Vote Gibson wrote on Oct 5, 2008 12:28 AM:Gibson is best for Oceanside! He has management skills obtained by running a successfull business, in Oceanside none the less! He has had experience in politics and working with unions on his 10 years on the VUSD board! VOTE GIBSON!

No New Taxes wrote on Oct 5, 2008 12:32 AM:Vote Gibson! He has years of experience in management and will keep the best interest of the citizens first! No New TAXES= VOTE GIBSON!!!

Good for Jobs wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:25 AM:Jim Gibson is good for Oceanside and good for jobs. I will be voting for Gibson

Put your flak jacket on wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:39 AM:In fact you might even need more than one when some people read your recommendations. However, I thoroughly agree with your endorsement of Jim Gibson. He is a proven leader and businessman and uses common sense. An excellent choice!

What no Hispanics wrote on Oct 5, 2008 2:09 AM:Looks like the white establishment of NCTimes only wants white males. Sanchez and Chavez were the first two Hispanic leaders in North County, now you want them gone.

Education Counts wrote on Oct 5, 2008 2:14 AM:Sanchez and Chavez are the most educated members of the council, so let's get rid of them? Keep the Mayor who falsifies his degree from MiraCosta and Feller who has no degree. Makes sense to me to take out the educated, intelligent council members in an economic crisis.

Gibson is a Leader wrote on Oct 5, 2008 4:27 AM:I work with Jim Gibson for years, Gibson is a true Leader. Thank you N C Times for endorseing him.

Joan wrote on Oct 5, 2008 7:00 AM:I am shocked you endorse Wood after your article on Sept 7th about how you choose your endorsements. You said "the paper will tend to support those office-seekers willing to wrangle with public employee unions over the relatively lavish retirement benefit packages that now exist. We will support those candidates who seek a two-tier benefits system". Jim Wood said on KOCT this week he is opposed to a two tier system and he has given the unions huge raises. How did you really make your decision?

Maria wrote on Oct 5, 2008 7:07 AM:With Chavez and Sanchez, we have a more diversified council. You endorsed neither. Choosing the good old white guys does not show any big thinkers on your editorial team. And you seem to think it's OK that Chavez will be there another 2 years. But do you really think he will be here after that? He won't run again and we will be stuck with an all white male council. Thanks for that.

Pazook wrote on Oct 5, 2008 7:26 AM:How you can support Mayor Wood and Jack Feller in the same breath amazes me. Mayor Wood has consistently shown himself to be on the side of ALL of Oceanside's residents while Feller only goes where the dollar goes and has openly disrespected many of our less than wealthy citizens, particularly Seniors.

Please wrote on Oct 5, 2008 7:29 AM:We in VUSD encourage all you folks in Oceanside to vote in Jim Gibson for city council and thank you for doing us a favor.

However, the editorial writer above was laying it on pretty deep when he wrote that Gibson "has well represented the best interests of both students and the public." I guess the cost of the five year delay in the construction of the third high school in VUSD must have been in "best interests" of the students and public" as well. Too bad he did not provide the fourth vote for condemnation of the Strawberry Hill site in 2003 or 2004; we would have a high school up and running today and saved millions if he had.

Long Time Observer wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:01 AM:As a long time observer of Oceanside politics I would like to make my predictions on the upcoming elections. Wood will retain his seat, but just barely. The best thing that happened to him during his term is that Kern got elected and broke up the Wood, Sanchez, Makin “Trokia” so Wood has presided over a much more cohesive council and he and Sanchez could not stop the progress that has been made, and in fact he has benefited from it.

Feller will win handily. Jack is extremely well connected with the community and will be on the council as long as he wishes to be. He will outdistance the closest rival by at least a couple of thousand votes.

Sanchez is the only incumbent in danger of losing. Lowery is running a better campaign; probably the best campaign of this election season and it may be enough to squeak by Ester. Even Gibson has a good chance of edging out Lowery and Sanchez, it depends on haw many conservative voters come to the polls in this Republican leaning town. Gibson could win with just by getting the Republican vote—if they show up.

2 out of 3 wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:07 AM:Two out of three is not bad, but why keep Wood he has in fact accomplished very little?

Ridiculous wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:27 AM:This editorial makes this paper so non-relevant. Citizens, can you imagine the end of rent control, high rises everywhere in town, 2 new hot asphalt plants and more concrete plants? And how about making some of our cops and firefighters second class citizens? Tha's what you'll get with the supermajority of Feller,Gibson along with Kern and Chavez. VOTE YES FOR JIM WOOD, ESTHER SANCHEZ AND CHUCK LOWERY. They will save our city from being destroyed.

