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MyspaceMy husband and I attended the Mesa Meet and Greet on Saturday, October 1, to get to know the ten candidates running for Santa Barbara City Council. We were appalled by the disrespectful behavior of one of the existing council members, Michael Self. Every single time Cruzito Cruz spoke she turned to the woman sitting next to her and made a derogatory remark and laughed at him. She didn’t even wait until he was done speaking, but started whispering and laughing as he began to speak. I couldn’t believe she had so little sensitivity the first time, but she continued her disrespectful behavior every time he spoke.
Cruz is not your usual candidate. He is passionate and knowledgeable about the issues and is using theater to wake people up. Whether he’s the best candidate is not the issue. What is unforgivable, and an indication of her complete insensitivity. was this woman’s behavior and condescension towards someone different from her.
When confronted by us, her reaction was denial. Though finally admitting her behavior was inappropriate, her shallowness and lack of awareness was so complete that she didn’t understand that she had done anything wrong and continued to defend herself throughout our conversation. The only reality that made any sense to her was that she shouldn’t do that at future panels because it might lose her votes.
I came away with feeling like we had made a mistake by confronting her, because now no one will see the kind of person she really is.
Previous Month
Comments
Oh, I expect that Mrs. Self will start acting up soon again regardless of what was she said last Saturday. As usual and as she often says during city council meetings and in some of the candidates forums, the favorite repeated statement by Mrs. Self is "I agree with Mr. Francisco". 'Nuff said.
As for Cruzito Cruz: passionate, yes; knowledgeable, no.
John_Adams (anonymous profile)
October 4, 2011 at 6:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
'Denial' is a good overall description of Kathleen Michael Self. In case you have not been paying attention for the last several years, Ms. Self has had many disrespectful episodes including while at the podium before she was elected.
But beyond denial and disrespect is this inability for the Self to empathize with various others and those less fortunate. Worse is that council member Self was outed as an extreme right winger by attending a luncheon last December honoring right-wing-race-baiting blogger Andrew Breitbart.
Michael Self, beyond forging a close bond with prop H8te contributor and bachelor Dale Francisco, has also teamed up with Mesa resident and appointed council member Randy Rowse. And after Self did a very big favor for her friend Randy Rowses' neighborhood re-stripping Cliff Drive project, both Rowse and Self voted down well vetted safety improvements for very busy and very fast de la Vina street. Then, a few weeks later both Rowse and Self initiated a request to make it much more difficult for residents and business districts seeking relief with similar project requests.
Self also was reprimanded by the States' Fair Political Practices Commission for as a council member participating in and voting for a project that would benefit Self, her neighbors and friends financially. Self had been lobbying for this project for two decades.
So please, in case you've not been paying attention to these extreme self serving council members Self, Rowse and Francisco, question everything they say, question their lack of ideas, question their lack of respect and their lack of fairness. Above all do not vote for any of them.
DonMcDermott (anonymous profile)
October 4, 2011 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sounds like Self is aptly named!
tbonkers (anonymous profile)
October 4, 2011 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)