In the early 1990s, Wildomar had the misfortune of being invaded by an organization known as "Ortega Trails Recreation and Park District" because a few citizens insisted they had a right to parks.
Ortega Trails proceeded to spend $157,600 in Quimby Fees collected from developers and an additional $596,000 in improvements for parks in Wildomar.
This organization passed a parcel tax of $20 per parcel, which increased by $39 for a total of $59. And then they tried to pass a consolidated tax because of Proposition 218 of $71, a full three years after they were required to by law.
Thanks to citizen opposition, this tax measure was defeated and a measure placed on the ballot after the gathering of enough signatures led to a defunding of this organization.
A state audit concluded that the money spent by Ortega Trails was legally spent to the extent that the state could piece together: In the last few years of its existence, Ortega Trails failed to maintain a proper set of books.
This sounds pretty bad but then the county took over and in order to clear up the mess created it was necessary to spend an additional $6,633,992 to pay off debts incurred.
But we're not finished. The county then spent $6,000,000 more to rehabilitate some of the original parks. This happened after the citizens of Wildomar were coerced into passing a parcel tax for maintanence that barely squeeked through. This tax measure written by the county was later ruled unconstitutional.
To top it all off, the county -- just months before Wildomar became a city -- negotiated a deal with a developer for an eastside park that, if the city accepts this land, will result in our giving up $3,400,000 in future Quimby Fees plus $1,900,000 in fees already collected.
So what do we have for $18,686,992? Three parks (two of which have no parking) and one more that will cost somewhere north of $10,000,000 to develop.
Come November, "Just say No."
You can read all of my homework at Wildomar Magazine. I have covered and commented on Wildomar for the past four years. You may not agree with my opinions but I do know Wildomar. I have offered a reasonable solution for taking care of Marna O'Brien Park by moving City Hall onto land already owned by Wildomar (thus no land payments) and re-allocating most of the $120,0000 in annual savings of lease payments to the care and maintenance of the parks. I guess I'm the one on the side of the park, after all. Others continue to pursue losing ballot measures. This last one may be the third one to fail.
I wish you could consider the proposal to move City Hall to Marna O'Brien Park. Why can't we consider alternatives. Even without any public opposition, tax measures tend to fail in Wildomar. People vote "no" for their own reasons.
Being critical of city council decisions does not mean people want to "take the city down" or have a vendetta. It's called democracy.
Heres another heads up for ya, Marfa IS critical of ANYTHING the city council says or does. She was shot down twice when she foolishly ran on the RANTS ticket! She is shot down everytime she sets foot at a meeting or even opens her mouth. You obviously need to do a little bit more homework to get all of the behind the scenes info. You need to know the difference between "vendetta" & "democracy". You probably would make a good politician; going off 1/2 baked & being pompASS! }~)
If you think your anonymous username is some form of protection of your identity, you should know that if anyone does foolishly bring "unnecessary trouble" and show up on my doorstep, your identity as a "person of interest" is quite accessible to law enforcement. You should be more careful about what you write.
Martha has been extremely rude to people, especially when they make truthful statements regarding Barak Obama, that she disagrees with. Gill go back and read Martha's responses, she attempts to bully people repeatedly. I am surprised your defending Martha. Martha will never win a council seat for obvious reasons, you might, why did you decide not to run?
}~)
Having written about Lake Elsinore's corrupt politics for years under Elsinore Magazine, and now, Wildomar Magazine for the past four years, I know what it is to be stalked by some local politician's thugs, so I don't take threats about showing up at my doorstep lightly. I doubt that Martha Bridges has any further ambitions with regard to running for Wildomar City Council. That she tried twice, garnering 2000 votes the last time means that she represents a significant portion of Wildomar voters. I was pretty tough on her during the last campaign, through the pages of Wildomar Magazine. Although some may not agree with her opinions, she is thoughtful and has successfully fought a bad land-use decision approved by the Wildomar City Council. In my case, although I pulled papers to run for the Wildomar City Council, when it came down to the cost and effort to do so, I decided I didn't care enough about people like Teller of Truth and Constant Comment (there are many more like them "out there"). These are the same low caliber of persons that will vote for Bridgette Moore, no matter how inept she may be. At my age and with my health history, I have no desire to provide four years of public service to Wildomar. Life is, after all, far too short for that. But thanks for your "civil" inquiry, which is why I responded.
Martha is the only person on the patch I have come across that consistently displays this type of behaviour. Polititions with big fat egos suck! They dish it out but can't take it.
Martha is not a politician, she's a concerned citizen who capably speaks her mind, often through Patch blogs and comments.The fact that she engenders such vicious responses is evidence of her influence on local issues.