Say Goodbye to Contentiousness wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:32 AM:It is time to move on for the good of Oceanside, the contentious councils of the past have dragged our community down. Let’s restore respect on the Council. Good choice NCT's

Jim wrote on Oct 5, 2008 9:31 AM:I think Observer has it right. If we can rid ourselves of Sanchez it would be worth it.

OCEANSIDIAN wrote on Oct 5, 2008 9:55 AM:You know, the interesting thing about newspaper "editorials" is that the author is ANONYMOUS. Who wrote this editorial and where does he live?? In Oceanside?? I wonder. For that matter, where does the entire editorial staff live? I don't believe that Kent Davy lives in Oceanside, for example. So where do they get off "recommending" candidates in Oceanside politics? This is the absolutely dumbest anaylysis of the situation in our City Council I have ever seen! Good grief. Mayor Wood would be purely a figurehead with Gibson, Feller, Kern and Chavez on the Council. There would be a SUPER MAJORITY on the council with an agenda promoting tall buildings, heavy industry (think cement and asphalt plants), and out-of-town profiteers. They would ignore neighborhood concerns and seniors and quality of life issues. Wood, Sanchez and Lowery are by far the best candidates for Oceanside. (I know that there is a good chance that this will not be posted, since it is critical of the editors of NCT.)

East City Resident wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:16 AM:To non-VUSD Oceanside residents: the 7:29 AM comments are in error. The Board never voted on the strawberry hills property so there was no way a fourth vote could have been made. There are a lot of details on the high school project that have been misrepresented. Please be assured that Jim Gibson was not responsible for the enormous increase in the cost of the project. The true facts can be found in the NCT archives. Jim will make an excellent addition to our Council. Thank you NCT.

NCT you are so wrong wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:30 AM:Oceanside is a still a cheap dormitory community. Property values have decreased as much as 60% (SD county avarage is 30%). 2 very well known businesses have left Oceanside recently for Carlsbad (go figure)with a loss of 154 skilled jobs. Oceanside has 5.3 % retail vacancy, highest in the county. Downtown condos are either empty or up for rent. All of this under the majory vote of Feller, Chavez and kern, who called pro-business. I live in Oceanside and I had enough of these two failed businessmen, Chavez and Feller. Gibson voted for eminent domain to take land away from a businessman for a school that cannot open because of poor budgeting. North County Times, why do you want Oceanside to be stuck with this trio of incompetent people, who brought us more 99 c. stores, more check cashing places and 4 new massage parlors in the coastal area?
My vote will go to Lowery and Sanchez who are both college gratuate with long successul carriers.

Wood Sanchez Lowery best for Oceanside wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:57 AM:Carlsbad has very few foreclosed homes. Oceanside has the highest number of foreclosed homes in the county. Carlsbad has nice restaurants and shopping. Oceanside has fast food and three Wal-Mart. Chavez, Feller, Kern as majority vote, could have made Oceanside prosper but they did not.

Check the archives wrote on Oct 5, 2008 12:10 PM:So Jim Gibson was not responsible for delaying the building of the third high school in VUSD costing years of delay and millions of dollars to the district because FOUR votes were needed for condemnation and Gibson would have been the fourth vote.

I should check the nctimes archives, my facts are wrong, I am told. OK how about these four stories?

STORY 1
Two VUSD candidates attack magnet high school site
| Tuesday, October 29, 2002 10:00 PM

Incumbent school board Trustee Jim Gibson and the candidate he endorses ---- Steve Bradford ---- said this week that they oppose putting the campus, which would accommodate two magnet high schools, on the property the district is studying on East Vista Way between Mason Road and Osborne Street in an area called Strawberry Hill.

STORY TWO
New Vista high school project picking up steam
Saturday, February 15, 2003

In the latter case, the district board of trustees would be faced with a difficult decision. Two of the five members ---- Jim Gibson and Stephen Guffanti ---- have said they oppose putting the school on the Kawano property (Strawberry Hill).

STORY THREE
August 9, 2003
Vista still searching for home of magnet high schools
Three board members say they wanted to build the high schools on a 50-acre tract known as Strawberry Hills in Bonsall. But the other two members said they want the district to put more effort into looking at smaller sites around the city.

