]]>The (now retired) police chief issued a statement that the Mexican Matricular card IS accepted as LEGAL identification within the City of Laguna Beach. There have been many cases where possible illegal aliens have been protected and allowed to commit offenses American citizens would never get away with (See Gallery section of this website for photos of Laguna Beach police allowing a carload of possible illegal alien 15 year olds to drive away after a traffic stop. Also see Gallery section for photos of possible illegal aliens loitering, gambling, and dashing through heavy traffic. AND view the PHOTO REPORT on the front page of this website for a report of Congressman John Campbell’s representative witnessing many crimes being committed at the day labor site)
In 2006 Betsy Ross Patriots discovered the City of Laguna Beach was illegally squatting on State land. The transportation department ordered the day labor site EVICTED off the land immediately. The City of Laguna Beach ignored the eviction notice and was able to work out a lease for the land with Caltrans for $420 per month.
Caltrans then appraised the land at $1.2 MILLION and put it up for auction. CA State law says any state owned land must FIRST be offered to other government agencies BEFORE being opened to the public. No other government agency made an offer for the land. Caltrans lowered the price to $950,000 and placed it on Public auction. There were MANY inquiries from the public, with one developer announcing he was willing to offer up to $1 MILLION for the land. Betsy Ross Patriots was due to make an offer of $200,000. Hours before the land was to go to auction to the PUBLIC the City of Laguna Beach sent Caltrans a letter stating if the land were to be sold to the public the City would immediately zone it as “open space” and therefore no commercial development would be allowed (There are MANY commercial enterprises along this road. Some within just mere feet of this particular land).
Caltrans pulled the auction from the public and spent the next several months reevaluating the value if the land were to be deemed “open space”. Although State law says Caltrans is only required to do ONE appraisal on state owned land and they are only required to use THEIR OWN appraisers, Caltrans agreed to PAY for a SECOND appraisal and they allowed the City of Laguna Beach to choose the appraiser.
Well Surprise! Surprise! This second appraisal came back that the land was only valued at $18,000. And ANOTHER SURPRISE is that $18,000 is EXACTLY the amount the appraisers charged for their services. Keep in mind Caltrans ended up selling the land to Laguna Beach for $18,000 and they also paid out $18,000 for the appraisal. So in the end the State of California made exactly ZERO DOLLARS on this land deal!!! The land was originally appraised at $1.2 MILLION dollars, but the State of California has made ZERO DOLLARS on the sale!!!! Why hasn’t anyone in our government investigated this transaction?
Please note here that the State of California is in the midst of a $18 BILLION deficit. State employees may have their pay cut to minimum wage, teachers are being laid off and public programs being shut down. BUT, this land which was valued at $1.2 MILLION dollars is being sold to the City of Laguna Beach for a mere $18,000 and the State of CA is making ZERO $$$ on the deal.
Another important point is that the second appraisal stated that the BEST USE of the land would be “Open space”, but also stated that it would be appropriate for a small business such as a seasonal Christmas tree lot, pumpkin patch, OR a drive through Coffee/Shake shack. (Many developers who showed interest wished to open a drive through coffee/shake/snack shack.)
Now that the City of Laguna Beach owns the land, they have announced it will be zoned as “Open Space-Recreation”. BUT, they plan to continue to operate a day labor site on the land and in fact, they plan to IMPROVE the day labor site in order to make it more comfortable for the workers. So, although this land is being purchased with tax dollars and being zoned for use as a “park” open to the public for recreation purposes NO ONE in the public (except day laborers) can use it as such!!! What family or group of tourists or Laguna Beach residents will want to go to this area and have a picnic??? NONE! The “park” will be filled with day laborers!!!
Betsy Ross Patriots wonders how the State of California would allow a “park” to be established directly within FEET of a major State Highway (This road is State Highway 133. Please see photos in Gallery and Photo Report to view how close this land is to the state highway). There have been MANY reports to city officials and to Caltrans of men running through traffic and soccer balls being kicked into heavy traffic.
In the past the day laborers have been allowed to park their cars across the highway on a DIFFERENT strip of California State owned land, which is NOT included in this sales transaction. This strip of land is just about the ONLY FREE parking within the City of Laguna Beach. There have been many calls to Caltrans from tax payers who are concerned about the liability by the State if there were to be a mishap by someone who was parked on State owned land. Caltrans has instructed the City of Laguna Beach to monitor this strip of land for them and to see that the day laborers DO NOT park there. The answer to this problem is that the City of Laguna Beach will allow the day laborers FREE PARKING in the city owned Act V parking lot, which is next door to the day labor site. The Act V parking lot charges $10 a day to park there. Beachgoers, tourists, and art festival patrons ALL MUST pay to park in this lot. Day laborers are given FREE PARKING!
