Michael Mullenniex

Michael Mullenniex is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

Comments by bikermike

Escondido: The ruling white minority

Yes, that's my point - Why don't we all vote as registered voters and leave it at that. Just because a "special" group is a majority in numbers but lacks "fair" (what does fair mean, anyway?) representation doesn't mean we need to make special districts.
— May 7, 2013 1:25 p.m.

Escondido: The ruling white minority

So, since people of Anglo Saxon or northern European ancestry are a minority in California now, shouldn't they be considered a minority? They're more than a statistical minority, they're numerically a minority. They're also a numerical minority in Escondido, a smaller sub set of the greater California, using your logic. So, as minorities, shouldn't they get special treatment just as the other "Minority Majority" set of people are asking for? C'mon Don, we need special districts in Escondido to protect the Northern European minority rights!
— May 6, 2013 7:14 p.m.

Escondido: The ruling white minority

It seems to me that in any election for city council members, the candidate with the most votes wins. If the "minority" majority has more voters that come out to vote, why don't they have more representation? Because they can't or don't field qualified candidates? Because they don't vote? Why rig or skew the process to give a certain class of voters an edge - doesn't sound too democratic to me. Olga Diaz got elected and is doing a fine job by putting Escondido's well being ahead of possible personal prejudices or personal agendas. If the majority wants more political power - vote! Next thing we'll have to slice up our community on racial, socio-economic, gender, height or body type as some segment will always be under represented and have a gripe. The result would be constant battle of the factions with the city becoming (more) fragmented and ungovernable. How about respecting the democratic process and work to make it a success?
— May 6, 2013 3:05 p.m.

Escondido City Council Votes to Lease Former Police Headquarters

Hi Mindy. Things are going well, thanks. Hope you, husband and dogs are too! In this slow economy, it does seem worthwhile to use the building for something. The city has to maintain the exterior part of the property regardless so they might as well get some use out of the interior. Mullenniex
— November 23, 2010 10:26 a.m.

Escondido City Council Votes to Lease Former Police Headquarters

Surfpuppy You're right, on the surface it doesn't look too good for the business acumen of our local reps in city council. However, part of the deal is that if there's a better offer or project for the building, the city can give the group 90 days notice to vacate and they could go forward with the new opportunity. It's a three year lease for $1 per year with two one-year extension options. The idea is to collect sub-market rents from the fledglings and use that money for the secretarial, managerial and other services. Some services will be contributed, but I imagine others will need to receive cash to work there. Knight also wants to install a broadband connection as an added attraction. All in all it seems like a worthy endeavor, but oversight is crucial to make sure things work out well. If they misbehave, there's a jail there. Mullenniex
— November 21, 2010 3:37 p.m.

Escondido City Councilmembers Excoriated as Ballpark Idea Entertained

Yakima I think most of us want to enhance the quality of life in Escondido, but we must do it in a responsible way which will benefit the community in the long run. The deal must be fair. Both sides must take (fairly) equal risks and enjoy the positive results or losses (fairly) equally. My understanding of the current deal is that Escondido would put up money it doesn't have and bear the 20+ years of financial risk. The Moorad team puts up $0 dollars, gets naming rights to the stadium, 100% ticket sales revenue and all concessuion sales revenue. What happened to shared risk? Research shows new minor league stadia bear little or no concomitant economic benefits to the cities that build them - but the ball clubs do well financially and bear little or no risk. Plus the deal is going to be made with minimal public comment and possibly by a lame duck city council. So, what's to like about this deal?
— October 18, 2010 2:52 p.m.

Escondido City Councilmembers Excoriated as Ballpark Idea Entertained

To Post #3 Escondido Redevelopment money will be committed for a generation, thus excluding worthy projects that will come along in the meantime. To say that since there's no better alternatives at the moment, therefore the ballpark should be built is specious at best, idiotic at worst. As far as the BallparkforEscondido website reflecting popular opinion is like saying CNBC or Rachael Maddow reflects mainstream American opinion. If you look at articles in the Reader, Don Bauder's article on Sep 22, or recent articles in the NC Times, you would arrive at a very different conclusion.
— October 16, 2010 2:26 p.m.

Escondido Hears About Lake Elsinore’s Ballpark Experience

There wasn't any discussion, only a few comments as to why the Beavers are leaving Portland after being there since the early 1900's. My understanding is that Portland changed their stadium into an all soccer stadium and Beavers management wanted a new stadium built for the ball club. The city declined to build the new stadium, so the team is up for sale and will move. Don Bauder wrote an excellent article on Sept 22 in this newspaper about the ballpark possibility in Escondido. The comments following the article are worth reading as well. Your questions are excellent, and I share the same plus many more about the sanity of the project, fiscal and otherwise. I also think they should learn how to profitably manage the CA Center for the Arts, Escondido, before they move on to other major projects.
— October 12, 2010 9:32 a.m.

Now Drink This

Joe - great post! I used the links you mentioned as part of my research for the article except the link to the desal plant in Australia. Didn't know about that one. They are informative. The Carlsbad plant will be the prototype agreement structure for some of the other plants Poseidon has in the works. The water is there, we might as well find a way to use it in a responsible manner.
— November 10, 2009 10:20 a.m.

Exploring Unspoiled Dominica, West Indies

You're correct - I made an error when calling Dominica a republic. It seems to me that there are many larger reasons why tourism lags in Dominica besides confusion with the name - lack of infrastructure, little capital investment by hotels/resort companies, brain drain due to lack of jobs just to name a few. It's a beautiful country and being so small makes it hard to get the necessary resources to develop without outside help. But I think the lack of development and untouched beauty attracts more and more tourists each year. As other islands meld together into similar visions of a developed paradise, the Commonwealth of Dominica offers a great contrast.
— October 16, 2009 9:10 a.m.