The board couldn't agree on the Strawberry Hills site…
Board members Jim Gibson and Stephen Guffanti said they refuse to support condemning the Kawano property (Strawberry Hill)

STORY FOUR

VUSD sees Melrose campus as key project
Saturday, May 28, 2005 10:48 PM PDT

The long road

Vail said the district seriously considered three other sites before settling on the Melrose property

Those sites included property south of Highway 76 off East Vista Way that didn't work out for environmental reasons; the "Kawano" or "Strawberry Hill" property that failed to generate enough support among school board trustees; and the Lincoln Middle School/Vista City Hall site that fell through because the state wouldn't provide necessary funding.

Majority Rules wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:21 PM:These endorsements are brilliant when you consider that the NC Times has their own agenda of low-paying jobs, promotion of self-interest (rampant development = more readers + more advertisers), and blindly following the national trauma of living on credit while going further into debt. Here's the truth, sorry to step on any toes: Kern, Rocky, Feller, and Gibson will make a majority of four, and the poor Mayor will be relegated to keeping the egomaniacs in order. This will NOT end our contentious city council. This will end our citizen representation. (And forget that argument "we elected them, therefore they represent us." That is not the case. Democracy is not a spectator sport.) So if YOU are actually concerned about YOUR voice being heard on the council, you must vote to re-elect Mayor Wood, Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, and candidate Charles Lowery. Any further questions must be addressed to the first four posts above.

Down the Toilet wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:26 PM:Looks like the NCT wants to flush Oceanside down the toilet. Gibson, Feller, Chavez and Kern would give away the city in epic proportions to interests that have nothing on their mind but making money. They will destroy this beautiful beach community and bring in heavy industry that belongs inland, not on the coast.

Not only will the super-majority give away the city, they also will make it one of the most unsafe places to live and work. Have fun with the privatization of your fire and police departments. Hello San Diego Sheriffs and your 5 officers on duty each night. Hello minimum wage EMT ambulance operators. Hello more secret negotiations with private ambulance companies that will pay for "studies" to see if they could do ambulance service cheaper. Goodbye 8 firefighters on duty each day. Have fun with the next wildfire season. Goodbye boundary drop because Vista and Carlsbad will not accept a reciprocal system in which Oceanside sends lesser qualified units to their cities.

Can the NCT be any more biased? Even your illusion of being "fair" is so blatantly obvious...(lets endorse Wood so it appears we are seriously thinking about this issue). This is so out of hand with the NCT that I hope the paper folds along with the UT down south. Pathetic!

Economic What wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:33 PM:So Feller, Chavez and Gibson are responsible for the national debt, over use of credit and the downturn in the economy. Someone else believe they are responsible for the three Walmarts in Oceanside. You Sanchez and Wood supporters are a hoot! Don't forget to blame them for West Nile Virus. And is you think the Mayor will be left only in charge of egomaniacs, maybe he can start with the one he sees in the mirror every morning.

Como Esta wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:39 PM:We will have Rocky Chavez on the Council whether he wins or not. Mr. Chavez will retain his Council seat if he does not prevail in the Mayors race. Remember this is also what Jim Wood did, then he brought us Mackin as a new Council Member.

YO Economic What wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:56 PM:I doubt you thought about what you said because you misquote the post above yours, and use that as the basis for your mini-rant. It refers to the North County Times, not to F C & G. Probably that was enough to ignite your latest tirade. Maybe a little less coffee for you?

Look at the facts wrote on Oct 5, 2008 5:34 PM:Feller, Chavez and Kern have controlled the City Council for the last few years and all they can show for are few condos downtown (mostly unsold) and a huge housing disaster. In the "free market" they would all be fired.

I cant get over wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:58 PM:the nerve of these posters who think that Oceanside, as a coastal community, is too good to have construction/heavy industries to locate here. What a bunch of snobs.

To I cant get over wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:05 PM:I totally agree with you. It is unfortunate that a lot of residence do not realize that as families grow so do the cities. We need to continue to grow and bring more money into the city. Each city has an area zoned for Industry and hello Industry Street is the place for the heavy industries in Oceanside. Just because the city is growing does not mean we will lose our coastal community.

Sandwich lover wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:16 PM:It is amazing how people voted Feller in the city council in the first place: he could not even run his own sandwich shop during the years when the economy was booming! He had to close it because he did not have a good business sense or enough brain to understand that his employees were not properly trained and the ingredients did not seem to be fresh. How can we trust him running the city? During the three city council meetings my family attended he was literally sleeping!

Skinny wrote on Oct 5, 2008 11:24 PM:To "What No Hispanics?"

I am only addressing your assertion that Sanchez and Chavez were the first two hispanic leaders in north county.

You must be new to Oceanside/North County. Lucy Chavez was on the Oceanside city council for many years.

