Disinformation Central

Well, well, according to Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Sue McCloud, we are not to infer anything “negative” about her canning of the LCW attorneys who lost the city’s motion to disqualify attorney Michael Stamp from representing employee Jane Miller. Oh really! Just like, according to Mayor Sue McCloud, we are supposed to believe the John Hanson fiasco was just a “misunderstanding.” Or just like, according to Sue McCloud, we are supposed to believe Jane Miller’s legal complaint alleging sexual harassment, employment discrimination and retaliation is “nothing.” And the press still treats Sue McCloud as if she were the font of all knowledge when it comes toT everything Carmel when she is really the font of all misinformation and disinformation. --Incredible

Sue Who?

If the other members of Council running for reelection (aka the “team,” which in this election season is sounding like it’s a “slate”) just go along with Sue, then it sounds like it’s time to elect someone new as mayor instead of Sue. --Is 10 years of McCloud enough?

Flanders Fraud?

If the city had followed the recommendations of the Flanders Foundation, it could have avoided losing the lawsuit and costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Against state law, the city tried to avoid taking the issue to the voters. Now the city is embroiled in another lawsuit because it didn’t follow the simple recommendation to perform an Environmental Impact Report of a sale of the mansion to another public entity. The city wasted our taxpayer money. --Frustrated in Carmel

(Mc) Cloud of Suspicion

What in the world is Sue McCloud thinking? First, she says she is running for a sixth term to see to completion the sale of Flanders property. Now she is running for a sixth term to settle the Flanders dispute once and for all. Do you smell that she is about to lose another lawsuit? This is another example of dragging the residents through a terrible mess, at the cost of upwards of $800,000 over the course of trying to unload Flanders. From circumventing the law by moving to sell parkland without a public vote (that one cost the taxpayers $250,000 in legal fees alone) to having a special election to sell Flanders. Now to settle with the Flanders Foundation? I COULD SCREAM!!!!!!

Respected and smart folks came before the City Council and pleaded to hold off on the election to sell the parkland until the lawsuit played out. They were met with hostility and dismissed when Gerard Rose barked to move adoption of the resolution (to move the matter to a public vote). Looks like those people were right in their assessment. The city should have held off.

Now Sue is ready to make peace with Flanders Foundation and find a use for the house. She has had 10 years in office and made no effort to find a use for the property because she has always wanted it sold. What a waste of time and money.

Time to get rid of McCloud. It’s time for a change at City Hall. We would save a whole lot of money if we did. --Fed Up Carmel Resident

No Justice, No Peace

The Weekly went too far out on a limb promoting Mayor Sue McCloud’s storyline of a so-called “peace settlement.” Here’s why. Sue McCloud’s idea of a settlement is the antagonist settling on her terms. She talks about a “number of conversations,” but the last pseudo-settlement conference initiated by the city entailed the city demanding the Flanders Foundation drop their lawsuit during the campaign for Measure I; not exactly what most people think of two sides coming together in good faith to find common ground. --A Peace Settlement, No Way

CORRECTION: Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud is running for a sixth term, not a fifth (“Flanders Fields – Peace settlement possible in long-standing Carmel dispute,” Feb. 11-17). The city has spent more than $425,000 in legal costs in the Flanders dispute; all told, the city of Carmel has spent nearly $1 million.

Also, the Flanders Foundation attorney preservationists says she has responded to McCloud’s suggestions and the mayor now acknowledges that she has heard back from her.