
Careys and the political
action committee produced a
fake newspaper called The
I.B. Citizen, at the last minute
before the election. It con-
tained attacks on Rogers and
cartoons which were most
unbecoming that were
dumped on us just days
before the election.
This so-called newspaper,
The I.B. Citizen, printed false
and very misleading articles,
which no person took credit
for authoring. It also con-
tained all kinds of endorse-
ments, for Rose and McCoy
of course!
It cost Rogers the office of
mayor, and created very bad
Imperial Beach City
Council amended its redevel-
opment zones and not only is
Pond 20 included, but also the
majority of Imperial Beach
north of Palm Avenue.
Plans exist for shopping
centers, hotel complexes and
marinas. A plan for a deep-
water channel from Chula
Vista Harbor and another
deep-water channel on the
west side of the bay up to the
Coronado Cays already exist.
The long talked about
opening of Silver Strand to
the ocean would increase the
value of marina slips tenfold.
Although the city's redevelop-
ment agency does not current-
ly have the power of eminent
domain, a mere vote of three
will change that after the elec-
tion, if Winter and McLean
blood between members of
the council. It was just anoth-
er one of their many dirty
tricks.
The Careys have a long
history of political activism
going back to the days of
Caesar Chavez. While much
of their past effort may have
been admirable, their political
trickery regarding Imperial
Beach and regional politics
should be stopped. And, if not
stopped, it should be recog-
nized for what it is.
No doubt there will be
more of it in the upcoming
election so, don't be fooled
again by this kind of under-
hand tactic.
In one past election
Michael Carey stopped into
an AA meeting and asked
recovering alcoholics to help
stop criminals from getting in
government. And he paid
them each $40 a day to pass
out smear flyers door-to-door
throughout the city to hurt the
last minute election chances
of an opposing candidate.
In the end, those people
were horrified when they
found out they had been
duped to do something evil.
are elected.
Another large parcel of
land in our bayfront was also
owned by the Port just to the
west of 13th Street and the
bayfront.
Searches of county records
indicate that a very small
group of people own a large
percentage of property in
Northern Imperial Beach. The
most northeastern portions of
Imperial Beach are secretly
targeted to become a gated
community similar to the
Coronado Cays. Moving to
the west is the City Yard,
Bayside Elementary School
and a number of properties
which have been given mas-
sive fines by the Code
Enforcement Department.
Dee McLean, wife of council
candidate Fred McLean and
The redevelopment
agency of Imperial Beach
recently budgeted $75,000 to
produce a "Redevelop-ment
Newsletter". It is obvious that
the local political machinery
has lost its beloved mouth-
piece and must do something
to counter political opposi-
tion.
The use of public funds
and redevelopment bond
money for such a venture is
obscene and may be unlaw-
ful. I doubt that the combined
yearly budget of The Eagle
Times and The Sun comes
anywhere near $75,000.
Residents should demand that
the money be put back.
Local politicians have
been able to do their work
without criticism for many
years. The majority of local
press stories have sung the
praises of the ladies on the
council. The San Diego
Union-Tribune will not criti-
cize local political figures and
will sugar-coat even the dirti-
est of dirt!
A new day is coming in
Imperial Beach where a few
individuals have come up
SEE THE SUN, PAGE 8
campaign treasurer for
Patricia McCoy is involved
with the school board and
would be willing to use her
influence to cause Bayside
Elementary School to be
vacated to give way to
bayfront development. The
city already has plans to level
the city's yard between 10th
and 11th streets and docu-
ments exist which express the
city's interest in leasing the
remaining portion of railroad
right of way that passes
through the middle of these
parcels. It appears that there is
a secret plan to consolidate
these bayfront parcels to
increase their value and
develop them. The similarities
to this secret plan to the land
swaps done at B.F. Goodrich
SEE PLANS, PAGE 7