{"id":179,"date":"2015-03-10T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esconeighbors.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=179"},"modified":"2015-03-10T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T20:15:00","slug":"delano-responds-to-mayors-accusations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?p=179","title":{"rendered":"DeLano Responds to Mayor’s Accusations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everett DeLano is a highly skilled, intelligent and competent attorney who is committed to helping communities protect and defend themselves.  He is the people’s champion.  He has been an incredible ally and friend to us during all of this.  Here is his response  posted at A Blue View  Response from DeLano and DeLano<\/a> Please read it.
\nAnd, if any one out there needs a great attorney– DeLano and DeLano is the firm for you<\/p>\n

\nOne thought on \u201cOak Creek\u2013Unhealthy for Oaks and Creeks<\/span>\u201d<\/h2>\n
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  1. \n
    \n
    \"\"Everett DeLano<\/a><\/span><\/cite>
    \n
    \nNear the end of the March 4th Escondido City Council hearing regarding a proposed 65-home development on land currently in the County and proposed to be annexed into the City, Mayor Sam Abed took it upon himself to criticize my firm and some of the good neighbors who had come out to express their concerns about the project.<\/div>\n
    \nHe called out aspects of a comment letter I had written a couple days earlier, decrying what he labeled as \u201ccomplete ignorance.\u201d Mayor Abed alleged my letter incorrectly claimed the City\u2019s General Plan calls for a 50-foot buffer to protect wetlands. Yet City staff put that very language up for all to see \u2013 Escondido General Plan Water Resources and Quality Policy 6.8 requires \u201ca minimum of a 50-foot buffer and setback for development.\u201d City staff had claimed that the language also mentions an exception might be possible where wildlife agencies approve of a smaller buffer, but two things are problematic with that assertion: (1) the wildlife agencies have actually called for a 100-foot buffer and (2) even if the wildlife agencies had said a smaller buffer might work, my comment was still valid, since the General Plan clearly expects a minimum of 50 feet and the project has buffers as small as zero feet. He also asserted my letter incorrectly claims that the development would create an island of City land. City staff made the rather ridiculous claim that the land was not an island because one tiny corner of the project site will touch a tiny corner of existing City land. But again that does not make my comment incorrect. Merriam-Webster defines \u201cisland\u201d to mean \u201can isolated group or area.\u201d In this instance, the project, a gated community surrounded by County land, will create both an isolated group of residents and an isolated geographic area.<\/div>\n
    \nBut I wouldn\u2019t even bother to write this if his only attack was on my work. Unfortunately, Mayor Abed next unleashed his vitriol on some of the good area residents who had taken so much of their time and energy to express their concerns. He reminded everyone of the applicant\u2019s \u201cproperty rights.\u201d Of course, under both the state and federal constitutions, everyone has a right to express their opinions. He may disagree with those opinions, but they were completely within their rights to express them.<\/div>\n
    \nPerhaps Mayor Abed was angry, since some speakers (but not the people he attacked) expressed concerns about a possible conflict of interest. One speaker said a consultant to the project was on his staff, and another speaker noted that he is listed in minutes from a City Council meeting several years ago as \u201cCo-President\u201d of the very applicant who was seeking project approval. But that anger could not justify his venom against the good citizens who were there in the hopes their voices would be heard.<\/div>\n
    \nAnd here\u2019s the worst part about Mayor Abed\u2019s diatribe: earlier during the same hearing, he commended everyone (both supporters and opponents of the project) for being \u201ccivil.\u201d He congratulated the speakers for not engaging in personal attacks. Yet like a cowardly bully, he didn\u2019t ask me or the other residents about our statements when we were up at the podium. He didn\u2019t give us a chance to respond or clarify anything he thought he might have heard. He waited until the hearing was closed, and then he engaged in personal attacks. In fact, when one of the residents stood up to respond, he pounded his fist on the dais and reminded him that the hearing was closed and his turn to speak was over.<\/div>\n
    \nAt one point he said my comment letter was \u201cembarrassing,\u201d but I think Mayor Abed was the real embarrassment that evening. It\u2019s one thing to know you have the power to wield the mayor\u2019s gavel and vote against the wishes of area residents. But it\u2019s quite another thing to abuse that power and to abuse those good people who come before the City Council to express their concerns. Mayor Abed should be ashamed of himself.<\/div>\n
    \nEverett DeLano
    DeLano & DeLano<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Everett DeLano is a highly skilled, intelligent and competent attorney who is committed to helping communities protect and defend themselves.  He is the people’s champion.  He has been an incredible ally and friend to us during all of this.  Here … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Escondido Neighbors United","author_link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}