One last, but very important fact in this case is that Laguna Beach city manager, Ken Frank’s WIFE, Nanci Frank, sits on the board of directors for the day labor site. She has been on the board for close to 10 years. Betsy Ross Patriots finds this to be a HUGE conflict of interest. We feel the city manager is making decisions for this day labor site under the influence of his wife’s “pet project”.
Betsy Ross Patriots calls on the media and all state government officials to investigate this land sale transaction. We call on the ACLU to investigate the issue of FREE parking for day laborers while all others (Mostly legal American citizens) must pay to park. We call on the Department of Justice to investigate the Laguna Beach police department and their actions in protecting and giving SANCTUARY to possible illegal aliens.
AND we call on ALL taxpayers and citizens of the state of California and the United States to join us in our objection and opposition to the City of Laguna Beach pertaining to this issue.
Please be sure to view ALL the pages of this website, especially the section DOCUMENTS, the GALLERY, and the PHOTO REPORT on the front page for more information
THANK YOU!
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent on the issues that matter"--- Martin Luther King, Jr.
You may call:
CINDY QUON
Caltrans - District 12
Serving Orange County
3337 Michelson Drive Ste. CN-380
Irvine, CA 92612
949.724.2000
KEN FRANK, CITY MANAGER
City of Laguna Beach
505 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, California 92651
USA
(949) 497-3311
(949) 497-0771 fax
State Senator Tom Harman
State Capitol, Room 2052
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4035
Fax: (916) 445-9263
950 South Coast Dr., Ste 240
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone: (714) 957-4555
Fax: (714) 957-4560
Assemblyman Chuck Devore
EMAIL: Chuckdevore@aol.com
Office Locations
Capitol Office
State Capitol Room 4102
Sacramento, CA 94249-0070
Ph: (916) 319-2070
Fax: (916) 319-2170
Irvine District Office
3 Park Plaza Suite 275
Irvine, CA 92614
Ph: 949-863-7070
Fax: 949-863-9337
You can view the pics here:
http://www.betsyrosspatriots.com/index.php/gallery/category/C27/
I went to the city council the following week and provided each councilmember the photos and a report about what I witnessed. I asked the city manager, Ken Frank, for a clarification of what the Laguna Beach police policy was and I have yet to receive an answer.
BUT, these two incidents were posted in this week’s local Police Blotter. (maybe someone got the message?)
http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/Current/street_beat/
Broadway - 200 Block Urinating in Public + 5:51 p.m. A patrol officerdriving by saw a man urinating in a parking lot. Marco Antonio Mercado, 27, Rialto, was arrested for disorderly conduct. When it was determined that Mercado didn’t have documentation, he was turned over to ICE.
Laguna Canyon Road - 800 Block Traffic Arrest 6:18 p.m. Roselba Rodriguez Garcia, 34, of Dana Point, was arrested for driving without a license
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http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2008/05/07/politics/cpt-landlslidecost050908.txt
Landslide costs now at $35M; city may pay up to $9M
Repairs almost complete but final tally of costs still undetermined, city manager says.
By Barbara Diamond
Updated: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 5:41 PM PDT
There are No comments posted.
Costs to repair Bluebird Canyon after the June 1, 2005 landslide have ballooned to $35 million, and city officials aren’t sure how much of that will be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The city will submit a request to FEMA for $33 million for the Bluebird Canyon and Flamingo Road restoration, Laguna Beach City Manager Ken Frank told the City Council Tuesday.
“It is 99.99% done,” Frank said of the repairs needed to restore the area after the landslide. “The total cost will be $35 million — give or take. FEMA has cleared most of the cost overruns already. Flamingo Road is the only one that has not been cleared and it is the biggest.
“We probably will have an announcement by this fall. My best guess is that it will cost the city $2 million. The worst case scenario would be $9 million.”
Laguna’s share of the restoration costs will be paid from the Measure A one-half cent sales tax increase approved by voters. Frank said the city would have about $4 million in the bank by June 30.
The FEMA decision will be put before the Measure A Oversight Committee, which will make recommendations for the expenditures.
— By Barbara Diamond
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Thank you,
Ward Connerly
http://www.supertuesday2008.com
Petition Circulators Needed
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Contact: National Ballot Access
Phone: (314) 963-7474
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]]>Laguna Beach:
1) Supports and funds a day labor site which openly aids illegal aliens.
2) Illegally squatted on CA State land to operate this day labor site for 10 years with no rent paid.
3) Made an “agreement” with the illegal day laborers that they will NOT call ICE on them.
4) The Laguna Beach police department distributed flyers to illegal aliens telling them they were “an important part of the community” and the city “wants them to stay here and make lots of money to send back to Mexico”.