Get over it wrote on Oct 5, 2008 11:25 PM:Yeah, we're too good here. We have the most valuable land in the world and you want to fill it up with asphalt and concrete plants. Get real. If you like it so much move to Wilmington or South Long Beach. We don't need this in our jewel of a City. People like you Gibson, Feller and Chavez will destroy this town by putting dirty industries in a coastal town. Mayor Wood, Esther Sanchez & Charles Lowery have my vote. They see a future that doesn't include stinking, filthy industries that don't belong in a coastal town.

CPO USN-Retired wrote on Oct 6, 2008 8:00 AM:Well, there you go, NCT Editors have done it again. Everyone needs to remember that this is an editorial and as such is someone's opinion. It is regretful that this editor was not proud enough of his/her opinion that they forgot to put their name to it. The fact is that I already know who I am going to vote for and nothing NCT says would be able to change that one way or the other. I will say this, in the past, I've voted for Terry Johnson for personal reasons, in addition, I've voted for Jim Wood, Esther Sanchez, Rocky Chavez and others. Some I've regretted, most I am glad to say they worked hard for Oceanside. I would like to see a balance in our City Council, not a majority one way or the other. There are times we need the industry and growth, there are times when we need the green and roses. I am a supporter of us growing our airport into something that would bring in funds and visitors to Oceanside. A small hotel, nice restaurant, decent facilities. But we need things like that here and there about the city. I see lots and acreage throughout the city that needs to be turned into parkland for residents, take a look at Mission just west of Foussat for example. We do not have enough of this.

CPO USN-Retired wrote on Oct 6, 2008 8:04 AM:I forgot to add, I will not vote for Jack Fellar for one simple reason. He has never responded to any questions I have asked him via email. Not even a thank you or a .... you. Every other incumbant and/or candidate has responded to questions that are important to me. Even if I didn't like the answer, I respect the fact they did respond. Not you, Jack. Sorry, but I cannot respect or vote for someone who thinks themself above responding to the voter.

Yes to Lowery Chavez No to Feller wrote on Oct 6, 2008 8:48 AM:Feller has said it clear: the people of Oceanside do not understand the need of the city, he and his political allies are the only one who do. Vote Sanchez and Lowery they care for the community.

pro oceanside wrote on Oct 6, 2008 8:51 AM:JACK FELLER IS A JOKE....HE USES THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AS A MOTEL SIX..MAYBE IF HE STAYED AWAKE LONG ENOUGH HE WOULD KNOW WHAT THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE NEEDS...SHOWING UP AT A LITTLE LEAGUE GAME DOES NOT A COUNCIL MEMBER MAKE..LETS GET SOME ONE IN THERE THAT ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT THE CITY AND NOT PADDING JACKS POCKETS....

Its not wrote on Oct 6, 2008 9:41 AM:a matter of liking or disliking the heavy industry, or accepting that the city is growing. It's about those rude comments that claim that people who live inland are somehow lesser and don't deserve to keep their neighborhoods clear of "stinking, filthy industry" but we do simply because we're "coastal." You can call it what you like, but that attitude is snobbery, plain and simple.

RE Its not wrote on Oct 6, 2008 12:34 PM:I called Charles Lowery's campaign phone and asked if the "coast is more important than the inland parts of Oceanside". Mr. Lowery called me back and said that "ALL areas of Oceanside must be respected." If the people who live inland want concrete plants next door, they can vote to elect Feller and Gibson. If residents want to stop that sort of growth, they can vote for Mayor Wood, Esther and Chuck. Seems pretty simple to me. AND Industry Street is a holdover from our industrial past, and is no longer suited to heavy industry.

Paperchase wrote on Oct 6, 2008 9:23 PM:This paper for all the years I've lived here, and that's forever, always endorses the same-old, same-old Sinclair Lewis unimaginative Chamber of Commerce types who, except for Wood, won't guide Oceanside well in the crucial years of its redevelopment. O'Side of the future, given it's natural resources, could be the jewel of So. CA. With leaders like Feller, Gibson, Chavez and those types, it will be another overbuilt beach city like Miami Beach. What's wrong with this newspaper that it's so stuck in the mire of endorsing cronyism people with narrow worldviews better suited to Podunk, Idaho.

nygranny wrote on Oct 6, 2008 11:15 PM:On the one hand I'd say vote for Gibson then we can make sure he can no longer serve on the VUSD board, but then as an Oceanside resident I'd say no way...he's an obstructionist and has done nothing positive in all his years on the school board. But sure vote for Gibson and Fellers and look to the future for Oceanside to lose whatever attraction it has and to becoming a third rate city and home to all the industry and development that these guys can vote in!!