MB Elections: let's cut through the baloney
Nov. 8th can't come soon enough for most MB residents
Cutting through the baloney
MB readers,
By now we all have been bombarded with door hangers, mailings, ads, and posts on social media about the candidates running for City Council. Many of the claims are false and have ulterior motives behind them. This article will help you cut through 3 false claims so you can cast your vote with confidence.
False Claim #1: Candidate Frank Chiella is a one-issue candidate and the financial support by the Firefighters means Mr. Chiella owes them something in return.
Made by: Councilmember Hadley in postings on Facebook Groups.
Purpose: to discredit her opponent, Mr. Frank Chiella.
Truth: Ms. Hadley’s malicious claim about Mr. Chiella “owing” the firefighters who support his campaign, is like saying she owes all the many downtown businesses special favors for supporting her campaign.
Truth: Mr. Chiella is anything but a one-issue candidate. Here is a factual listing of his proposed solutions to some of the issues:
Cut the $2m in Police overtime in half by hiring 5 more officers and hire them from other cities by offering an attractive signup bonus. For years Council neglected the OT problem until our reporting revealed the $2.1m/yr in Police OT which prompted residents to send emails to Council demanding they address the City’s wasteful spending. At the last meeting, Council voted for Mr. Chiella’s solution and we noticed they made no mention that the solution was his.
Replace the $830,000 cost for the people in the green vests walking around downtown with 4 Officers with guns, which is the number one deterrent for crime.
License the kids on e-bikes by incorporating the help of the schools in a driver’s ed program, Council to pass an e-bike ordinance, and the police to enforce the law. We noticed that once Mr. Chiella offered his e-bike solution at the first candidate Forum, the other candidates began using this solution in their campaigns and at other Forums.
Repeal laws passed by the City that give up local zoning rights to the state. No other candidate is recognizing or truthfully talking about this issue. He’s calling for Townhall meetings to better inform residents on the housing issue.
Problem-solving and taking the initiative to implement solutions is leadership that has earned Mr. Chiella our endorsement for City Council.
False Claim #2: “David Lesser and Amy Howorth are true moderates.”
Made by: Mayor Steve Napolitano and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Montgomery ran a full-page ad in the Beach Reporter on 10/27/22 with that claim.
Purpose: to persuade moderate voters into voting for Lesser and Howorth by covering up the fact that these politicians they served with on Council in the past have a long record of taking Progressive positions.
Truth: All 4 of these individuals are like-minded and stick together supporting initiatives driven by the state that are erasing the unique character of MB. “Birds of a feather stick together” and here’s how.
Over-spending like true Progressives - When Lesser and Howorth took office in 2011, the City owed $55million to the pension plan for City workers. They continued to overspend by $4 million a year during their 2 terms and overlapping terms of Napolitano and Montgomery. The debt peaked at $91million in 2021 and our current Council quietly borrowed $125million to pay off the debt over 12 years at a cost of $34million in bond interest and fees. Uncovering these facts came as a shock to us at MBStrong and they should come as a shock to every MB resident.
Turning our zoning over to the state - David Lesser and Amy Howorth are in agreement with the Progressive state housing laws and are endorsed by the Sacramento lawmakers who are passing them. In 2013, Lesser and Howorth along with Mark Burton stripped our city’s power, granted to us in the CA Constitution, to control what we build in MB and surrendered our rights by amending our zoning laws. Our current Council recently submitted a plan to the state identifying several properties to build apartment complexes to include low-income housing using state housing laws. Not one member of our current Council, including Napolitano, Montgomery, and Hadley has put forth any ideas on how to take back control of our zoning.
Proposal to replace MBFD with County services - After midnight on the 8/21/18 Council meeting, Lesser suggested that the city obtain a bid from LA County to provide fire and paramedic services for MB. Mayor Howorth and Council members Napolitano, Montgomery, and Hersman agreed. County provided a proposal the following year and after public outrage by residents against the idea, the proposal was reluctantly shelved by Council. Lesser and Howorth’s council term ended that same year, but Napolitano led an ongoing campaign to discredit MBFD that continued for over 2 years with the help of Council members Montgomery, Hadley, Franklin, and Stern.
Bruce’s Beach Task Force - Napolitano and Montgomery helped select and approve the many Far Left residents to sit on the Bruce’s Beach Task Force and Napolitano and Progressive Councilmember Hildy Stern co-chaired the committee. These residents on the TaskForce accused MB of being a racist city then, and a systemically racist city today. The members of the Task Force became founding members of Ms. Howorth’s Far Leftist local group, MB United. Ms. Howorth is noted for saying about MB residents, “If you say your not a racist, you might be a racist.”
False Claim #3: Suzanne Hadley is “advocating book banning” in our schools.
Made by: Resident Mr. Alan Kirshenbaum and his Political Action Committee in an Easy Reader ad on 10/27, and repeated on Social Media by Far Left supporters.
Purpose: to discredit Ms. Hadley and boost votes for candidates David Lesser and Amy Howorth.
Truth: Councilmember Hadley gave a public opinion about books that are pornographic in nature stating they should not be in our schools. Claiming she is “banning” books is a distortion of her statement.
MB Residents Speak…
Residents are sharing their comments below and we respect their request to keep their names confidential.
re: Councilmember Hadley
“I'm not sure if you've noticed but Suzanne Hadley has gone off the rails. She's been bashing Frank: accusing him of being bought and paid for by the Firefighter's union and she publically doxed the names of anonymous members of this group. Why is she still endorsed by this group? My vote is for Frank and Rita Crabtree.” - E.O. 10/30/22
See our Newsletter regarding Hadley doxing MBStrong [HERE].
re: student survey at Mira Costa High School
“The worst part in all this is that the surveys are purchased from Panorama and depending on the package the surveys can be customized. The disturbing piece was that Mira Costa would not show the ACTUAL survey given to the kids. They sent out emails that said these are “typical questions” on the survey, not the actual survey, and directed us to Panorama website. The Panorama website also only had “typical questions”. I wonder.” - Concerned Parent of 3. 10/28/22
See our Newsletter [HERE] titled MB School Board Vote: You either like the direction of the School Board, or you don't.
re: pot shops in MB
“First THANK YOU! I can't say how much I appreciate (and align) with your work! I might have missed it, but if not, can we get a view of MB and V in the guide? There is a ton of deception in the mailers, and the wording is purposefully deceptive. I think we MBStrongers all would agree that we do not want retail pot in our neighborhood.” - D.R. 10/27/22
Please go to votenoonMB.org [HERE] for questions and answers to MB and V.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: candidate events
Meet City Council Candidate: FRANK CHIELLA
Wed. Nov. 2nd, 6-8 PM
Location: OB's Pub & Grill 3610 North Highland Ave
FREE TACOS! see website HERE.
Meet School Board candidates: Johnny U, Christy Barnes, and Mike Welsh
Weds. Nov. 2nd, 9-10 AM
Location: 900 Club at 900 Manhattan Ave.
Coffee with the Trifecta!
Disclaimer: MBStrong is not affiliated with any campaign and all candidates have been offered to post their Public Announcements in our Newsletter.
About MBStrong…
Our subscribers are MB residents from moderate Democrats to conservative Republicans and everyone in between. We started in Jan. 2021 with 100 subscribers and have grown to thousands. Thank you for staying plugged into crucial MB issues by reading MBStrong’s Newsletter.
We’d love to hear from you! MBStrong2021@gmail.com
We keep all personal information about our writers and subscribers confidential unless instructed otherwise.
Add MBStrong@substack.com to your email contact list to keep our emails out of your spam folder!