5) The (now retired) police chief set a policy that the Mexican Matricular card is accepted as Legal ID within Laguna Beach city limits.
If that doesn’t add up to Sanctuary City, I don’t know what would!
Laguna Beach is the same city that received $5 MILLION in FEMA money to rebuild a residential street that holds a few Multimillion homes!
Please read the news story at this link provided:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/atoz/article_769328.php
You may read Congressman Campbell’s letters to ICE asking for raids in Laguna Beach (and being turned down) by going to the DOCUMENT section on this homepage.
And you can see a PHOTO REPORT of Campbell’s staffer visit to the day labor site where he witnessed many CRIMES by going to the FEATURED ARTICLE section on this homepage.
It works perfectly! You can walk with no trouble and your hands are completely free for all those other tasks.
]]>Sandi, Col. Quilter, Dave, all others interested,
It came to my attention that the LB parade committee is confused about an email I sent out to some of my friends a week ago where I revealed that CODE PINK was invited to participate in the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade. (see content of email below at end of my note)
Yes, it is true. They were in fact invited. The LB Peace Vigil invited them and encouraged them to wear their identifying logos. I’m not sure if they did march in the parade or not, but if they did, there will certainly be an uproar and attention will once again be brought to the LB parade committee.
Sandi, you ask “who is CODE PINK”? Certainly Col. Quilter knows who they are and surely does not condone their conduct. CODE PINK is a radical anti-war group. They promote “civil disobedience” to get their message across. They are the group who persuaded the city of Berkley to run the Marines Corps. out of town, which almost cost the city Federal funds.
CODE PINK is also the group that accosted Condolessa Rice. I’ve included a link to that incident here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaH4U8ozEg
I’m also including the local CODE PINK’s (the one invited to join our parade) SOP on dealing with law enforcement:
http://www.codepinkoc.org/images/dealing_with_police.pdf
As you can see they encourage “civil disobedience” and state that ALL police are liars and violent.
http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/sop.php
Now compare that with the MM’s SOP. You will find that the MM are a strict law and order group.
One of CODE PINK’s founders was one of the organizers of the Seattle riots in 1999 at the G8 Summit. I’ve included a link for you here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUKKF3_y1eY&feature=related
CODE PINK has many links on their website that lead directly to Socialist and Communist groups. Hardly the type of group you would want marching in a PATRIOTS day parade.
In my opinion, the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil is a political group, who should not (under your own rules) be marching in the parade. I have heard the argument that “Peace is Patriotic and everyone wants peace. Therefore we should not consider them a political group”. But, you can apply this argument to the case of the MM and say that ‘Certainly everyone wants the United States to be a sovereign nation, which would mean Border Security. The Minutemen wish to see our borders secured, therefore they should not be considered a political group.’ (The vast majority of American citizens, including Sandi Werthe and Col. Quilter want to see our borders secure).
Also, to address the other issue you bring up in your email, about the MM’s entry/denial into the parade 3 years ago. You claim that the MM were denied because Jim Gilchrist had just finished a Congressional campaign, but as you know, the election had ended by this time. John Campbell won and therefore Gilchrist was not a candidate for anything. Since that time he has talked a lot about running for an elected position, but he has yet to pull papers to do so. So, for the last 3 years he has NOT been a political candidate. Your email stated the MM were denied, because he had just finished an election and may in the future run again. Three years later and he has not run for anything.
There are a lot of rumors floating out there about the application for the parade entry. As you know, you mailed the entry form back to me after the MM were denied, so I have the official paperwork in my possession. The paperwork reveals that the application was entered as “The Minuteman Project.” NO other name! The application also includes a description of what we were requesting for the parade, which included ONE SIGN at the front of the float stating “The Minuteman Project. Protecting Our Country’s Borders”. We promised we would carry NO signs, nor wear any logos. The float would include a range of multi-ethnic MM, from Ted H. (black), Lupe M. & Ray H. (Hispanic), Frank J. & Tony D. (Cuban), George R. (Japanese) and Jim Gilchrist.
Following the float we planned to have a fun, lighthearted synchronized drill team of men and women dressed in Red, White, and Blue doing a drill of lawn chairs, binoculars, and cell phones. It was going to be funny and non-political and within keeping of the parade’s atmosphere. There would be NO SIGNS, NO CHANTS, and NO LOGOS. All this was laid out in the official application that was presented to you.
The MM lost the lawsuit because the judge ruled the parade was a private organization who is allowed to approve whoever they wish into their parade. NOT because Gilchrist was a political candidate, as you indicated in your email. There was much more to the issue of the whether the parade was a “private” organization or a “public” one, due to the city’s deep involvement. That year the city promoted the parade on their official website and they provided a lot of “in kind” financial help, including free access to city buildings, police and trash. Unfortunately, the lawsuit was not able to get past the first hearing for any of this to be brought forward.
Since the MM application is in my possession and the issue has been brought back to the forefront, I will scan it and post it, along with the MM version of the story on my website http://www.betsyrosspatriots.com. This way it will dispel all the rumors and misinformation generated over the years.
I would like to add that during my discussions with you (Sandi), you offered to consider allowing the MM to enter the parade if we disguised ourselves under a false name. You offered me some suggestions, all of which I declined, because I felt that would be sneaky, dishonest, and deceitful. I understand there are many groups in the parade that are allowed under these types of conditions.
In closing, I will say that I am disappointed with the parade committee and especially Col. Quilter, whom I believe to be a good Patriot and one whose beliefs on border security mirror mine. I called Col. Quilter and asked for a face to face meeting with him on this issue. I received no response from him at all. This told me he was close-minded and not willing to allow the facts or any other viewpoints to cloud his decision.
He ultimately gave an interview to a controversial talk show, The John & Ken Show on KFI 640 am. The shock jocks asked their listeners to contact Quilter with their complaints. But, I, and the MM, are the ones who have taken the flak and the “punishment” for THEIR actions ever since.
Col. Quilter’s brother’s skit in the parade was insulting and unethical. As I mentioned in a response to the media coverage in the Laguna Beach Independent, while this skit was happening in the streets of Laguna Beach, the MM chose to do a border watch that weekend. Many brave men and women had stayed up all night in the icy cold and in pitch black darkness, where they could possibly have encountered drug or human smugglers, had been shot at or assaulted. It turned out that weekend the MM found a pregnant woman IN LABOR who had crossed 2 yards over the border. They assisted her and called for an ambulance, that took her to a local hospital where she gave birth to a new American citizen with all the rights and benefits that includes, just for merely making it 2 yards across the border.
I have since resigned from the Minuteman Project and started my own website. My focus is to see the city of Laguna Beach day labor site be brought into compliance with our laws (certainly you are not against everyone obeying our laws, are you)? Although, I am no longer a member of the MM I believe them to be some of the most courageous, honest, loyal, and devoted “salt of the earth” Americans one could ever encounter.
So once again, I am extending my hand and asking that we meet face to face (you, me, Col. Quilter, and Dave as our referee) in order to come to an understanding on this issue and to bury the hatchet. Then we can see how we can all work together to keep our great country of the United States the UNITED States forever. In the meantime, my hope is that you look into LB Peace Vigil actions this year by inviting CODE PINK into our parade and take the appropriate action.
With kind and respectful regards,
The following is my email sent to my concerned American citizen friends.
Hello Veterans,
I’m not sure it you have seen this invitation that was put out on OC Peace Vigil’s website. (see below) As you can see the Laguna Beach Peaceniks invited the radical group CODE PINK to join the march and encouraged them to wear their Logos in the Laguna Beach Patriots Day parade today (March 1st).
CODE PINK’s reputation is a major Political group: Here’s a link to their website that displays all sorts of political messages. http://www.codepink4peace.org/ How come the Patriots’ Day parade denied the Minutemen entry to the parade due to “political issues” but then allow CODE PINK to march?
Many veterans find this group foul and disgusting. The City of Berkley was almost denied Federal funds due to CODE PINK’s role in trying to rid the city of the Marines.
I’m wondering how our own Laguna Beach American Legion handled marching in the same parade as this group today?
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INVITATION POSTED BY LAGUNA BEACH PEACE VIGIL ON THE INTERNET
Mar 1 Saturday 11am-1pm, Laguna Beach: The LAGUNA BEACH PEACE VIGIL INVITES ALL OF YOU { Veterans for Peace, MFSO, Code Pink, Friends and Family, ETC.} and those of you who have demonstrated on Saturdays on PCH in Laguna over the past 5 years to JOIN WITH US as we MARCH in the LAGUNA BEACH PATRIOTS DAY PARADE The parade starts off at 11 AM from the Laguna Beach High School parking lot at the corner of Short Street and Park Avenue and ends by about 1 PM near the City Hall on Forest Avenue. The theme of the Parade this year is: The Stars and Stripes Forever We are group number 81. We are allowed to display only our own banners and a number of pro-peace signs ( negotiated with and pre-approved by the parade committee ) , BUT we will have many signs there, if you need one, AND please wear your group’s shirts, hats and insignia etc. to help let the community know the diversity and strength of our commitment to PEACE . For further information, call Pat Cohee:(949) 494-6649 e-mail: lagunapoets@mindspring.com
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